REVIEW: Beginning (NYFF 2020)
Let’s not sugarcoat things: Beginning may be something of an acquired taste. It belongs to that class of long, contemplative Eastern European films that speaks volumes through their moments of silence. Beginning requires a great deal of patience and focus from its viewers, but those…
REVIEW: I Am Samuel (LFF 2020)
There’s something quite beautiful about a documentary that doesn’t focus on a public figure or somebody deemed ‘extraordinary’, but instead follows a regular guy as filmed by one of his closest friends. In his moving documentary I Am Samuel, Kenyan writer/director Peter Murimi captures moments…
REVIEW: Honeymood (LFF 2020)
Giddy newlyweds Noam and Eleanor (Ran Danker and Avigail Harari) arrive in their luxury honeymoon suite to celebrate their wedding night but the discovery of a gift of a ring from Noam’s ex-girlfriend Renana puts those plans on hold. Instead, arguing about what this supposed…
REVIEW: 200 Meters (LFF 2020)
Ameen Nayfeh’s feature length debut 200 Meters centres around the controversial West Bank barrier which separates Israel and Palestine. Officially part-wall, part-fence, this imposing structure is the subject of many debates around the world. Its supporters claim its a necessary deterrent against terrorism, whilst those…
REVIEW: The Best is Yet to Come (TIFF 2020)
Jin Wang’s directorial debut is an exploration of existential themes regarding stigmas and success. Set in 2003 Beijing, the film looks at various social barriers that stand in the way of dreams and the impact that mass media has in creating change. The Best is…
BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Taste of Tea (2004)
Following the success of his brash Tarantino-esque outings Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl and Party 7, it would only be natural to be surprised by the sudden shift in style displayed by director Katsuhito Ishii when he made The Taste of Tea. Very…
REVIEW: New Order (TIFF 2020)
It is very tempting to compare New Order to the current various uprisings and movements of class and race unrest, but to do so would be irresponsible. This thriller is promising enough, directed by Michael Franco, former Palme d’Or competitor and Cannes Screenplay Award winner,…
REVIEW: Summer of 85 (TIFF 2020)
Falling in love for the first time is a right of passage. There’s no correct way to know it’s happening and no way to prepare — it’s just a part of growing up. Summer of 85, François Ozon’s newest feature, looks at two young men’s…
REVIEW: Les Misérables (2020)
Les Miserables is a fervent fury essential for our times. Writer and director Ladj Ly’s feature debut follows Sergeant Ruiz who is assigned to a team of unethical police veterans working the Parisian suburb of Montfermiel. This vital film began life as a Cesar-nominated short, inspired by…
REVIEW: Get the Hell Out (TIFF 2020)
Especially in recent years, the behavior and practices of government officials seem to align more with a circus of shameless idiocy than a dignified system. However, the word idiocy is too forgiving — suggesting an act done without the capability of better understanding — and…
REVIEW: Crazy Samurai Musashi (Fantasia 2020)
One-take sequences are seemingly all the rage at the moment, especially following the box office success of Sam Mendes’ seamlessly edited war drama 1917. Action sequences particularly lend themselves to this form, take the crazy church sequence from Kingsman: The Secret Service or the iconic hallway attack in Oldboy for example. So…
REVIEW: The Undertaker’s Home (Fantasia 2020)
Resting the dead can be a restless business. In a surprising divergence from the calm and collected depiction of undertakers — for it must be suggested that they are well-versed in death or are Death itself — the one in Argentina’s La Funeraria (also known…
REVIEW: Night of the Kings (TIFF 2020)
Flying overhead, all there is to see is green: the canopy of dense forest glowing from the unrelenting heat of the sun. We finally stumble upon an interruption, a block amongst the brush — pale, concrete, and sharply, contrastingly geometric – this is MACA prison….
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