17 Jun 2013
Behind the Candelabra
15 Jun 2013
On The Essence Of Cinema (Part 13)
I Heart Huckabees
A delightful tribute to mental illness, depression, loneliness and the need for a purpose – just any purpose; something that will give us a reason as to what we’re doing here. If you’re ready to mock every single one of your values and fears, I Heart Huckabees will show you the way.
On The Essence Of Cinema (Part 13)
Film Criticism An interesting side effect that results from these cinematic additions to a base of essential content (the...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 12)
Complexity – A Brief Note Complexity is important to narrative and [3] as a whole: as noted previously, conflict...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 11)
Experimental Film This point has further implications when applied to the differences of opinion and technique between advocates of...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 10)
Narrative and Film: Approaches, pt. 1 An ideal of narrative film is that every facet of the movie should...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 9)
Sign and Signifier in Cinema So, let us begin to examine this final plane by which cinema exists. Despite...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 8)
[1] from [2] Although this kind of material is certainly not the final form a movie will take, a...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 7)
Editing Movies act upon [2] content by presenting it in a juxtaposed form that creates a complete “world of...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 6)
Further Implications: Properties of Cinema Plain images yet divorced from any higher content is the barest material cinema is...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 5)
Cinema as Material Having defined [2] as separate from [1], we may now further consider what this means; let...
On the Essence of Cinema (Part 4)
Film as Material An Exact Definition of [2] But first, let us consider the scraps from which that butterfly,...
Carrie
Carrie is a very flawed film. There is nothing revolutionary or particularly intelligent about it but that makes it all the more loveable. Most of the performances are stiff and the script is full of problems but this does not change the fact that Carrie is responsible for a variety of iconic and memorable horror cinema scenes.
Visit Hannah McHaffie’s Reel Insights Blog for more similar stories.
Upstream Color
It’s a challenge, like all true originality is. It’s a texture you can’t quite grasp — one of the first notes I wrote while watching reads “The intersection of almost corporate clarity: suits and perfectly stated language — with stranger things.”
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Biancanieves
A gentler Snow White than most, at times wild and at others annoyingly passive, Berger’s lead character is beautiful but admittedly, frustrating. Her ability to unconditionally love everything around her warms us up to her, but her inability to hold a grudge and stand up for herself continuously lets us down and leaves us dissatisfied.
The Wind
Like all silent films, where the spacing and pauses and separations change, merge and disappear, The Wind carries through in a wistful haze, defined by a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere, and strengthened by a poetic and typically Western script.
The Artist
It is definitely a nostalgic approach to cinema but, somehow, it works, especially at a time when Europe seems to re-evaluate, or wishes it has valued more, the past years.
Metropolis
Fritz Lang’s masterpiece is a work of chaos, one which refuses to be categorized by any sane system.
Silver Linings Playbook
It’s very interesting to see how meltdowns are experienced and handled in Silver Linings Playbook. They are treated as normal, which is invigorating — because they are. No one is evil, but everyone is tired, disappointed
and angry with the hand of fate.
Behind the Candelabra
Being only two decades old, there was something about Michael Douglas’ performance in Behind the Candelabra that I was never going to fully...
Buffalo ’66
Vincent Gallo has always been a controversial figure. He is remarkably unpopular with some particular critics and film writers...
The Purge
When the premise of a film is so intriguing and original, there is an immediate pressure upon the project...
Hiroshima, Mon Amour
Its music — a simple enough, flutelike melody that’s a bit unnerving all the same — gives the viewer...
Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry is a remarkably understated piece of work. It was slated by critics, which is a pity because...
Parked
I didn’t really know what to expect when I decided to watch Parked. I chose it decisively after having...
Winter’s Bone
A rifle is placed in a little boy’s arms – here, it seems to be justifiable. Brutality, paranoia and...
Nine
Inspired by Federico Fellini’s notorious 8 ½ as well as his personal and professional life, Nine has a great...
Broken City
And as Mark Wahlberg is steadily turning into one of my favourite actors against all odds, I cross paths...
Frances Ha
Frances is 27. Her friends say she looks older than that. One is Sophie, who at Frances’ request to...
Mud
It’s harrowing what love can do to a man. It can make them hate, or kill, or simply hearten those who do. Even more painful is that love makes them wait. For as long as possible, those lovers wait for that love to bloom, or to come back, or to become full again.
Have a look at Morad Moazami’s latest review on Antiquiet – “The Rolling Stones Abandon Artfulness for Artifice in Toronto”
Frances Ha
There are films that capture the “ideals of a generation” while keeping more or less close to reality: Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Band of Outsiders both come to mind. The great thing about Frances Ha is that it begins with a very familiar plot convention — but, by taking it seriously, brings a great deal more to light. I’ve no doubt that Frances Ha will continue to strike a true chord with me in about six years.
Mark Christopher’s 54 and The Andy Warhol Diaries
Of course, there are many better films to compare The Andy Warhol Diaries to, but that one thing that...
Give Birth To “A Brand New You”
Independent Toronto-based Dangerous Dust Productions is now officially at the last stage of raising funds for their upcoming project...
Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi: Worlds Apart
The cinematography in Godfrey Reggio’s films provides enough to sustain; but the messages behind the collective images turn them...
Ron Fricke’s Baraka and Samsara
“Humanity’s relationship to the eternal” is Ron Fricke’s favorite theme. His works are wordless observations of humanity: portraits of...
Who is Colonel Lawrence?
“He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew.” “Did you know him well?” “… I knew him.” These...
Roger Ebert: Our Inside Viewer
I only knew Roger Ebert through his writings, but that was more than enough. His backlog of reviews is...
Mortonity Report: Reflecting on the work of Samantha Morton.
I admire, above all else, the subtlety that an actress can bring to a role. Besides this subtlety, consistency...
Truth Be Told – Rashomon and Room 237
A documentary was put together last year, exploring a load of different viewpoints and explanations surrounding Stanley Kubrick’s The...
Weaving Tales
This happened — so then that happened. Every action brings on a consequence. Every cause is followed by an...
Jean de Florette and Manon de Sources
There is no other way to watch Jean de Florette and Manon de Sources than back to back, immediately without pause. If you allow yourself any other way, you’ll be left ruined.
Antichrist
Don’t ask me who the Antichrist is in this case. I felt that both Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe competed fiercely for the title. In the end, Willem Dafoe earns it, but not after his on-screen wife hasn’t put enough of a fight.
To Kill a Mockingbird
For me the greatest screen adaptation of literature is visible in Robert Mulligan’s cinematic retelling of To Kill A Mockingbird from 1962. There is something fantastically basic about the film that allows the characters, and the stories they tell, to resonate vibrantly through the screen.
Jean de Florette and Manon de Sources