Tag: Movie Review
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Burn After Reading.
The Coen brothers know how to do so many things. They know how to tell a steady and suspenseful story like Fargo and they know exactly how to poetically linger on loneliness and whimsy, demonstrated in Inside Llewyn Davis. Perhaps what they do best of all is chaos; the madness and genius we find in Burn After Reading would certainly…
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Muppets Most Wanted.
I grew up watching The Muppet movies. They often seemed a little dated and a little isolating because of just how darn American they were, but that was all part of the charm. I have fond memories of The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan. I recall being mesmerised and impressed by the glamorous musical sequences…
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The Royal Tenenbaums.
This is possibly Wes Anderson’s most complete and perfect film. Often I find his approach a little too extreme and absurd. I like his films but I find that they sometimes drag on for too long. I couldn’t help but admire the artistry that went into Fantastic Mr. Fox but it drifted so far away from the…
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Nymphomaniac.
Lars Von Trier’s latest work proves just how simultaneously serious and silly he can be. Nymphomaniac is the final in his trilogy about depression; the first two films in the series being Antichrist and Melancholia. Split into two volumes, the film’s total running time is over four hours. In Denmark it was released as one five hour film, in the UK…
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The Invisible Woman.
Ralph Fiennes is turning out to be a wonderful director. In fact, his direction is the best thing about his second film, The Invisible Woman. Fiennes plays Charles Dickens in cinema’s retelling of the writer and his mistress, Ellen Ternan. The film is based on the book by Claire Tomalin. Fiennes’ drama explores the affair between…
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The Armstrong Lie.
When I was thirteen years old a craze took over my school. In a matter of weeks the most popular accessory to be wearing was a ‘Livestrong’ band. Every other person at my school had a bright yellow band around one of their wrists. For my generation, this is remembered as more of a trend…
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Dallas Buyers Club.
David France’s How to Survive a Plague was a documentary all about the power of activism which helped destroy the death sentence that came hand in hand with the diagnosis of AIDS. The film studies the protests and passion of a group of inspiring individuals who fought with governments and establishments in order to demand drugs and…
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Her.
Visually, Spike Jonze’s futuristic romantic new feature film, Her, is breathtaking. Crisp and bright, Her is bathed in pastel tints and the warm glows of a not so distant future. The film’s aesthetic remains consistently refreshing from the opening detailed close up of actor Joaquin Phoenix’s face to the closing images of a city, lit up and buzzing with…
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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…
Hannah McHaffie 