For some, the pursuit of a better life does not always yield the results that were perhaps anticipated, proving that the grass is not always greener on the other side, as the well-worn adage tends to go. In her ambitious feature-length debut Toxic, Saulė Bliuvaitė questions the very nature of audacity and the perils that…
Boro in the Box (2011)
If one wanted a strong entry point into experimental European cinema, two names that serve to be appropriate introductions are Walerian Borowczyk, the acclaimed Polish filmmaker with a penchant for the absurd, and Bertrand Mandico, a French director who has cited “Boro” as one of his influences. This is made extremely evident in Boro in…
Crime and Punishment (1983)
Regardless of how much work is done by psychologists and analysts, understanding the criminal mind will never be something we will be truly able to do, especially since there isn’t any singular motivation that impels someone to commit a crime, whether petty or major, which makes efforts to curb criminal behaviour from the start a…
The Last Queen (2023)
The term “history” is quite a divisive one – for some, it evokes the feeling of dull, passionless stories that do very little outside of promoting the past and how life was supposedly better or worse at any given point prior to our birth, while for others it is an exciting concept, an opportunity to…
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
While his name is usually associated with the lavish, detailed melodramas that defined an entire generation, Douglas Sirk was far more versatile than contemporary perceptions would have you believe – and for those of us who are at all agnostic to some of his more popular works like Imitation of Life and All That Heaven…
The Substance (2024)
“Fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate” There have been many notable quips based on the concept of fame over the years, but the one above by Emily Dickinson (whose own interactions with public life and her efforts to recede into as much obscurity as she could as a notable figure are fascinating…
Charley’s Aunt (1941)
As far as sociological history goes, nothing says more about a culture and its history than the humour that was popular at the time. Humour is one of the few tools that is both timeless and intrinsically tied to a particular point in the past, and as we see in many instances, the best way…
Oh, Canada (2024)
There is a theory that, should a filmmaker have a long enough career, they will at some point make a film about themselves. For some, this comes towards the start of their career, in the form of ambitious coming-of-age stories where they use their limited knowledge and paltry life experience to tell energetic, compelling stories….
Le Week-End (2013)
Anyone who has ever been in any kind of romantic relationship will undoubtedly know that it takes work to be a committed partner and more than a few loving companionships are built on a foundation of trust, virtue and honesty, as well as the ability to be with one another through whatever challenges may be…
Shampoo (1975)
Few directors defined the 1970s quite like Hal Ashby, mainly because nearly his entire career (or rather the aspects that are most memorable about it), were contained in this decade – prior to his directorial debut with The Landlord, we was an acclaimed editor, and his later output after Being There paled in comparison to…
The Postmodern Pelican 