No one knows how to push boundaries quite like Gaspar Noé, and throughout his storied career, he has made films that are as innovative as they are controversial. On a personal level, while I admire his audacity and his willingness to take enormous risks, I have never truly connected with the director – it isn’t…
Rocketman (2019)
You may recall last December, we had a look at Bohemian Rhapsody, and how it embodied everything that should not be done when making a biographical film about a musical icon. This review will take a similar approach, but from the complete other direction, which is a relief to say the very least. Rocketman is…
Opening Night (1977)
A woman on the verge of a complete breakdown takes the stage every night, and battles her personal demons, channelling her trauma into her performance, hoping that somehow she will be able to convey some iota of truth. John Cassavetes certainly knew how to construct a compelling story from the most simple of premises, as…
The American Friend (1977)
Hamburg in the mid-1970s. Jonathan Zimmermann (Bruno Ganz) is a mild-mannered art Swiss art restoration expert and tradesman in frame-making. He is slowly dying from leukaemia, and intends to live out his days quietly and without trouble. Also in Hamburg at the same time is Tom Ripley (Dennis Hopper), a mysterious American man who is…
High Anxiety (1977)
Remember when parody films were actually good? When they were well-written, respectful and most importantly, funny? When they were actually works of comedic genius rather than convoluted, low-brow excuses to make fun of other films? There have been some great ones throughout the years, but they have mostly faded, at least in the most traditional…
Two for the Road (1967)
Two for the Road is more than just a great film – it is a poignant reminder of why I love cinema. There is a quality of a story well told that just strikes harder than anything else, and with this film, Stanley Donen made something quite extraordinary – a funny, melancholy and utterly gorgeous…
Death Becomes Her (1992)
There’s something so satisfying about seeing some of the greatest performers in history duking it out in trashy but entertaining films. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford established this with the iconic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and set off a chain reaction of similarly dark and twisted female-focused films that are nothing more than perverted…
One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977)
“Their friendship was very sound. True, they were different – one sang. the other didn’t. Yet, they were alike” These words are some of the final spoken by Agnès Varda in her role as narrator. We have previously followed the life of two women. The one who sings is Pauline (Valérie Mairesse), otherwise known as…
Martin (1977)
George A. Romero was a filmmaker mostly associated with defining zombie films and launched a worldwide obsession with the walking dead that has lasted since his groundbreaking film The Night of the Living Dead and its innumerable sequels. However, while he may be best known for his work with this newly-minted undead, Romero’s finest moment…
The Ascent (1977)
During the Second World War, a small group of partisan soldiers and their families venture across the cold and arid landscapes of the Soviet Union, running from German soldiers who seem to have only one intention – kill every Soviet they possibly can, especially those that align themselves with the small but violent guerrilla groups…
The Postmodern Pelican 