Film reviews and more
★★☆☆☆ Hoping, no doubt, to capitalise on the recent international success of ITV’s Downton Abbey and other successful historical dramas on the big screen comes Christopher Menaul’s Summer in February (2013). Adapted by Jonathan Smith from his own novel, this is a fictionalised account of a period of high emotions and scandal in the bohemian wing of the Newlyn […]
★★★★☆ After delivering a barnstorming superhero flick with Avengers Assemble (2012), Joss Whedon took the curious decision to adapt William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, filming in his own Los Angeles home under tight budgetary restrictions and time constraints. By supplanting his celebrated dialogue with that of the greatest wordsmith of them all, Whedon could have easily set himself […]
★★★★☆ “There’s nothing but trouble and desire” repeats one individual in Simple Men (1992). Occurring at the midpoint of the film, it’s an accurate précis of Hal Hartley’s fourth feature; like his preceding films, it’s about the pursuit of romance against certain obstacles, but there’s a sense of innocence lost in Simple Men, an air of resignation and melancholy […]
★★★☆☆ The films of Michael Haneke are often so steeped in ambiguity and intrigue that the very idea of shedding light on the methods of the Austrian auteur is an intrinsically tantalising proposition. While the theories on the films themselves espoused by Yves Montmayeur’s portrait won’t be novel to those familiar with Haneke’s oeuvre, the on-set footage of the […]
★★★☆☆ Western fans of Japanese cinema will be well aware of director Takashi Miike, having created ripples of excitement with Audition (1999) and 13 Assassins (2010). What they may be unaware of is the sheer volume of movies that he’s churned out over the years, not just as a director but with writing, producing and acting credits to his […]
★★★★☆ It’s been a remarkable decade for Romanian cinema. While Cristi Puiu and Corneliu Porumboiu both delivered impressive works with The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) and Police, Adjective (2009) respectively, it was arguably Cristian Mungiu’s 2007 Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days that crystallised the movement and defined the Romanian New Wave. The shadow of […]
★★★★☆ James Balog is a photographer whose work has always revolved around the relationship between humanity and nature. After working on imagery that explored humanity’s interaction with endangered animals, he went in search of providing a visual interpretation of the challenges facing the world with regards to climate change. This he did be finding a hook – an ‘in’ […]