Tag: Addiction
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Colossal.
Booted out of her New York apartment by her exasperated partner, Gloria finds herself back in her childhood town, sleeping on the floor of her now empty family home. Having been out of work for over a year Gloria’s life has become a toxic cycle of heavy late night drinking and sleeping through the day…
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Moonlight.
From its first intoxicating moment, to its last; Moonlight is the sensational underdog of this year’s American award season. Capturing the life and mind-set of a young boy entering adulthood in Miami, Moonlight captures the ugliness of adolescence, the agony of addiction and the frustration of growing up as a young, black, gay man in…
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Born to Be Blue.
By delicately and thoughtfully multi-layering fact over fiction, Robert Budreau’s Born to Be Blue is a beautifully textured, loose interpretation of jazz musician Chet Baker’s 1960s comeback. We first meet Baker on the floor of a damp Italian jail cell, withdrawing from heroine. Moments later, we’re in a world of fast pace black and white,…
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Janis: Little Girl Blue.
If you look for this documentary under the image tab of the search engine of your choice, you will come across many a photographed portrait of Janis Joplin. Very little else emerges except perhaps the occasional film poster. This is somewhat reflective of Janis: Little Girl Blue, a film deeply concerned with image and painting…
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Heaven Knows What.
Ben and Josh Safdie’s Heaven Knows What was initially supposed to be an entirely different being – but after meeting Arielle Holmes during their initial research they convinced her to write a book about her life, her drug addiction and her experience of living rough. The book, Mad Love in New York City, was then adapted…
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Amy.
As so many had to be with the singer herself, be patient with Amy. Spanning over two hours, Asif Kapadia’s new documentary explores the life and career of jazz singer Amy Winehouse. Incorporating archive footage, home movies and voice-over interviews with those entangled in her life, Amy focussed on the talent and troubles that consumed the…
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Bad Lieutenant.
Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant takes its audience on a harrowing and trippy journey into the unhinged and depraved mind of its lead character. The title explains everything. Harvey Keitel plays a bad cop; as bad as they come. Despite learning many disturbing things about him, we never learn this cop’s name. The lieutenant scurries around his…
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Shame.
Director Steve McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender are proving to be one of Britain’s most flourishing collaborations. After the critical success of their first project Hunger, there was room for the duo to explore new territory. Fassbender brings a bleakness to the films of McQueen; a genuine sense of desperation that is usually so hard to capture.…
Hannah McHaffie 