Category Archives: film review
Heartbreaker
Know a girl with a twat boyfriend? (Let’s be generous and assume not all boys are twats, just for the next 56 words). Don’t bother taking her aside and offering enlightenment in a sensible and straightforward sort of way – … Continue reading
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The Saddest Music in the World (Guy Maddin)
Since, after all, Winnipeg is the world capital of sorrow, it’s a fitting place to stage a contest for the Saddest Music (in the world). And who better to host it than Isabella Rossillini, rich, jaded, and soon to possess … Continue reading
Filed under film joy, film review
Girl on the Train
André Téchiné France, 2009 105 mins (but feels more like 120) Girl on the train isn’t really on a train. Mostly she glides around breezily on rollerblades, purposeless and pretty. She probably isn’t Jewish either, or soon to be scratched … Continue reading
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FISH TANK (2009) dir Andrea Arnold
You may well think you’ve had your fill of grimy tower block girls, but fear not; this one is far more interesting. Meet Mia. She may be prolifically profane, sullen and en route to a residential unit, but a few … Continue reading
Filed under british film, culture wars, film joy, film review
RAGE / Sally Potter (2009) 98 mins
You’ve seen the stills: close ups, famous faces, brightly coloured backgrounds. So far, so striking. And it’s entitled RAGE. Judi Dench is in it. Expectations are high. Prepare to lower them, limbo style, and enter the bizarre backstage world created … Continue reading
Filed under culture wars, film review
Moon (2009)
dir. Duncan Jones (yes, yes, a film set in space spawned by the spawn of Bowie) What the poster doesn’t say: Look! It’s a man all alone on the moon… or is he? And who is he? Three word plot … Continue reading
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The Portrait of a Lady
Seemingly sensible young lady with dire hair (Nicole Kindling) declines marriage to a Lord with nice eyes and a bad beard (Richard E Grant) in favour of experiencing life rather than languish in a prosperous but dull marriage. Instead, she … Continue reading
Filed under adaptation, film review
Burn After Reading (2008)
We already know that it’s everything that No Country isn’t, so there’s no need to go into the whys and woes. In fact, let’s also dispense with detailing the plot, as it’s more fun not knowing. Here are the basics: … Continue reading
Filed under Coen brothers, film review
A Londoni férfi [The Man From London] 2007
Béla Tarr claims not tell stories[i], and yet what we appear to have here is a very simple one; it may well be beautifully stripped back to familiar Tarr-like territory, where verbal communication is secondary to the physical presence of … Continue reading
Filed under bela tarr, film joy, film review
Du levande (re-view)
I happened to see The Seventh Seal the other day and finally get the comparisons between Roy Andersson and Ingmar Bergman in terms of both thematic interests and humour. So, to be uncharacteristically concise: Andersson’s latest is contemporary Seal – not … Continue reading
Filed under film joy, film review, roy andersson
