Tag: Review
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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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The Look of Silence.
When I first watched Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing I didn’t know how to process it. Repeat viewings haven’t helped. Although there is much to admire about his initial documentation of the remaining killers from the Indonesian genocide of the 1960s, I was left unsettled by the fantasy and surreal approach to a harrowing…
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Slow West.
John Maclean’s feature length debut is a road movie. A young Scottish man, determined to get across America to find the woman he loves, is joined by a mysterious, ruthless loner who takes on the role of his mentor, guide and protector. Nobody knows who to trust and everyone’s intentions are questionable. Slow West is about…
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Tomorrowland.
Set across several different times and spaces, Tomorrowland tells the story of a childlike android, a child inventor and a determined, scientific teenager as they attempt to save planet earth via another world, time and place. What begins as a family adventure film soon wilts into a poorly executed environmental flick with an admittedly sincere…
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Jurassic World.
About half way through Jurassic World, lead actors Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard kneel down beside an injured Brachiosaurus. A close-up encounter with the beast reminds us of what was so great about Spielberg’s original. Relying so heavily on CGI up until now, this moment in Jurassic World finally captures some of the magic of…
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Timbuktu.
Beautifully shot and hauntingly relevant, Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu is undoubtedly one of this year’s greatest triumphs. The tranquil lives of a cattle herding family are only occasionally disturbed by the Jihadist law they find themselves living under. That is until one unfortunate event threatens their peaceful existence. Sofian El Fani’s cinematography overwhelms – beautiful imagery…
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Mad Max: Fury Road.
I’ve allowed myself over a fortnight to digest George Miller’s re-invisioning of his original dystopian franchise. Time away from Mad Max: Fury Road has proved as crucial to my criticism as time spent with it. Nobody will forget their experience of watching Mad Max: Fury Road for the first time; mine having been slightly tainted by the light…
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A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.
Ana Lili Amirpour’s directorial debut feeds on an array of different influences and inspirations whilst experimenting with style and tone. Its playfulness is counteracted by its gothic undertones. Based on the director’s own graphic novel and described by her as “the first Iranian vampire spaghetti western”, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night has individuality…
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The Tribe.
Rarely does a debut feature reach the ambitious heights of Miroslav Slaboshpitsky’s The Tribe. With its bleak aesthetic and harrowing themes of abuse, sexual exploitation, violence and manipulation, this Ukrainian horror drama portrays the cruel happenings in a boarding school for deaf students. Despite the school setting, there are only two classroom scenes. The majority…
Hannah McHaffie 