Yet again, here’s some write-ups to spruik! Rise of the Eco-Warriors is an Australian documentary about deforestation. I had the chance to interview its director Cathy Henkel for the 500 Club, and also wrote a review of the film. Another film being released today is Need for Speed, which is about as disappointing as you…
“Why do people watch films about Nazis? To see power and sadism! We can do that! We can make something even more sadistic.” – Anwar Congo The Act of Killing, one of the best films of 2013 – and certainly its most confronting – has been the target of significant criticism recently (A.J. Schnack’s article…
A Girl Cut in Two is my first film from French New Wave director Claude Chabrol, and I certainly hope it’s not a representative first impression as it puts me in no hurry to investigate his other films. This romance-drama-thriller ambles through its pedestrian plotline without any sense of purpose; we cross-fade from scene to…
Non-Stop brackets a thrilling middle sequence between two disappointing – but thankfully brief – acts. Your enjoyment of the film will depend pretty much entirely if you can forgive the silliness of the final act. But make no mistake, this whole film is remarkably silly – that’s the point! It’s simply that the second act’s…
Michel Gondry’s The We and the I is a high-concept, low-budget portrait of the selfishness of teenagers. Aside from its introduction and a few anecdotal excursions, the entirety of the film takes place on a school bus. The setting ensures the film maintains a singular focus on teenage social dynamics; it’s an appropriate metaphor for…
Robert Redford gets lost in a dense sea of symbolism in All is Lost. My review of this impressive, if monotonous, film can be found at Cheated Hearts. 300: Rise of an Empire is more interested in 3D sprays of blood and conflicts – between fleets of ships and Eva Green/Sullivan Stapleton alike. My review…
In my interview with Tracks director John Curran, he emphasised the importance of the interior journey of Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska), the young Australian girl who completed a solo trek across thousands of miles of Australian desert. That interior journey is a large part of what makes Tracks such an excellent film; the way Robyn…
I don’t like to read books before watching their cinematic adaptations, because I tend to come down more harshly on the film due to the baggage of expectations. Such is the case with Sam Mendes’ interpretation of Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road. The strength of novel is that its critique of fifties suburbia is elevated by…
I’m not really that interested in getting too caught up in the Oscars fol-de-rol that consumes the critical community around this time of year. I read a lot about the Academy Awards because, well, it’s people getting passionate about film! People arguing emphatically about which film is better and the industry, about who will win…
“Airplanes are beautiful dreams. Cursed dreams, waiting for the sky to swallow them up.” It’s hard to separate The Wind Rises from its creator, Hayao Miyazaki, iconic anime director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli. Barring a Jay Z-esque change of heart, The Wind Rises represents his last feature length film, and with this in mind…
ccpopculture 