The Will Smith and Margot Robbie Vehicle Focus Is No Way to Get Back on the Cinema-Going Horse
I have recently put a serious dent in the business of my local art-house theater. Instead of rushing to make up for it as soon as I could, I let a couple of friends drag me to the multiplex instead and all the way to Will Smith’s newest attempt to restore his reputation after After Earth showed him the life after one’s no longer a big box-office draw. The experience wasn’t a horrible one, much like Focus itself isn’t horrible, merely boring and lackluster. Mr. Turner Review
Mr. Turner's greatest strength relies in being an auteur piece, instead of one of those clinched Oscar-baiting, stereotypical Hollywood biographies we have come to expect to come out in the English language. Leigh's semi-experimental style truly shows itself here, lending the film rawness and spontaneity and saving it from the stuffy pitfalls of the typical Masterpiece Theatre English biopics. The overall result is dynamic and robust, directed with finesse and confidence by Mike Leigh and not lacking in his usual biting humor. In less versatile hands, this film could have easily ended up pedantic and over-wrought, but Leigh's rock-n-roll mix of following an existing script and freestyle on-set improvisation plays fast-and-loose with the safety of conventions and effortlessly builds a picture that never truly gets lost within its own importance. Read more... |
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The big Soviet blockbuster of 1976, Табор уходит в небо, is known in the English canon by two titles: Queen of the Gypsies and the actually accurate one of Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven so I will refer to it by the later from now onwards. The film is based loosely on the works of Russian writer, Maxim Gorky, and directed by the Soviet director of Romanian origin, Emil Loteanu. At the time it was a bona fide cultural phenomenon in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and a huge success, selling 64.9 million tickets in the USSR alone.
Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven can be viewed on youtube with English subtitles courtesy of Mosfilm. Read more... |
The Hobbit. The Battle of Five Armies Review
I knew I was getting old, when I realized I remembered a time when I could go to the cinema without taking anti-nausea and pain medication first. In the case of The Hobbit trilogy, that meant that I had to sit through the longest misguided attempt at pandering in history sober, since you're not supposed to drink alcohol with any of those. The answer to the trailer question of “How shall this day end” is “in three movies, the titles of which are longer than the book itself.” Assuming, naturally, that we have not all been conned into being testing subjects for a frame rate experiment and instead of the test conductors paying us, we paid a stiff tax for the (dis)pleasure. Side-effects include nausea, dizziness and occasional boredom. If these effects persist, support your local art-house by seeing one of these excellent indie films: Leviathan, Winter Sleep, Citizenfour, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Nightcrawler... . I should go back to reviewing The Hobbit now, shouldn't I?... . Well, the movie did get inflicted upon me so I might as well inflict a rant about the experience upon my readers. |
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Citizenfour Review
I usually shy away from the important qualifier, as I started this website as an homage to film as art, however, Citizenfour is simply too... important. As essential as any of the cinematic masterpieces having come out this year are, this brave and extraordinarily well-made documentary is the one that you absolutely have to watch, as well as spread awareness of it to as many people as possible. Probably the most topical film of the year, Citizenfour encapsulates the must-watch concept.
Citizenfour is a documentary directed by American journalist and film-maker, Laura Poitras, regarding Edward Snowden and his revelations about NSA's illegal, world-wide spying and surveillance activities. The film does not limit itself to only that, providing a wider context for the ever-expanding global surveillance based on Poitras' work on the matter, which earned her the constant harassment of American authorities.
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I usually shy away from the important qualifier, as I started this website as an homage to film as art, however, Citizenfour is simply too... important. As essential as any of the cinematic masterpieces having come out this year are, this brave and extraordinarily well-made documentary is the one that you absolutely have to watch, as well as spread awareness of it to as many people as possible. Probably the most topical film of the year, Citizenfour encapsulates the must-watch concept.
Citizenfour is a documentary directed by American journalist and film-maker, Laura Poitras, regarding Edward Snowden and his revelations about NSA's illegal, world-wide spying and surveillance activities. The film does not limit itself to only that, providing a wider context for the ever-expanding global surveillance based on Poitras' work on the matter, which earned her the constant harassment of American authorities.
