Sunday 30 January 2022
Life (2015)
A photographer for LIFE Magazine is assigned to shoot pictures of James Dean.
Carefully directed and beautifully photographed study of a short historic friendship is more focused on Dennis Stock's perspective, Robert Pattinson delivering an excellent portrait of the man.
House at the End of the Street (2012)
After moving with her mother to a small town, a teenager finds that an accident happened in the house at the end of the street. Things get more complicated when she befriends a boy. A double murder is not an accident.
Highly derivative and unoriginal horror drama additionally disappoints by presenting an ending that contradicts most of the notions planted beforehand; it's not Jennifer Lawrence's fault, though.
Maltin*1/2: "Dull, unimaginative, and overly familiar, it's not even really horror, just a relatively obvious mystery."
Thursday 27 January 2022
The Satan Bug (1965)
A germ that could destroy life on Earth is stolen from a biological warfare lab and the thief threatens to release it into the open, prompting a security officer to act.
Well-staged and photographed sci-fi thriller has an interesting premise, but with stiff performances and due to too many plot twists is only mildly suspenseful.
Halliwell*: "Slow-moving, portentous, gadget-filled actioner which looks good but seldom stimulates."
Maltin***1/2: "Overlooked little suspense gem...Taut script...and direction, stunning photography..."
Monday 24 January 2022
La vie d'Adèle (2013)
Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
Extensive, intimate lesbian romance profits from its cinéma vérité approach, good cast and a stellar performance by Adèle Exarchopoulos; however, the controversial explicit love scenes are indeed incongruent to the story and some of the dialogue seems more implausible than realistic.
Maltin***1/2: "Controversial film is directed in a fluid, naturalistic style and features several very graphic sex scenes. One might question whether the rather conventional love-and-loss story is worth three hours, but the two leads are excellent, particularly Exarchopoulos whose face - framed mostly in loving close-ups - conveys a world of conflicted feelings."
Saturday 22 January 2022
Seaspiracy (2021)
Passionate about ocean life, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species - and uncovers alarming global corruption.
Criticized for its lax handling of some facts and statistics, this documentary does clearly make its case about the destruction the fish industry causes to our oceans and a plea for us to reduce or do without fish consumption.
Friday 21 January 2022
Thursday 20 January 2022
The Woman in the Window (2021)
An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbors, only to witness a disturbing act of violence.
Despite all its credentials this well-produced thriller is thoroughly derivative and piles up so many plot options so that any possible twist ending would only disappoint.
Sunday 16 January 2022
Porto (2016)
Jake and Mati are two outsiders in Porto who once experienced a brief connection. A mystery remains about the moments they shared, and in searching through memories, they relive the depths of a night uninhibited by the consequences of time.
Left field romance beautifully set in Porto (quaintly pictured in bad weather) playfully and a bit irritatingly shifts the perspectives on its story; artful and excellently played but not quite substantial.
Saturday 15 January 2022
Future World (2018)
A young boy searches a future world wasteland for a rumored cure for his dying mother.
If you want to see a bunch of stars wasted in a lacklustre post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama, this movie could be your thing.
Friday 14 January 2022
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
A charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.
Definitely the work of a talented director creating an atmospheric film with excellent photography, good soundtrack and a formidable cast, but the intended horror and its surreal message of redemption seems stilted and pretentious; Funny Games it is not.
Thursday 13 January 2022
Life in Colour (2021)
Exploring the many ways animals use colour throughout their lives.
Fascinating short documentary series revealing recent scientific findings on the topic illustrated with some spectacular photography; the third and final episode is a bit of a summary of the techniques used for the series plus some remarks on the dangers of climate change.
Tuesday 11 January 2022
The Strange One (1957)
Students faced with an ethical dilemma about the dehumanization
associated with the tradition of hazing, at a military college in the
Southern United States, take matters in their own hands.
Unusual military academy drama with some debut performances of Actors Studio including an especially vicious Be Gazzara is clearly stage-bound but suspenseful.
Halliwell*: "A weird and unsavoury but rather compelling melodrama which unreels like a senior version of Tom Brown's Schooldays."
Maltin***: "Bizarre military school account of far-out Gazzara's peculiar hold over various underclassmen."
Sunday 9 January 2022
Il trono di fuoco (1970)
The Lord Chief Justice of seventeenth century England condemns women as witches to further his political and sexual needs.
Saturday 8 January 2022
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
Not really a faithful adaptation of Truman Capote's novella, the plot is quite messy and the male lead a bland miscast; nevertheless, this movie became an instant classic thanks to a lively and witty direction and the irresistibly charming Audrey Hepburn.
On re-watching: Despite all its flaws this is a movie I come back to every soften mainly for Audrey and quite a few memorable scenes.
Halliwell*: "Impossibly cleaned up and asexual version of a light novel
which tried to be the American I am a Camera (qv). Wild parties, amusing
scenes and good cameos, but the pace is slow, the atmosphere is
unconvincingly clean and luxurious, and the sentimentality kills it."
Maltin***1/2: "Charming film...Dated trappings don't detract from high comedy and winning romance."
Thursday 6 January 2022
Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily (2013)
The historic but disastrous concert held by Frank Zappa at the La Favorita stadium in Palermo on July 14, 1982 and the journey of the Zappa family to discover the artist's Sicilian origins.
Although this documentary is made within the Italian director's quite personal view of a specific (but not insignificant) moment in Zappa's life, it is extremely well-made, very thorough and manages to present revelatory insight and some very moving scenes.
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