Okay, full disclosure; I had very low expectations of this sequel to the much loved Russell Crowe sword and sandals epic that came out almost a quarter of a century ago.
Continue readingGladiator II (2024)
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Paris, Texas (1984)
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I am grieving a little bit for my 24-year-old self. Paris, Texas was the movie for me in the 80s. I was living in London with a lot of time on my hands and not that big a social circle. I discovered arthouse cinemas in Soho and Brixton and would go on my own to see these weird and wonderful films.
Continue readingThe Apprentice (2024)
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I think it says a lot that a film like this can be made about someone who is now the sitting president of the United States of America.
Continue readingThe Return (2024)
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Greek heroes are arseholes. This is a rather serious and languid retelling of the end of the Odyssey when Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) returns home after 10 years to his wife and queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche).
Continue readingLie of the Land (2023)
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I only got to see three films at this year‘s Melbourne Irish Film Festival but they were all really solid. I really appreciate festival director Enda Murray‘s choice of films (and his endearingly bumbling introductions and Q&As).
Continue readingIron Island (جزیره آهنی)(2005)
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Mohammad Rasoulof keeps his political critique subtle in this early drama set almost completely on a rusting hulk of an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.
Continue readingThe Lesson (2023)
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Director Alice Troughton has a TV pedigree; she directed two of my favourite Doctor Who episodes – The Doctor’s Daughter and the iconic Midnight.
Continue readingSaltburn (2023)
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Emerald Fennell gives us Brideshead Revisited and The Talented Mr. Ripley dragged screaming into a fantastical modern world where desire perverts everything.
Continue readingHead Wind (باد دبور) (2008)
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ACMI in Melbourne is running a retrospective of the films of Mohammad Rasoulof, an Iranian director who has made some of my favourite films (Manuscripts Don’t Burn, A Man of Integrity, There is No Evil).
Continue readingDream Scenario (2023)
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Kristoffer Borgli (sick of myself 2022) takes a delightful premise and then drains it of joy and drama.
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