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.
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