Many people seem to have so many differing opinions on what is the greatest film of the 21st century – and the BBC recently bestowed that honour upon Mulholland Drive, a high point (perhaps the highest point) in the career of David Lynch. One film that has been tossed around as being one of the…
Category: Drama
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
I am not someone who thinks that any film adaptation of a book is superior to its source material, but I am also not someone who vilifies the practice. I do think there are some truly extraordinary cinematic adaptation of great books (such as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, which border on being…
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Full disclosure – Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette, also The Bicycle Thief) was the first film I watched this year – that is nearly nine months ago. The reason I am writing this review so late is simply because I couldn’t muster up the courage to do so – how do you write a review…
Queen of Earth (2015)
From the very first moment in Queen of Earth, you are instantly captivated. It begins in a very unconventional manner – Catherine (Elisabeth Moss) sits, an emotional wreck, screaming and weeping at her boyfriend who is about to leave her. We are not given any context or explanation, but the camera stays on her as…
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Cinema is meant to tell stories, and very often those stories are rather far-fetched or fantastical and are not rooted in reality. It is thus the responsibility of independent cinema to tell the stories that mainstream cinema refuses to. Independent films show a different side to society very often and often venture into taboo territories….
Hamlet (2009)
I consider myself somewhat of a scholar of Shakespeare, literally and figuratively. Literally, because I am studying English Literature and there is not an English literature course that does not feature the work of The Bard in some way, and figuratively because as long as I remember, I’ve always been captivated by the work of…
Lilies of the Field (1963)
Other than Peter O’Toole and Jack Lemmon, the only actor I am willing to contend is the greatest actor to ever live is Sidney Poitier. It boggles my mind to see his output from the late 1950s to the late 1960s and not legitimately believe this guy was on the exact same level as Marlon…
Coriolanus (2011)
I love William Shakespeare – more specifically, I love his plays. I think that they were as relevant as social and political criticisms in the 16th century as they are now, in the 21st century. It is not a contentious point that they are timeless and filled with a quality that keeps them from ever…
Love is Strange (2014)
I was watching this film while someone else was nearby, casually watching. He remarked that this film was “not a good movie” because it lacked explosions and guns, and thus it was not exciting. I beg to differ – a great film doesn’t need anything other than a compelling story and the right people to…
Knight of Cups (2016)
In the pantheon of great filmmakers, Terrence Malick is amongst the very best. His streak of films between 1973 and 1998 (in the space of those twenty-five years, Malick only made three films, but each one of them towering masterpieces). He also did majestic work in The New World and made an excellent experimental coming-of-age…