Read more
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Top 10 Films of 2014
(Birdman, Whiplash, Inherent Vice and Foxcatcher don't open in my corner of the world till next year so I haven't gotten a chance to form an opinion of them yet.) 1. Leviathan / Winter Sleep 2. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence 3. The Postman's White Nights 4. Le paradis 5. Interstellar 6. The Tale of Princess Kaguya 7. Timbuktu 8. Grand Budapest Hotel 9. Two Days One Night 10. Snowpiercer Interstellar Review
I have had a hard time even beginning to consider writing this one, because I think I'm addicted to the film. After seeing it for the first time, I spent about seventeen hours in a daze that can only be classified as a high. Also the more times I watch it, the more I crave another viewing. So I'm not sure whether I need to write a review or have an intervention staged. I couldn't say what exactly about Interstellar caused this reaction: the sweeping space vistas, the sometimes discreet and other times dizzying pendulation between grand-scale and excruciatingly intimate scenes, the Mirror-like filming of the elements that bleeds into a Tarkovksy and Malick like editing in addition to the parallel one typical of Lee Smith and Christopher Nolan. Read more Nightcrawler Review
Nightcrawler is a small indie film that made head-away with the critics and even managed for be Number 1 at the American box-office for one weekend in October. According to the data collected so far by boxofficemojo.com, the film made over forth time its budget already. It also made quite a splash to the Indie Spirit Awards, gaining five nominations. It's not all for naught, as the film is a well-made, updated '70s style media drama with terse, dark thriller undertones. It simultaneously reminded me of Network, American Psycho and maybe even Sydney Pollack's Absence of Malice. Despite all these influences, Nightcrawler is very much its own movie, sleek and well-written, though wobbling slightly in its third act, that is nonetheless saved by an unexpected ending with a strong noir vibe. Full review What We Don't Talk about When We Talk about Interstellar
An apology for a blockbuster is the last thing I expected to write this year. One for the divisive Palme d'Or winner, Winter Sleep, of course. One for Roy Andersson's latest effort, maybe. One for Andrei Konchalovsky's The Postman's White Nights--that one's still coming. But not for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. Though, in retrospect, I realize I should not have been so naive... . |
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Review
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is the latest and apparently, last film from legendary anime director, Isao Takahata, as he has announced this retirement this year. As expected from the creator of Grave of the Fireflies, it is an utterly unique and heart-warming masterpiece. Entirely hand-drawn, despite an impressive 137 minutes length, the film resembles a color-infused, naive literati painting come to life. And life is one of the many things this gem has in abundance, realistically dealing with issues such inadaptability, the desire to belong and finding one's place in the world. None of these clutter the film, however, as they are treated with maturity and infinite care, while sprinkled throughout a marvelously-crafted fantasy tale that can be followed and taken at face value. Read more Winter Sleep Review
Just as Michaelangelo sculptured into marble until he set the angel trapped within free, so did Nuri Bilge Ceylan hone his sublime masterpiece, Winter Sleep, from digitally-captured footage, discreet use of Franz Schubert's Sonata in A major D959, and refined and beautifully-nuanced performances. This year's Palme d'Or winner is a monumental film built on character studies inspired by the short stories of Russian playwright and writer, Anton P. Chekhov, and filmed in a unique style that at times recalls that of Andrei Tarkovsky. There is even a scene with a horse mirroring the one in Andrei Rublev, yet set to a different rhythm. The narrative, though, is closer to that of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage at times. Read more The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 Review
There are two punctuation signs in the title of this film. Jean-Luc Godard's latest has a simpler and shorter title than this Young Adult popcorn flick! That should offer hint as to the thrill ride we are in for with this movie. I would say this is a blockbuster laboring under the delusion of being a deep, dystopian film, if it were not so obvious that no effort was put in what-so-ever. Read more Leviathan (2014) Review
Leviathan is the forth feature film from the acclaimed Russian director, Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev. After its Cannes premiere earlier this year, the film has been met with widespread critical praise, while also taking the festival circuit by storm and collecting accolades wherever it went. Read more |