I had a really interesting conversation yesterday with a friend about the subjectivity of film reviewing and how the baggage you carry with you influences your judgement of a film. I’m not sure he totally agreed with me but we then watched Midnight Special and, for me, my bias was clear. My sister asked me to see this film as she wanted to talk to me about it’s metaphor and metaphorical it certainly is. At least it has to be otherwise it doesn’t really make sense. Continue reading
Tag Archives: 3 stars
Eddie the Eagle (2016)
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The trailer for this film sucked me in. It looked like a warm, quirky British biopic in the vein of Billy Elliot or Chariots of Fire. It’s based on the true story of Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards, the irrepressible everyman who managed to represent Great Britain in ski jumping at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, despite being a relative newcomer to the sport and not on a par with other competitors. Unfortunately this film has more in common with Cool Runnings, the largely fictionalised Disney film of the Jamaican bobsled team that competed at the same Olympics, than I hoped. Continue reading
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (2015)
StandardI have mixed feelings about this documentary. I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about an interesting and non-conformist woman who had an impact on the development and understanding of modern art, something that seemed to be the domain of men in the mid-20th century. The documentary itself, though, is rather pedestrian and does not match its subject’s love of challenging and expressive art. Continue reading
In the Shadow of Women (L’ombre des femmes) (2015)
StandardOr why sometimes it is better to cut and run. Pierre and Manon are married. They are documentarians who struggle to make ends meet. Pierre is silent and dour, Manon sparkles and pleases. Pierre meets a younger women, Elizabeth, and begins an affair. One day Elizabeth spies Manon in the arms of another man and must decide if she should tell Pierre. Continue reading
Room (2015)
StandardThis Irish/Canadian drama has an interesting premise. We meet five-year-old Jack and his mother, Ma. They go about the ordinary business of domestic life in their home but it soon becomes apparent that Ma and Jack are confined to a single room. It takes a while for us to discover why and, for a while, we are no more than arm’s length from them, seeing everything through their eyes. On the surface, the film explores the challenges we face in life and the courage we may find within ourselves but it also posits a deeper question – how much do we need to protect children from the world? Continue reading
The Danish Girl (2015)
StandardOh goodness me. Another film inspired by a true story. This one couldn’t be more different from The Revenant in style and sensibility, although I reckon it might also be playing to the Academy Award crowd. Eddie Redmayne plays Einar Wegener, a Danish artist in the 1920s who was the first publicly-known person to undergo gender reassignment when he became Lili Elbe. The Danish Girl focuses on him/her and Gerda, Einar’s wife and fellow artist. The story is…nice, palatable, inoffensive. Transgender packaged up neatly for a heterosexual world. Continue reading
The Revenant (2015)
StandardI have mixed feelings about this movie, a visceral and epic story of survival in the frigid wilds of 19th century South Dakota. Hollywood and ‘inspired by a true story’ make me wary. Usually it means notions of heroism have been cranked up to 11 and drama has been fabricated to keep us 21st century viewers engaged. Add Leonardo DiCaprio and, at nearly three hours long, you know this has Academy Award intentions. But. This is directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, the Mexican director of Babel, 21 Grams, Amores Perros and Birdman, so it will never be ordinary. Continue reading
All is Lost (2013)
StandardAll is Lost is the Robert Redford film where he is the only cast member and there is no dialogue. This is all I knew about this film and it was enough to make me want to watch it. Peripheral anecdotes had seemed positive, along the lines of surprise at how watchable the film was, even without dialogue. Redford plays a sailor who seems to be in his sixties or seventies (Redford is 77 but not surprisingly has fewer lines and grey hairs than you would expect) who is sailing alone on a rather nice yacht. An unexpected accident happens that damages his yacht and from then, we see him struggle from one mishap to another as his situation becomes more serious. Continue reading
Magic Magic (2013)
StandardThis is the Sebastian Silva film that I had originally booked and then got the recommendation to see The Maid. I really liked that one and I suspected that this wouldn’t be as good. It wasn’t, but he has won me over as a director and I’m now intrigued to see more of his films.
Alicia is a California girl joining her cousin Sarah for a break in Chile. With some Chilean and American friends they head south to a remote coastal location where they are surrounded by the mess and noise of nature. It becomes clear that Alicia is suffering from some kind of breakdown and the isolation, geographically and emotionally from those around her, means she quickly spirals into psychosis. Continue reading
Louder Than Bombs (2015)
StandardThis is listed as a Norwegian film, as the director Joachim Trier is from Norway, but it’s set in the US with mainly Hollywood actors so it feels American. It has an interesting and promising premise. A widower struggles to communicate with his two sons after the death of their mother, Isabelle. She was a celebrated war photographer and it soon becomes apparent that she took her own life. Continue reading
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