I can see what this austere drama from Georgis Grigorakis was trying to do and, for a first feature, it is well crafted and tonally interesting. Pitched as a David and Goliath battle between an everyman and a mining company and also, oddly as a ‘Western, revisited’, it didn’t quite achieve its aim.
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A disappointingly flat and somewhat tone-deaf treatment of an interesting topic. Continue reading
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A worthy but oddly unsatisfying look at the brutal government response to worker strikes in the Basque region of Spain in the 70s. Continue reading
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This dramatisation by James Franco about the making of the cult classic The Room (2003) should only be watched after attending a midnight screening of the film it explores (the only way to watch it, in my opinion) or perhaps not at all. Continue reading
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It’s possible I am a lone reed in not loving the third remake of this quintessential film about the tragedies inherent in fame. A lone reed. Or a heartless wretch. I remained unmoved as Bradley Cooper heroically directs himself into every frame, leaving not enough room for the absorbingly wonderful Lady Gaga. Continue reading
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It’s a long time since I last watched this movie, which has stuck in my mind primarily due to the unexpected Oscar win of then unknown actors and screenwriters Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. I’d forgotten it was directed by Gus Van Sant, a director I admire for films like Elephant (2003), Mala Noche (1986) and My Own Private Idaho (1991). Sitting down to watch this again for the first time in perhaps 10 or 15 years, I found myself underwhelmed. Continue reading
An interesting journey through sites of industry – metal crushers, freight ships, oil wells – with people who work there speaking of their relationships with sound and silence. Marred by the noise coming from the venue foyer, it was nevertheless an interesting experience but not as visually pleasing as the above image.
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Director Yui Kiyohara’s debut feature, Our House, has a quite restraint that adds a lyrical quality to its abstruse narrative. Continue reading
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I have no idea what this film is about. If there were signs of a meaning, I missed them and felt confounded as the credits rolled. Continue reading
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An intriguing albeit flat documentary by Irene Lusztig, Yours in Sisterhood has contemporary women reading unpublished letters sent to Ms magazine in the 1970s. Continue reading
