A well-meaning but underwhelming documentary that fails to paint a compelling portrait of its quirky Maori subjects.
Continue readingJames & Isey (2021)
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New Order (Nuevo Orden) (2020)
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I wanted to like this confronting, dystopian thriller but it is so unrelentingly cynical and brutal that it felt it had nothing new to say.
Continue readingDigger (2020)
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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.
Continue readingSlam (2018)
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Image via miff.com.au
A disappointingly flat and somewhat tone-deaf treatment of an interesting topic. Continue reading
A March to Remember (Vitoria, 3 de Marzo) (2018)
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Image via http://www.spanishfilmfestival.com
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
The Disaster Artist (2017)
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Image via sonictoad.com
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
A Star is Born (2018)
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Image via http://www.comingsoon.net
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
Good Will Hunting (1997)
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Image via http://www.filmoteca.cat
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
VR: Denoise (Short) (2017)
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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.
Our House (Watashitachi no ie) (2017)
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Image via miff.com.au
Director Yui Kiyohara’s debut feature, Our House, has a quite restraint that adds a lyrical quality to its abstruse narrative. Continue reading
