Tag: Review
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Crimson Peak.
A new Guillermo del Toro movie is always an intriguing thing. A versatile director who’s championed many a genre by refusing to stick to their conventions, he now greets us with his take on gothic horror. Gothic horror was in its prime during the reign of Vincent Price, and has never managed to fully resurrect…
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Suffragette.
Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette explores the rising tension between the equal rights movement, determined to get women the vote, and the government in the early years of the twentieth century. With peaceful protests having gone ignored for too long, Emmeline Pankhurst encourages her foot soldiers to fight with actions instead of words. Maud Watts has worked in…
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The Lobster.
Following the end of his marriage, a new singleton checks into a hotel; a hotel located somewhere between Anderson’s The Grand Budapest and Kubrick’s nightmarish The Overlook. The Lobster welcomes us into a surreal dystopian world in which all individuals are forced to aspire to become part of a couple. David’s twelve year marriage has ended…
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The Club.
Following on from his triumphant success No from 2012, Pablo Larrain returns with The Club – an unsettling story about four priests living in repentance in a cottage by the sea. Their warden – an ex-nun – cares for them without judgement and with affection. All are guilty of a variety of heinous crimes. The priests’ livelihoods…
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Sicario.
Kate Macer, a dedicated, ambitious FBI agent is recruited by a mysterious Government task force to assist in the growing drug war against the Mexican cartel. She is told to think hard about whether or not she wishes to accept the position but she barely hesitates. Only days earlier her and her squad discover a…
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Everest.
I saw Everest with my Grandmother, who proceeded to gasp and yelp at every climatic turn the film presented us with. Based on a true story, Everest is a visceral extravaganza which chills. Shot on Everest, in Italy and at Pinewood Studios – Everest benefits from the inclusion of the real, mountainous locations. The film has something…
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Macbeth.
It hardly needed to be confirmed, but Australian director Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth reestablishes both Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as two of Western cinema’s most powerful, talented actors. Combined, they form a mighty duo – here as the Lady and Lord of sin and death. Kurzel’s adaptation opens with the death…
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The Martian.
Nobody has mastered science fiction cinema like Ridley Scott. No other director has repeatedly created such striking visions of space. He’s arguably the first director to capture the same space voyage authenticity first found in Kubrick’s timeless 2001: A Space Odyssey. Despite mishaps such as Prometheus which lacked the artistry, intelligence and focus of its…
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A Young Patriot.
We first meet Zhao Chantong at the age of 19. Like many young men, he’s idealistic, passionate and naive. Like many young men, Zhao will change and grow greatly over the next three years of his life. Haibin Du’s documentary paints an intricate picture of youth and lost souls. A Young Patriot handled not only…
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Merchants of Doubt.
Oddly humorous despite all of its depressing revelations, Merchants of Doubt follows in the footsteps of other great social and political whistle-blowing documentaries; uncovering the corruption that plagues the tobacco, sugar and oil industries. Highlighting the regurgitation by said industries of the same accusations, tactics and power moves, Merchants of Doubt is a complicated, rigorous documentary…
Hannah McHaffie 