Christopher Machell
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DVD Review: The Barefoot Contessa
★★★★☆ At the funeral of Hollywood ingenue Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner), the mourners recall their time with her. Among them are world-weary director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart), slimy studio shill Oscar Muldoon (Edmond O’Brien) and amoral socialite Alberto Bravano (Marius Goring). Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s The Barefoot Contessa is at once a deeply satirical depiction of Hollywood…
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Film Review: Annihilation
★★★★☆ When a mysterious object crashes into a lighthouse, it creates a phenomenon known as ‘the shimmer’, a zone that appears to alter the plants and animals within it. No one who has gone into the shimmer has returned, but growing out of control, biologist Lina (Natalie Portman) is sent in with a strike team…
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Oscars 2018: Our final predictions
With the 90th Academy Awards taking place later this evening/tomorrow morning, the time-honoured tradition of speculating on the winners is now upon us. This year, the Academy will be pulled in two directions: the #MeToo movement as well as fresh memories of #OscarsSoWhite will put pressure on the judges to widen their traditionally conservative choices.…
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DVD Review: Night of the Living Dead
★★★★★ After languishing for decades with sub-par public domain versions, George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead is finally granted the release it deserves, with a lovingly restored print. For the first time, the craft and artistry involved in the first modern zombie film is fully visible. Few filmmakers can lay claim to have…
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DVD Review: The Housemaid
★★☆☆☆ In the midst of the First Indochina War in Vietnam, a young woman, Linh (Kate Nhung), arrives at a French colonial rubber plantation in search of work. The plantation owner, Captain Sebastien Laurent (Jean Michel Richaud) seems kindly, but it’s not long before the supernatural secrets of the plantation begin to manifest. On its…
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Baftas 2018: Our predictions
With the UK’s most prestigious film and television awards taking place later today (18 February), it’s time to enter into a round of foolproof – or is that foolhardy? – predictions on who will win at the 71st British Academy Film Awards. To add an extra level of frisson, the Baftas are historically seen as…
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Film Review: The Shape of Water
★★★★★ Elisa (Sally Hawkins) has strange scars on her neck that prevent her from speaking. When the scientists at the laboratory where she works bring in a monstrous, aquatic creature (Doug Jones) for study, she quickly establishes a bond with it. Soon, Elisa enlists the help of neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins) and co-worker Zelda (Octavia…
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DVD Review: Michael
★★★★☆ Accompanied by an appropriately oppressive score by Pierre Oser, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1924 silent Michael is a film heavy with implication. Just as the film’s setting and period are never explicitly stated, the homosexual relationship between its two protagonists – master painter Claude Zoret (Benjamin Christensen) and his beautiful model Michael (Walter Slezak) –…
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DVD Review: House
★★★★☆ As the summer holidays start, Angel and her school girl chums Kung Fu (Miki Jinbo), Mac (Mieko Satô), Melody (Eriko Tanaka), Prof (Ai Matsubara), Sweetie (Masayo Miyako) and Fantasy (Kimiko Ohba) go on vacation to Angel’s mysterious Aunt’s house, which quickly turns out be a locus of supernatural activity. The term ‘defies criticism’ has…
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Criterion Review: Something Wild
★★★☆☆ Jonathan Demme may have been better known for his dramatic work, but his 1985 comedy Something Wild is undoubtedly worth reconsideration. Charlie (Jeff Daniels) is a stiff New York executive, but when the anarchic Audrey (Melanie Griffith) notices him welch on a lunch bill, she sees something of a rebel in him. The film’s…
