Child’s Pose, Romanian Cãlin Peter Netzer’s 2013 searing exploration of maternal love, is one of my favourite films. Ana, Mon Amour treads similar ground but, in its more epic, complex and ambitious scope, ultimately fails to engage. Continue reading
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There’s a lot to like about this spooky Australian thriller, not least Adelaide Clemens’ stoic performance as twins Maude and Cleo. A sluggish pace and a muddled plot though fail to build the tension needed for this to be genuinely scary and ultimately satisfying. Continue reading
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This arthouse Todd Haynes adaptation of Brian Selznick’s graphic and text novel looks lovely but lacks the pace and complexity to keep its readership engaged. Continue reading
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Oh Ridley. You forgot what made Alien so great. It wasn’t the iconic HR Giger design, it wasn’t the special effects or complicated world-building narrative. It was two things – character and suspense. We got to know Ripley and Lambert and Kane and Ash. We cared what happened to them. We held onto our seats and sheltered behind cushions as Ripley navigated her way through the Nostromo, we cheered when she and Jonesy made their final report. Continue reading
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Another Melbourne Queer Film Festival screening and with a title like that you know it’s going to be a raunchy lesbian film. There were two queues snaking down the stairs at ACMI and I could tell at a glance that the all male one was not the one I needed. The first of two sold out sessions, my expectations were high. Sigh. Below Her Mouth is everything that Lovesong isn’t. Continue reading
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Ah Matthew McConaughey, have I ever really loved any film you’ve been in? You’re often a charmer but it’s a smug, chauvinistic sort of charm, especially in those dreadful romcoms you did back ten years or more ago. Mud was okay but I’ve just scrolled through your filmography on IMDb and the answer, really, is no. So why did I bother with Interstellar? I had a vague impression that it was interesting and, being about space, I thought it might interest my Starship Troopers-loving husband whilst also engaging our brains. It did neither. Continue reading
The Unknown Girl is a film that will have an unknown ending for me as I walked out on it. It’s by the Dardennes brothers and I was really looking forward to it but I just couldn’t engage with the storyline. Jenny is a young doctor in her last days at a general practice for low-income patients before she moves on to a better job. One night after closing time, the clinic bell rings and she doesn’t answer it. It turns out to have been a young girl who was then murdered. Feeling responsible, Jenny tries to find out who she is. Continue reading
