Toni Erdmann – A Modern Masterpiece?
Toni Erdmann was one of those rare films enshrined as a masterpiece almost immediately. But does it live up to the hype?
BIFF 2017: The Square
The thesis of The Square is simple: humans are selfish motherfuckers who only act benevolently because of the pressure of polite society.
Strictly Ballroom: Cheat Sheet
A guide to Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 Australian cinema landmark, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this week.
Netflix Vs Cinema: Why We’re The Winners In The Fight For Independent Film
If you have an interest in the continued existence of interesting independent film, then Netflix should be an ally, not the enemy.
Tale of Tales (2015)
As its name suggests, Tale of Tales is an anthology film, retelling three Italian fairytales through the lens of high fantasy (and a splash of Game-of-Thrones-esque sexuality). Despite a rave reception after opening last year’s Cannes, it has little to offer beyond impressively baroque aesthetics and a few standout performances. The three stories – of…
It’s Only the End of the World (2016)
Xavier Dolan’s sixth feature film, It’s Only the End of the World, had its Australian premiere at Sydney Film Festival from a precarious position. Arriving from Cannes with a pair of strange, if increasingly common bedfellows – widespread critical derision and the Grand Prix prize – it’s perched on a pedestal that demands either full-throated…
Which is the Best Weekend of MIFF 2015?
Breaking down a film festival program – especially one that stretches to 370 films, as does this year’s Melbourne Internal Film Festival – is a daunting task. And, frankly, kind of futile. Unless you’re a Melbourne-based cinephile with no day-to-day commitments, the films you choose to see are going to determined more by scheduling than…
Double Feature: Leviathan (2014) and Winter Sleep (2014)
You don’t have dig particularly deep to find similarities between Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Russian drama Leviathan and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Turkish drama Winter Sleep. They were erstwhile competitors across last year’s arthouse awards season; Ceylan took the lead early by picking up the Palme d’Or at Cannes, but Leviathan was more successful in more mainstream awards…
Mr Turner (2014)
Biopics are a much maligned category of film … with good reason. Despite the preponderance of such films – only, ultimately, connected by being about ‘someone dead and famous’ – there are surprisingly few great biographical films. There are a lot of ‘entirely fine’ ones, but I can only think of handful that could be…
British Film Festival 2014
November last year introduced the inaugural British Film Festival, a breath of fresh air in an increasingly stale slate of nation-centric film festivals. It’s not that I don’t have a lot of respect for local festivals like the Italian, Israeli, French etc festivals – I only saw one of my favourite films of the year…
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