Category: Film
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August: Osage County.
Following a tragic event, the Weston family children, consisting of three sisters, return to the sticky heat of their childhood home, just outside of Oklahoma. The film’s title provides the place and time of this story. The Weston sisters are parented by Beverley and Violet. They have an alcoholic poet for a father and a…
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Inside Llewyn Davis.
Doesn’t everybody know a version of Llewyn Davis? Set in 1961, Inside Llewyn Davis shows us one week in the life of a struggling folk musician. Llewyn has certainly been dealt some blows from the world. With his performance partner having recently jumped to his death from what one character claims to be “the wrong bridge”, we…
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Mary & Max.
In 2003, Harvie Krumpet won an Academy Award for best animated short film. A 22 minute Australian clay animation, Harvie Krumpet tells the heart-breaking story of one man and his battle with a lot of misfortune whilst remaining ever the optimist. Illness, war, old age, disability and loss swamp Harvie’s existence but he never allows any of this to…
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Happiness.
One hardly knows where to begin with reviewing such a film. Todd Solondz’s Happiness is many things but let’s start with the acknowledgement that it is a challenging film. It is a disgusting masterpiece that taunts its audience who tend not to know how to react to it. The sensational Roger Ebert summarised the spectator’s battle with Happiness in…
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Edinburgh: January.
After a 6 week trip back home over the Christmas break I am finally back in Edinburgh. My time at home was a busy but relaxing one. Despite working as many hours as possible behind a bar and stressfully submitting my essays I also spend some wonderful quality time with my family, friends and partner.…
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The Railway Man.
Eric Lomax’s story is one of sorrow, redemption and forgiveness. There is a sadness and a beauty in the real tale that would have made for a stunning cinematic adaptation. Sadly, The Railway Man fails, in all possible ways, to tell this story. In 1942, Lomax, who was a British army officer, found himself in a Japanese…
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The Wolf of Wall Street.
A familiar force is present in Scorsese’s latest cinematic whirlwind in the form of editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Wife of the late and great Michael Powell, one of Scorsese’s cinematic idols, Schoonmaker has edited every film of Scorsese’s since Raging Bull and it could be argued that she is equally responsible for creating that precise feeling I get…
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12 Years a Slave.
Out of this year’s nine Academy Award ‘Best Picture’ nominees it is possible that 12 Years a Slave has had the most publicity; closely followed by Gravity. Adapted from the memoirs of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave tells a story of truth; a fact that makes the film even harder to watch and more tragic to accept. The injustice of…
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American Hustle.
American Hustle is a delightful whirlwind of nail varnish, comb-overs, quiffs and hairspray. The eccentric costumes are fitting of both the time setting of the film as well as the characters – whose natures are artificially glamorous, fake and nasty. David O. Russell has created a film with a fun and nostalgic visual aesthetic that reflects…
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Frozen.
In 2010 Disney released Tangled. Despite trying to do something new and refreshing Tangled ended up feeling a little too familiar with the modernised fairytale being thoroughly worn out since the success and originality of Shrek. Tangled also demonstrated Disney’s attempt to step up their game as collaborators and partners and animation rivals Pixar churning out a vast number of high quality…
Hannah McHaffie 