In a cinematic landscape that thrived on the constant repetition of the same set of tired ideas, David O. Russell stood firm in his belief that cinema could be original without resorting to successful, but derivative, conventions. In fact, he managed to demonstrate that filmmaking didn’t even need to make much sense overall, as evident…

There’s a great film hiding somewhere in Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette  – the problem is, much like the titular protagonist, it’s extremely difficult to find, but unlike Bernadette, it never materializes after disappearing, remaining elusive for the entire duration of this unfortunate chore of a film. While I’ll readily admit that I am…

Sibyl (Virginie Efira) takes her job as one of Paris’ most sought-after psychologists very seriously – so seriously, in fact, she has decided to quit the profession, and return to the career she has always envisioned herself as thriving in – writing, an endeavour she quit years ago to pursue a real career. Now, with…

When it comes to being both warm and intelligent, endearing but very meaningful, there are few films that seem to be able to come close to The Peanut Butter Falcon, a film so hilariously irreverent, but still so deeply compelling, you can’t help but feel entirely overwhelmed by the beauty of it, as well as…

Gérard (Gérard Depardieu) is a middle-aged mechanic in a bit of a crisis – his marriage is plagued by infidelity, and he’s on the verge of being abandoned by his wife (Françoise Lépine), a lascivious woman who openly demonstrates her disdain for her spouse through her intense flirtations with any man who shows her any…

Imagine an ordinary suburb somewhere in the American Midwest, sometime in the past, present or future. It’s an idyllic place that could be absolutely anywhere – yet, there’s something strange about this community. The adults all wear braces on their teeth for undisclosed reasons, residents drive golf carts through the streets lined with identical houses,…

Come for the promise of a stylish New Hollywood fairytale, stay for a heavily-accented Orson Welles taunting an orangutan in-between magic tricks. This seems to be the premise behind Henry Jaglom’s A Safe Place, a film that is quite remarkable in precisely how misguided it actually finds itself being, despite all the promise it had…

There was a time when Woody Allen wasn’t making incredibly safe, often innocuous films about self-centred romantics hoping to find some meaning in worlds they don’t understand, but rather capable of telling stories that were edgy, subversive and even a bit controversial at times, and indicative of a filmmaker who was intent on satirizing anyone…

It’s unfortunate that Born Yesterday doesn’t get enough of the love it deserves. It is decently acclaimed and has many ardent admirers, but it has often struggled to be seen as anything other than just an effective comedy hailing from the mind of George Cukor, who was never really able to reach the same heights…

Jeannie Tyne (Linnea Heacock) is a young woman slowly growing tired of her overprotective parents, Lynn (Lynn Carlin) and Larry (Buck Henry), who do everything they can to control the life of their daughter. Jeannie, wanting to explore the world and learn about life, runs away from home and sets off on her own adventure….