Despite the authentic feel of rural Australia in the 1970s, Aaron Wilson’s exploration of masculinity and Australian identity is a rather flat and depressing journey.
Continue readingLittle Tornadoes (2021)
StandardTag Archives: 3 stars
Sisters with Transistors (2020)
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An interesting documentary about the female pioneers of electronic music that succeeds in elevating their names without necessarily providing a context for their work within the wider genre or their impact on contemporary music.
Continue readingDays (Rizi) (2020)
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You need to be immersed in slow cinema to really feel its beat and emotion and Tsai Ming-Liang’s mood piece about urban loneliness was lost on me on a small screen.
Continue readingPreparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2020)
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Full of slow twists and turns and existential ruminations on the intersections of physiology, memory and personality, Lili Horvát’s enigmatic drama gives us no easy answers.
Continue readingMadalena (2021)
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A worthy but meandering elegy to the many transgender people murdered in Brazil, the highest per capita in the world, according to the end credits.
Continue readingSweet Thing (2020)
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A low-budget family affair with a crew made up of director Alexandre Rockwell’s film students, Sweet Thing feels like a home movie as seen through the eyes of children.
Continue readingCoded Bias (2020)
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At first, this look at the inherent bias of algorithms in our daily lives made me uneasy and tempted to ditch all my technology. I stuck with it, though it nearly had me nodding off with its ambling pace, and was rewarded with some third act gems,
Continue readingShe Dies Tomorrow (2020)
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Flashing coloured lights, an ominous score and an intense and tear-stained performance by a small ensemble cast make Amy Seimetz’s second feature a frustrating and memorable experience. Its seemingly prescient exploration of a pandemic of belief has many nuances that reflect current social crises.
Continue readingDingo (1991)
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Notable for being the most significant acting performance by Miles Davis, Rolf de Heer’s feel-good, boy-has-a-dream drama seems like a film from another era.
Continue readingThe Go-Go’s (2020)
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I wanted to like this documentary about “the first all-female band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to reach number one in the Billboard album charts.” This fact in itself is worthy of celebration. That this feat occurred in 1982 and hasn’t been repeated is appalling and I was hoping that this documentary by Alison Elwood might shine a light on “why The Go-Go’s?”
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