As is often the case, I don’t always get to see the films I was recommended or wanted to see in the year that they were made and/or released. There are just too many to get to, and anyway, I don’t get paid for reviewing films. I do this stuff for my own pleasure and … Continue reading Film in 2020: Firm Favourites among Last Year’s Late Releases
The FurnaceWritten and directed by Roderick MacKayFeaturing Ahmad Malek, David Wenham, Baykali Ganambarr, Trevor Jamieson, Gary Young, Mahesh Jadu and Jay Ryan It is very encouraging that the three most critically acclaimed films to come out of Australia over the past three years have been films that tackle the brutal colonial history of the country: … Continue reading The One Review: The Furnace (2020 Roderick MacKay)
The year 2020 in film has been greatly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. No doubt. ‘Theatrical Release’ has become an increasingly less-used term as the year has gone on. Many of the big ‘uns are still holding out for a 2021 release in the hope that a vaccine will arrive. Bond 25 has taken so … Continue reading Film in 2020: Streaming and the Death of Cinema?
Tenet (2020, Christopher Nolan), despite its many flaws, is a highly polished piece of Hollywood blockbuster machinery that allows us to take a step back and consider what happens when a major cinematic gear isn’t working. Plot The plot of Tenet is a complex intellectual puzzle. If you are really interested in knowing more about … Continue reading Tenet and the Art of the Invisible
The Irish Times recently listed out the 50 greatest Irish films ever made. There were controversies of course. Barry Lyndon topping the list confused many, not least because it was directed by an American and based on a novel by a British writer. Sure, the story focuses on an Irishman (albeit an Anglo-Irishman) and much … Continue reading Best Irish Films Ever Made – The Complimentary List
This will be an on-going series of posts on cinematography from around the world. Initially, it was intended to be a single post but there are so many aesthetically interesting and innovatively shot films from around the world that it is just too difficult to do that in one go. Just think of some of … Continue reading Cinematography of the World – Part 1: China Post-1990
Over time, the Western films of Hollywood expanded outwards. Many were made in Europe by Italian and Spanish directors (Spaghetti Westerns). Some were adaptations of Japanese Samurai films (The Magnificent Seven). Some were set in Mexico and required drugs to understand (El Topo). Even Communist Eastern Europeans were fond of making their own Westerns that … Continue reading The Western Story – Part 2: Beyond the Frontier
Americans like to think Western movies are about their history, and they therefore cherish them greatly. But the Western was in fact an early construct of dramatic motion pictures. Edwin S. Porter directed a short film in 1903 called The Great Train Robbery. This was a milestone in film making because it established action on … Continue reading The Western Story – Part 1: Into the West
Win Win (2011, Tom McCarthy) – From the director of the wonderful The Station Agent from a few years previously (the first time I delighted in Peter Dinklage's talent), this was a perfectly adjudged comedy drama focusing on the evolving relationship between a troubled kid (Alex Shaffer) and a struggling lawyer/part-time wrestling coach (Paul Giamatti). … Continue reading The Most Underrated Films of the Past Decade 2010-19
Middling films of the year There were three particular movies from three acclaimed and barrier-breaking directors that I believe could have done more than they did this year. Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma was beautiful, affecting and imbued with symbolism, but it lacked the magic of some of his earlier stuff. The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos was … Continue reading Review of the Year 2019 in Film
