CineVue
For the latest reviews of arthouse, documentary and indie film in cinemas and on the festival circuit.
★★★☆☆ Satire comes in two modes: Juvenalian – harsh, critical and in service of a serious point – and Horatian – light, humorous and affectionate. In attempting to do both, David Michôd’s War Machine doesn’t quite succeed at either, never fully gelling into the absurdist War on Terror satire to Continue Reading
★★★★★ The Red Turtle is an animated dream, a transcendent work of beautiful, heart-rending art from Studio Ghibli and Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit that features no dialogue but speaks volumes of humanity, an indefatigable spirit and mankind’s inter-relationship with nature.Ostensibly a story of survival, this fusion of sound, Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Outside of Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pirates of the Caribbean is one of Disney’s most successful franchises, amassing millions at the worldwide box office over four films. Thirteen years after the first, a fifth is here.Salazar’s Revenge, or Dead Men Tell No Tales as it’s known Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope is a funny, heartfelt story about the Syrian refugee crisis that’s not dissimilar to the Finnish director’s Le Havre: a compassionate comedy about the experiences of an African boy arriving illegally in the titular French port town.Kaurismäki’s latest is another tale about Continue Reading
★★★★☆ The debut from Welsh-Zambian director Rungano Nyoni, I Am Not a Witch created quite the stir on premiering in Cannes. It’s the tale of a young orphan girl played by nine-year-old Maggie Mulubwa, who is accused by villagers of being a witch.The tone is set by the comic police Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. However, in Xiaogang Feng’s I Am Not Madame Bovary, amid bouts of understandable fury, it’s more an overwhelming sense of aggrieved betrayal that drives Li Xuelian (Bingbing Fan).Left spurned by her husband when a scheme to divorce and then remarry – Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Detour is not exactly a remake of the 1945 film noir of the same name, but in making explicit reference to that film more than once, certainly owes it a debt of gratitude. Indeed, Christopher Smith’s teen neo-noir – think Brick in Vegas – is nothing if not a Continue Reading