The French New Wave is quite an odd period of filmmaking – for once, filmmakers could depart the silly mainstream and actually use this newly-found genre to make minimilistic passion projects and express their love of nihilism (can one love nihilism though). To me, two films represent the apex of the French New Wave –…
Tag: drama
Santa Sangre (1989)
I have always embraced weirdness, especially in films. To me, Klaus Kinski was far more interesting than Jimmy Stewart, and Johnny Depp is superior to Tom Cruise – but only in terms of keeping one interested and always guessing as to what is next. This interest I have in “weirder” people naturally led me to…
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema. His contributions to cinema are forever cemented in the films he directed – from Network, one of the greatest films of all time, to Dog Day Afternoon, a star-making turn for Al Pacino (which really says something considering he starred in two Godfather movies before this) and everything from play…
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
As long as I’ve been alive, I’ve been hearing stories about different people becoming attached and detached to an adaptation of the classic short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty which was turned into a 1947 Danny Kaye comedy. Since then, the likes of Jim Carrey, Owen Wilson, Sacha Baron Cohen and Mike Myers were…
12 Years a Slave (2013)
The measure of a great film is one that not only entertains but also allows a degree of discussion to happen between audiences about the messages of those films. One film that has caused a lot of discussion in the masterpiece 12 Years a Slave. While not in any way a perfect film, 12 Years…
An Appreciation of…The “Before…” Trilogy
There have been many memorable screen couples – Abbott and Costello, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau and Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. A personal favourite is that of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy – they were, for many years and spanning many films, the sexiest screen couple you could possibly see (their behind-the-scenes escapes notwithstanding),…
Captain Phillips (2013)
Once someone has won two Academy Awards for Best Actor, he has the fullest right to cash in and just do mediocre films for a paycheck. Many in that position would try and avoid challenging films if they could. Tom Hanks doesn’t dare. In recent years, he has done some less than great movies and…
Blue Jasmine (2013)
There are few names as iconic in filmmaking as Woody Allen. A prolific craftsman, the man has moulded so many films, it is insanely difficult to choose his best one. Among the greatest of the greats are Annie Hall, Manhattan, Bullets Over Broadway, Crimes and Misdemeanours and Midnight in Paris. Blue Jasmine joins those ranks without a doubt. In…
The Way Way Back (2013)
Let me start off by saying this: The Way Way Back is absolute perfection. I was expecting something in the vein of Juno, which wasn’t at all a bad thing and I was incredibly optimistic. However, I was wrong. No film has shown the agony and angst of teenage life since The Breakfast Club in…
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Several people, including myself, enjoyed this film. However, it was fraught with many problems. Let me state that of actors today, very few have the charm of Robert Downey Jr. No one could do what he does in Iron Man, Iron Man 2 or Iron Man 3. He is truly a great actor and an…
The Postmodern Pelican 