Tag: Review
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Worst New Releases: 2013.
Amongst the thrills, laughter and emotion that the best cinema of 2013 brought us, there was also some yawns, some boredom and plenty of cringe-worthy moments. 2013 was as full of terrible tripe as it was mastery. Luckily, I avoided 99% of the rubbish due to good judgement. This is perhaps the only joy I…
-
Badlands.
Terrence Malick’s debut tells the story of fifteen year old Holly who falls in love with ‘James Dean lookalike’ Kit. Whilst Holly dryly narrates us through their tale, we watch the couple run away from home and venture out across America, killing anyone who stands in their way. Based on a true case, Badlands has darker dimensions…
-
The Piano Teacher.
Perhaps Michael Haneke’s most refined and meaningful piece of work, The Piano Teacher is far from an easy watch. In typical Haneke-style, there is unpredicted physical violence, repression and unanswered questions but all of this comes together to form a majestic yet twisted piece of contemporary European cinema. This take on the melodrama, tells the story of…
-
Last Days.
I mean, talk about a yawn-fest. Last Days is one of the most dull and uninteresting films I have ever seen. I’m familiar with Van Sant’s style so I was prepared for long scenes of “not much really happening” but Last Days takes this to an unbearable level. This is Gus Van Sant’s depiction of the final days of…
Hannah McHaffie 