I live in cinema. I feel I’ve lived here forever. ~Agnès Varda I don’t write obituaries. I’ve never been able to lament the death of public figures enough to put pen to paper and actually write something as if I had known the person or had anything to offer about their life that others did…
Claire’s Camera (2018)
Hong Sang-soo is a director known for his beautiful but often heavy-handed dramas that look at the life of ordinary people, normally those with artistic inclinations. A film that saw Hong move slightly away from his more intense dramas without losing his spirited focus was Claire’s Camera (French: La caméra de Claire), a cross-national comedy…
Green Book (2018)
There are two types of memorable films – the first is one that attempts to revolutionize the cinematic form, being intellectual, thought-provoking works that thrive on their originality, their narrative idiosyncracies and their technical prowess to create otherwise unforgettable experiences that would be difficult to replicate, and go on to inspire countless other artists to…
Best F(r)iends: Volume One (2018)
Best F(r)iends is either one of the worst crime films ever made, or one of the most genius, self-aware comedies of the past few years. In fact, it is very possible that it is both. At this point, it isn’t necessary to venture too deeply into the folklore surrounding The Room – I have written…
Let’s Get Lost (1988)
Let’s Get Lost is a standard biographical documentary, approached in quite an unconventional manner – and considering it is a film about Chet Baker, one of the most unusual and folkloric figures in the history of jazz music, it seems oddly appropriate that director Bruce Weber approaches his story in a way that is unusual…
Serial Mom (1994)
I recently revisited Serial Mom for the umpteenth time, and it remains one of the most brilliant films of the 1990s. I have often mentioned how I am an ardent admirer of John Waters – despite his earlier works being grotesque, vulgar and beyond transgressive, he has always had a renegade appeal that strikes me…
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
The King of Marvin Gardens starts with a story – a quiet, emotional retelling of the protagonist’s childhood experience seeing his grandfather die, a traumatic experience, made only worse by the fact that is was preventable. A few minutes later, we see him return home, his grandfather as lively as ever. The story was a…
Paddleton (2019)
Tragedy is easy, its comedy that is difficult. This is an adage that has existed as long as people have been endeavouring to make audiences laugh – it is also the theme residing at the very core of Paddleton, the offbeat and endearing comedy-drama from the mind of independent cinema’s most enduring auteurs, the Duplass…
The Upside (2019)
The odd couple is a trope that has been omnipresent in literature for as long as it has existed, and for good reason – even at their most dull, these kinds of stories do prove to be quite compelling, because it allows two contrastive characters to be paired, with hilarity often ensuing as a result…
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
A dystopian world, around six hundred years into the future. Dr Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) is a mechanical engineer and scavenger who finds the processing core of an unnamed cyborg, who he rebuilds and subsequently names Alita (Rosa Salazar). Beneath the innocent exterior lurks the heart of a fighter, with the capacity to do battle…
The Postmodern Pelican 