Ocean’s Eight (2018)
Ocean’s Eight might be a heist film, but the real scam here is the film itself.
Thor Ragnarok Finds the Balance Between Waititi Silliness and MCU Formula
Thor Ragnarok is half Taika Waititi film – funny, digressive, unpredictable – and half Thor film – mired in tiresome Norse mythology and following the MCU formula note-for-note.
BIFF 2017: Song to Song
Terrence Malick’s latest feature, Song to Song, clarifies the experimentation of his previous two films.
Carol (2015)
Todd Haynes’ adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1950s lesbian romance novel is an elegant exercise in visual storytelling. Carol is aesthetically nuanced, lensed with layered graininess and often obscured or muted by windows and reflections. Though thin in narrative, a single frame transcends story, with imagery becoming subtext for characters’ emotional states and positioning us as outsiders. Therese (Rooney…
The Best Films of 2015
As befitting the blood pact all movie bloggers must sign upon founding their website, what follows is a list of my favourite films of 2015. It’s been a strong year at the cinema, even if I felt it was a slight step down from last year (specifically, I didn’t see a single new film I…
Knight of Cups (2015)
It’s easy, and not entirely inaccurate, to regard Knight of Cups as the apotheosis of “Malickian.” Terrence Malick’s latest film, centring on the idle thoughts and innumerable conquests of Christian Bale’s Hollywood A-lister (think Coppola’s Somewhere – Los Angeles as purgatory), has all the easily-parodied tropes that have come to define the director’s work. The…
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Ignoring its truncated introduction – which dispatches Smaug, introduces Sauron and earns Cate Blanchett a paycheque – The Battle of the Five Armies is the most coherent chapter of The Hobbit. It’s also the least satisfactory, despite its character arcs and narrative consistency. I was entertained throughout, but that’s more a reflection of my fondness…
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
The first How to Train Your Dragon was a special kind of miracle. A simple tale of a father and his son, of a boy and his dragon, it soared beyond its modest ambitions. HTTYD succeeded thanks to gorgeously composed and edited animation and a spectacular Oscar-nominated score, yes, but mostly because of the simplicity…
Revisiting The Turning (2013)
I liked Tim Winton’s The Turning more than most critics. Looking back at my review now, I don’t think I succeeded in explaining why it appealed to me; it’s an assumption underlying my write-up, but I don’t think I made it clear. In part, it’s based in my fondness for Winton’s original anthology, which I’d…
The 86th Academy Awards – Predictions and Thoughts
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…
ccpopculture 