The Alluring Ambiguity of Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper
Personal Shopper offers a challenging reflection upon identity and spirituality, enriched by Kristen Stewart’s extratextual resonance with its themes. Also, there are ghosts.
Tokyo Ghoul: Visceral Queerness and Radical Vampirism
On anime, vampires, and the physicality of transgressive queerness (except, maybe, not).
Mr Holmes (2015)
The framing of Bill Condon’s Mr Holmes is, on the face of it, rather peculiar. Adapted from Mitch Cullin’s “A Slight Trick of the Mind”, it tells a fictional tale about a fictional character – Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) – yet it’s presented as though it were a biopic about the final years of a…
Double Feature: Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) and Camp X-Ray (2014)
Once-spidermonkey Kristen Stewart has swiftly escaped the confines of franchise cinema to prove herself one of the most promising young actresses of her generation. Her sullenness – relentlessly mocked by the tabloid press when she was at the centre of pre-teen Twilight attention – has become an asset in the subsequent years; as a performer,…
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
A movie about sex – kinky sex – is in cinemas, and as a film critic, and therefore a noted arbiter of good taste (bear with me), I’m expected to regard this adaptation of a smutty bestseller with derision or, at best, suspicion. But let’s take a different tack, shall we? Why not approach the…
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
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…
Brisbane International Film Festival: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
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.…
ccpopculture 