Category Archives: Reviews

Halloween (2018)

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Image via Universal Pictures via collider.com

3.5_orange_sm

This sequel in the slasher horror franchise that launched Jamie Lee Curtis’s career in the late 70s feels like a loving homage, firmly rooted in its origins albeit with better gender (but not cultural) representation. Continue reading →

Colette (2018)

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colette

Image via times.com

3.5_orange_sm

This thoroughly enjoyable biopic tells the story of celebrated and notorious French writer Colette and her struggle for recognition. Directed by Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice 2014), Colette has the feel of a lush, British period drama, with well-drawn characters, gorgeous costuming and a pace that never feels rushed. Continue reading →

The King (2017)

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Image via miff.com.au

4.5_orange_sm

This masterful and emotionally-engaging documentary begins as a journey through the key places and moments in the life of Elvis Presley, from Tupelo to Memphis, Nashville, New York and finally Las Vegas. Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki drives around in Elvis’s Rolls-Royce and passengers join him, some telling stories of being Elvis’s friend, neighbour or fellow churchgoer, some famous faces talking about celebrity and politics, others just playing a tune. Continue reading →

The Rider (2017)

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Rider

Image via miff.com.au

4.5_orange_sm

I tried to keep my expectations low for this quiet and cinematic meditation on masculinity and rodeo riders. I only booked it because of recommendations from fellow MIFF tweeters and it’s often a mistake to expect too much (First Reformed (2017) is a good example of this). It took a little while to settle into the pace and the slight awkwardness of non-professional actors but once I did, I was hopelessly lost in its beauty and pathos. Continue reading →

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (2018)

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Image via miff.com.au

4.0_orange_sm

Pretty much all I knew about Matangi a.k.a. Maya Arulpragasm a.k.a. M.I.A. is the song Bad Girls. The anthem to girls doing whatever they want has a killer video clip of stunt drivers in the Middle East and M.I.A. resplendent in shades and gold chains. I now know there is so much more to her than this song and her Grammy and Oscar nominations. Continue reading →

Tigers Are Not Afraid (Vuelven) (2017)

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Image via miff.com.au

3.5_orange_sm

Based on the real problem of children left vulnerable when their parents are captured or killed by Mexican drug cartels, Issa López’s horror take is cast primarily with child actors who do a decent job of carrying the story. Integrating fable-like elements and some competent special effects, the result is engaging although somewhat marred by sentimentality. Continue reading →