Martin Scorsese’s The King Of Comedy remains my favorite of his films. Just as Network presaged the news would devolve into entertainment, Scorsese’s film predicted the consequences of a pop culture-obsessed society in which amorality wins in the end. The rise of Robert De Niro’s Rupert Pupkin, a struggling comic who lives with his mother... Continue Reading →
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a new yet familiar fairy tale that explores dark themes for all ages. While occasionally hampered by attempts to reign in the darker subject material, it never loses its sense of purpose. Mistress of Evil is set approximately five years after the events of Maleficent, in which we learnt that... Continue Reading →
“Money. Cock. Promotion.” Welcome to the inner thoughts of British women! Beloved British actress Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Penny Dreadful, Yerma) takes the reigns, acting as writer, director and star of the fantastically dark, anti-rom-com, Rare Beasts. The film opens with a dinner where Mandy (Piper) and her date Pete (Leo Bill) attack each other... Continue Reading →
Mix together The Producers, The Tin Drum, Hope And Glory, Moonrise Kingdom, Life Is Beautiful, The Diary Of Anne Frank, Hogan’s Heroes, Inglourious Basterds, and anything Monty Python and you still would not come close to describing the wondrous tone and sheer brilliance of Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, the winner of the Audience Award at... Continue Reading →
Controversially suppressed for nearly two decades, Olivier Meyrou’s documentary (also known as Celebration) is finally seen, and the picture it paints is a melancholy one. Filmed over the course of Yves Saint-Laurent’s final collections in 1998 (a decade before he would pass away), the documentary was subsequently blocked by Pierre Bergé, Saint-Laurent’s partner in life... Continue Reading →
Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story is full of feels and left me yearning for a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company starring Adam Driver, but I’ll get into that a little later. In many ways, it’s like Baumbach has produced a “designer-movie” to appeal to all my foibles. Set an emotional drama in the world of theatre... Continue Reading →
José Luis Torres Leiva’s Death Will Come And Shall Have Your Eyes (Vendrá La Muerte Y Tendrá Tus Ojos), is not an easy watch. It’s poetic, small, intimate, and fairly opaque. Full disclosure: I’ve had to read some interviews with the director to fill in the gaps. The film focuses on the last days in... Continue Reading →
There have been a number of queer films at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival which examine the role of shame in gay men’s lives. Tremors and Walking With Shadows both examine the effect of societal shame on gay men and Rialto spins this off in a new direction. Colm is a 40-something year old... Continue Reading →
Headlining the London Film Festival’s Debate strand is Gavin Hood’s Official Secrets, the true life tale of a British whistleblower who tried to stop the Iraq war, and one horrendous use of spell check. The collection of British acting talent here is an impressive and interesting mix. Keira Knightley stars as Katharine Gun, a translator... Continue Reading →
