Image via time.com
Based on the autobiography of Peter Turner, who had a relationship with Hollywood star Gloria Grahame in the last years of her life, this serviceable biopic showcases Annette Bening’s fine acting skills, which mostly distracts us from the rose-tinted clichés. Continue reading
Tonight I walked out of my flat into the ever-present dusk of a Melbourne night. The day had turned cold and I had returned home, chilled, to armour myself against the wind. I stepped out, limbs warm and looked up to see a colony of bats drifting haphazardly across the grey, a fitting moment for the night before Halloween. Melbourne has been a swarm of costumed revellers, day of the dead skulls and glitter, zombies with mouths sewn shut, ladies ready for the races with hats as wide as Saturn’s rings. Continue reading
A warning: if you’ve read the book this film is based on, you are likely to be outraged at the liberties taken with the plot. Well my 13 year old daughter, although prewarned by her older sister, spent a good half hour afterwards detailing the inconsistencies. Being blissfully ignorant, I quite enjoyed this Tim Burton fantasy of children with special peculiarities and the adults who try to protect and exploit them. Continue reading
Meryl Streep plays real-life New York socialite Florence Foster Jenkins who was a long-time supporter of music and an amateur soprano. What makes her story remarkable is that she occasionally performed, usually to supportive groups of friends, and was recorded several times even though she was not very good. Directed by Stephen Frears and also starring Hugh Grant as Florence’s husband and manager, St. Clair Bayfield, this is the same story that is the basis of the French film Marguerite, also currently in release.
I like films and I like blogging. MIFF is over for a year so I need to find something to feed these two addictions until August 2016. How do you feel about me continuing to blog about films and reviewing the films I see? You love that idea? I thought so.
I hereby commit to at least one film review a week – it might be anything, a worthy and sad Iranian film where nothing much happens when Alex comes to visit or a classic action movie when Ron gets to choose at the DVD shop. Or a romcom or TV series when I’m just hanging out with my girls. Continue reading
