No-one shoots beautiful, ‘troubled’ people with great hair (in slow-motion, to electronica) quite like Xavier Dolan. For this and other affectations, the young Quebec auteur inspires devotion and derision in equal measure. Incredibly he’s only 23 years old, yet Laurence Anyways is his third feature and another Cannes prize-winner. The most exciting young filmmaker in the world today? Possibly. A great director? No, not yet, but this is a major… Read More »
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Cinema
Review: Silver Linings Playbook
Silly, sometimes sappy and with a (seemingly) cavalier attitude towards its central themes of bipolarity and depression (Bradley Cooper’s damaged lead appears to have all but forgotten he actually has an illness in the film’s frothy finale), Silver Linings Playbook is nevertheless easily one of my favourite films of the year. David O’ Russell, channelling Hal Ashby vibes, has delivered another of his unlikely romcoms in the vein of Flirting… Read More »
Review: The Master
Having thrown off the baby Altman-Scorsese tag with the rapturously received There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson returns with another grandiose American epic. Again, strong familial connections (particularly those of surrogate father/son relationships) are evident through its 143 minute running time. But for all the frenzied pre-release chatter concerning scientology, The Master isn’t really about old father Hubbard’s cult collective. Shadow boxing around a lot of potential themes (the birth… Read More »
Review: Up There
Zam Salim’s directorial feature debut delivers a not altogether comforting prophecy, suggesting that the afterlife at worst may in fact be an extension of the ordinariness of life itself. Salim’s narrative choice of the ordinary over the fantastical however, affords him the opportunity to create what is a creative, humorous, and what may even be a very British take on the afterlife. Up There tells the story of departed soul… Read More »
Review : Trouble With The Curve
There’s been very little coverage of Robert Lorenz’s debut directorial feature on these shores and it has crept in somewhat under the radar. The fact that it prompted Clint to return to acting after a self-imposed exile since 2008′s Gran Torino however, did fill me with some hope when entering the theatre. Likewise, the presence of Amy Adams and John Goodman among the cast was cause for a fair degree of optimism…. Read More »
Review: Silent Hill – Revelation
After being taken out of the twisted nightmare of Silent Hill, Heather (Adelaide Clemens) and her father Harry (Sean Bean) go on the run for several years, afraid that the a cult from the town will come for her. When her father goes missing, Heather has to return to Silent Hill to confront it, and along with new friend Vincent (Kit Harington), hopes to free her family and herself of the place which had… Read More »
Review: Call Me Kuchu
Debates and arguments have always surrounded the homosexual community and no matter where you come from, you will always have religious and non-religious haters. We only recognise these arguments coming from places in America or Europe, it’s hard to imagine a third world country like Uganda worrying about these sorts of issues when it faces far harder times with poverty, war, and crime. However, with a religious country – still… Read More »
The Renaissance Man Part 2 – Review: Todos Tenemos Un Plan (Everybody Has a Plan)
While the last ESLF article detailed the more memorable roles of Mr Mortensen’s career, this review looks to the most recent, Everybody Has a Plan (Ana Piterbarg, 2012) a film he not only produced but also took, along with its director, to the recent 56th BFI London Film Festival. As previously stated he has starred in Spanish-speaking films before, most recently, playing the titular character of Captain Alatriste (Agustín Díaz… Read More »
Review: Skyfall (Jamie’s take)
Skyfall, Adele ‘If you don’t evolve, you die.’ Barbara Broccoli Perhaps the most anticipated film of the year for avid cinema goers and Bond fans alike, Skyfall has really gone out of its way to not let audiences down. After a fantastic re-launch of one of the UK’s most iconic franchises in 2006 with the release of Casino Royale, fans were introduced to a new kind of Bond, a more… Read More »
Review: Skyfall
50 years old. 23 films down. It’s pretty incredible that James Bond is still even relevant, so when I say that Skfyall – Academy Award winning Sam Mendes’ envisioning of the British icon – is the best yet, I do not say it lightly. This is, in my honest opinion, the best blockbuster of 2012. When MI6 comes under attack, James Bond (Daniel Craig) must return from obscurity to fight… Read More »
