Tag: Thriller
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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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American Hustle.
American Hustle is a delightful whirlwind of nail varnish, comb-overs, quiffs and hairspray. The eccentric costumes are fitting of both the time setting of the film as well as the characters – whose natures are artificially glamorous, fake and nasty. David O. Russell has created a film with a fun and nostalgic visual aesthetic that reflects…
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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…
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Captain Phillips.
Four month ago I posted an entry on this website called ‘The Magic of Tom Hanks‘. The article discussed the actor’s baffling screen diversity and applauded Hanks for his ability to remain a household name and yet never be typecast. Having played some of cinema’s most memorable characters, from Mr. Gump to Captain Miller, Hanks…
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Dogtooth.
Dogtooth depicts a family whose three children are completely unaware of the outside world. Told by their father that man-eating cats await them outside of the family walls, the three children remain childlike in mindset despite clearly physically venturing into adulthood. They have no understanding of sex, reality or the truth about their imprisonment. The father…
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The Fifth Estate.
When I first saw the trailer for Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate I was a little concerned at just how quickly this story was hitting the silver screen. After all, WikiLeaks was only founded seven years ago. The controversy and historical significance of this organisation are still developing. When entering and leaving the cinema I was very aware that…
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Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
When you do an internet image search for “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” the majority of photographs that appear are just like the one above. Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck interlocked as the two lead characters; their heads as close as possible to one another as the infatuated couple, Ruth and Bob. The montage of images…
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Purple Noon.
René Clément’s slick suspense thriller Plein Soleil, translated as Purple Noon, is bubbling over with attitude and terror. We first meet Tom Ripley on the streets of Italy, laughing and chatting with friend Philippe Greenleaf. We soon learn that Ripley is being paid by Greenleaf’s father to try and persuade Philippe to return home to the United States…
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Berberian Sound Studio.
I first experienced Italian Giallo cinema nearly two years ago when I sat in the Hyde Park Picture House at Halloween and witnessed Dario Argento’s Suspiria. The sounds of smashing glass, gruesome screams and the violent musical score were some of the most enchanting elements of the film. The bright crimsons that splashed onto the screen…
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Notes on a Scandal.
Notes on a Scandal, is a story within a story. A female teacher’s affair with a fifteen year old student, and the consequences of this, is merely a backdrop for the real tale of one woman’s agonising loneliness. Barbara is a stern and well respected teacher, nearing retirement. Her bitterly cold approach to teaching is…
Hannah McHaffie 