Cinematic adaptations of popular young adult fantasy series may be guaranteed to rake in the profits, but they’re also guaranteed to bring in the same exact complaints from the fandom every damn time. Specifically, rabid fans of the original novels – whether it’s Twilight, Lord of the Rings or The Hunger Games – always take…
After a fortnight of emotional, stirring pictures at the Brisbane International Film Festival, it seemed only fitting to return to the warm, blood-stained blanket of a dumb ‘80s slasher movie. My Bloody Valentine’s strongest elements aren’t particularly dumb. The setting of an industrial coal-mining town provides a welcome reprieve from the pretty, wealthy teenagers that…
12 Years a Slave takes its name from Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir, which recounts the true story of how Solomon, a free black man in antebellum (pre-Civil War) America, was kidnapped and sold into bondage in Louisiana. The title tells a casual moviegoer that this is a film about slavery; but it’s the first two…
The original French title for Abdellatif Keciche’s Blue is the Warmest Colour is La Vie d’Adèle (“The Life of Adèle,” for those who flunked French). It’s not hard to see why the title was changed for its English release; Blue is the Warmest Colour is a more intriguing title, and it remains well-suited to the…
I’ve never seriously contemplated walking out of a movie theatre; consequently I’ve sat through the entirety of some truly execrable films. Yet halfway through Short Term 12, I strongly considering getting up and leaving the cinema. Short Term 12 takes its name from the foster care facility that serves as its primary setting, and is…
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut, Don Jon, demonstrates sparks of clever filmmaking. The film’s construction is deliberately repetitive, using recurring rituals (church, Sunday lunch, gym, jackin’ it to internet porn) that change to highlight the growth of its (unlikable) characters. It also mines humour from these subtle variations – generally at the expense of its Jersey-Shore-esque…
Only Lovers Left Alive is, yes, yet another vampire romance. But before you toss up your hands and perhaps make a snide joke about Robert Pattinson sparkling in the sunlight, it should be clarified that this is no teen romance. Indie director Jim Jarmusch goes in a very different direction to your standard vampire fiction.…
The appeal of Kerouac’s On the Road isn’t its story – a loose, rambling journey across America featuring lots of drugs, sex and hitchhiking. The power of the novel is its prose, the way it encapsulates the optimism and possibilities of youth. To its credit, Walter Salles’ adaptation gets that. The plot is unimportant and…
Have you ever been at a party and found a stranger a particularly compelling speaker? They’re mounting an argument, and their eloquence is both engaging and convincing. But just when you’re totally in their corner, they reveal that they’re not who they seemed to be – what seemed like satirical wit is revealed as unfortunate…
Originally posted on You Talkin' To Me?:
Review by Dave Crewe of CCpopculture Robert De Niro is an undeniable icon of American cinema, an actor who casts a long shadow. He’s renowned as a versatile, idiosyncratic method actor who has given vivid life to some of the most memorable characters of the last half-century. It…
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