The beauty of Pixar films often stems from a crystal clear premise, the kind of singular idea that a film just laps out of - and that is then effortlessly surrounded by accessible yet deep themes. Toys come alive at night; monsters want to care rather than scare; a discarded robot is in search of … Continue reading Onward (Review)
Tag: 2020
The Painted Bird
Part way through this film, we have the scene from which it gets it title. It is a visual metaphor that overhangs the whole film and gives us the best window into the film's message. A man grabs a bird in his hand and he paints it, marking it as different. He lets the bird … Continue reading The Painted Bird
Hamilton (Review)
The concrete legacy of Hamilton will always be important: giving starring roles to people of colour and putting them on the biggest broadway stage, a stage that was hitherto dominated by whiteness and homogeneity. Though this is no saviour of theatre, and has done little to inspire similar shows in its wake, it did provide … Continue reading Hamilton (Review)
About Endlessness (Review)
Nobody makes films like Roy Andersson. The only issue with this is that Roy Andersson repeatedly makes films like Roy Andersson, and his style is so specific that its utter uniqueness becomes, paradoxically, repetitive. Each Roy Andersson film is like nothing else but, since 2000’s Songs from the Second Floor, each following film has been … Continue reading About Endlessness (Review)
Rocks (Review)
This pitch perfect evocation of teenage life (specially teenage girls and primarily people of colour) ends with this statement in the credits: ‘The cast and many other young Londonds collaborated with the writers and filmmakers to create the characters and world of our film.’ This collaborative approach, an ethos further enforced by the want to … Continue reading Rocks (Review)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Review)
At the heart of this adaptation of August Wilson’s stage play are two phenomenal performances. Viola Davis stars as the titular Ma Rainey and Chadwick Boseman (whose tragic death hangs heavy over this film, his final film) as jazz trumpeter Levee. Boseman is just outstanding here, his performance is loud and powerful, but marked by … Continue reading Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Review)
Soul (Review)
There is a lot going on in Pixar’s Soul, which is somewhat of a problem. It is an ambitious film with existential aspirations which, to an extent, go unfulfilled and weigh things down. The very heart of this film, its soul perhaps, is touching and charming; it is just that there is too much surrounding … Continue reading Soul (Review)
Wolfwalkers (Review)
To begin with, Wolfwakers seems overtly familiar. We are in a medieval fantasy world in which a tyrannical ruler is trying to destroy nature (the surrounding woodlands) to extend their rule and nature is fighting back, in this film in the form of routine wolf attacks. It is a man versus nature setup, an overt … Continue reading Wolfwalkers (Review)
Time (Review)
Most critiques of the criminal justice system focus on how it lets down the innocent. This documentary, Time, focuses instead on how it mistreat the guilty, and is a stronger critique because of this. In a way, this is similar to Kieslowski’s masterpiece (one of his many) A Short Film About Killing, where showing how … Continue reading Time (Review)
Lynn + Lucy (Review)
To a great extent, Lynn + Lucy is defined by what what you do not see, focusing instead on aftermath and assumption. Some of this is shown in small ways: focusing on a central character while you hear an argument from offscreen or showing insulting graffiti on somebody’s house, as they enter it, without showing … Continue reading Lynn + Lucy (Review)
Assorted Opinions 