Tis the season, the season where everybody wants to tell you that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and that their favourite Christmas movie is Die Hard. So, let’s get it out of the way: Die Hard is a Christmas movie and is a great movie, but this is hardly a hot take. The issue … Continue reading So You Want to Be a Christmas Movie Hipster: Pretentious Christmas Films to Talk About Instead of Die Hard
Tag: cinema
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)
The Woman Who Ran (Review)
Few films represent the complexity of everyday human interactions as well as Hong Sang-soo’s The Woman Who Ran. It is a film that asks a lot from its viewer but one that rewards in the process, presenting an effortlessly real but deeply cerebral portrait of everyday life. This is a narrative-light film, we follow Gam-hee … Continue reading The Woman Who Ran (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)
African Apocalypse (Review)
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is used as the impetus into an exploration of the ongoing effects of colonialism in Niger in this excellent documentary. Where many historians, and public figures, relegate colonialism to the comfortable past - pushed back as far as possible despite its actual proximity to the present - this documentary focuses on … Continue reading African Apocalypse (Review)
The Ghost and the House of Truth (Review) (Film Africa 2020)
Review Based on BFI Screening from Film Africa 2020 Festival Akin Omotoso's feature is an interesting instalment in a growing movement in Nigerian cinema. The film exists as part of what is being classified as the Nigerian New Wave, a number of independent films that are pushing beyond what has become the norm for Nollywood … Continue reading The Ghost and the House of Truth (Review) (Film Africa 2020)
Possessor (Review)
There is a new name in body horror, and it is Cronenberg. However, it is not David Cronenberg; it is Brandon Cronenberg. As, in his second feature, Possessor, Brandon steps beyond his father's shadow to make one of the most interesting - and just one of the best - films of the year. Though it … Continue reading Possessor (Review)
Shirley (Review)
With Shirley, director Josephine Decker breaks into new territory while covering familiar ground. It is a combination that makes for an interesting film, as it continues the strengths of the director's past work while feeling somewhat bolder and - in ways - more refined. It is also Decker's most conventional and accessible film, which is … Continue reading Shirley (Review)
Relic (Review)
A sublime ending elevates Relic from something unremarkable into something incredibly interesting. Though this final movement is not quite enough to save the film, per se, it does establish it as a very promising debut. In these final movements, Relic fluently speaks the language of horror as a vehicle for articulating nuanced and resonant themes … Continue reading Relic (Review)
Akira (4K Remaster) (Review)
One of the most - if not the most - iconic and influential anime feature films of all time is back in cinemas. Akira being briefly available to watch at IMAX theatres means that there has never been a better time - or better way - to watch the 1988 classic. Any fears that time … Continue reading Akira (4K Remaster) (Review)
Assorted Opinions 