When audiences bemoan Hollywood for its failure to produce original and interesting characters, its over-reliance on CGI special effects, its tendency to disappoint on even the most basic levels of empathy and pathos, its pathological desire to mass-produce loud stupidity; well, this is the film they’re talking about. I, Frankenstein (2014) action/fantasy/sci-fi; USA/Australia; dir.…
A dour and dispiriting deconstruction of American matriarchy, August: Osage County charts a few days in the lives of a dilapidated and dysfunctional family, struggling to reconcile the past and the present in the Oklahoma heat and reeling from recent tragedy. August: Osage County (2013) Drama; USA; dir: John Wells; writer: Tracy Letts (screenplay) (play)…
Michael Haneke’s films have gained both critical acclaim and a certain notoriety; listing Funny Games, The White Ribbon, and Hidden amongst his works, Haneke – it is fair to suggest – does not flinch from his subject nor does he pander to the viewer. In Amour we are pitted against our own attitudes towards death and old age, our assumptions and…
Stephen Frears’ drama Philomena inspires a career-best performance from Judi Dench, and shows that humour and humility can be found in the darkest places of all… Philomena (2013) drama; United Kingdom; director: Stephen Frears, writers: Steve Coogan (Screenplay), Jeff Pope (Screenplay) Martin Sixsmith (Book “The Lost Child Of Philomena Lee”) Stephen Frears latest Philomena reveals the shocking true story of a mother (Philomena – Judi…
A veritable pulp fiction that on first glance appears to owe its dialogue and pithy observations to – yes – Quentin Tarantino movies, 2 Guns also steals lovingly from Robert Rodriguez, Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay and pays homage to a ton of others in the action genre. With 109 minutes of loud gunshots and a keen…
“[Someone told me] ‘Live your dash. How are you gonna live your dash?’ I didn’t understand. ‘What are you talkin’ about.. dash?’ ‘It’s on your tombstone. You got your birthdate and you got the day that you’re deceased and you got that little dash in the middle. That’s your life right there. That’s everything between from…
“May we meet again, happy thieves in Paradise, if it pleases God the Father of us both. Amen. Insha’Allah.” – Christian One of many memorable lines from Of Gods and Men, a deeply spiritual film directed and written by Xavier Beauvois. Set in 1996, the film is the true story of the lives of eight French…
The storied, extraordinary career of highly controversial film-maker Takashi Miike seems – upon closer inspection – to have finally taken a turn into the Japanese mainstream, following a leftfield career in extreme cinema that includes the likes of Audition (1999), Ichi the Killer (2001) and Gozu (2003) to name but a few. Whilst still retaining some…
“I believe even the most rational mind can play tricks in the dark…” Very few names in the history of cinema have the same evocative effect as that of Hammer Horror. In the 1950s, Hammer struck gold with a string of major box-office smashes in the horror genre – huge hit films such as the…
Likely to disappoint even those with low expectations, lo-fi indie chiller The Pact is almost bereft of anything resembling terror or tension, despite a few dashes of style from its debuting writer-director Nicholas McCarthy. After the death of her mother, Annie returns to her childhood home, full of unhappy memories and lost secrets. Her sisters’…
Deryn Paul O'Sullivan 