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 »
Browsing Tag
featured
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 »
LFF 2012 Review: Robot and Frank
![636x393-0-0-n2Br5McM-Robot&Frank_Special[1]](http://www.eatsleeplivefilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/636x393-0-0-n2Br5McM-RobotFrank_Special1.jpg "LFF 2012 Review: Robot and Frank")
The cutesy concept of Robot and Frank – a retired jewel thief teams up with a domestic robot who he uses to help him make one last heist – sounds like a pilot episode for an unmade Glen A. Larson TV show circa 1985 but this neat, elegantly played comedy drama is actually a delightful, astute and surprisingly moving comedy. Set in a near-future that looks very much like now… Read More »
LFF 2012 Review: Celeste and Jesse Forever
![Celeste and Jesse Forever1[1]](http://www.eatsleeplivefilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Celeste-and-Jesse-Forever11-e1350380048914.jpeg "LFF 2012 Review: Celeste and Jesse Forever")
The best bit of Celeste and Jesse Forever is the opening credits, a tightly edited series of still images set to Lily Allen’s Littlest Things. It’s sweet, funny and affecting. Unfortunately the actual film is mostly none of these. Rashida Jones is a luminous screen presence and can definitely carry a film but she has written (with Will McCormack) a pretty but superficial, mostly unfunny comedy-drama. In a year where… Read More »
LFF 2012 Review: Beasts Of The Southern Wild
![beasts-of-the-southern-wild-6701[1]](http://www.eatsleeplivefilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-67011-e1350379328687.jpg "LFF 2012 Review: Beasts Of The Southern Wild")
If there is an unofficial award for most simultaneously brilliant and annoying film of the year this is the runaway winner. Arriving on a tidal wave of critical love, this highly unusual and idiosyncratic film is probably the most distinctive US indie debut since Harmony Korine’s Gummo (1997). It has flashes of absolute genius and a sensational opening. It’s also unfocused, stagey and powered by a relentless (often brilliant) soundtrack… Read More »
Review: Ruby Sparks
Or (500) days of Weird Science. The story of a blocked writer who inadvertently wills his female creation into existence – only for the dream to turn sour – Ruby Sparks is being sold as the kind of retro, instagrammed, plinky-xylophone-scored Sundance-glazed twee fest that will either float your (vintage) boat or compel you to self-harm. The male lead is a sensitive, tortured artist who owns a loveable, neurotic dog. At… Read More »
Review: Sinister
This daft but effective chiller from the writer and director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose does nothing ground-breaking and has a truly preposterous set-up. But, thanks to some potent atmospherics, creepy sound design and a performance of intense, near-comical seriousness by Ethan Hawke (ably supported by, indeed encased in, a tremendously comfy-looking grey cardigan, more of which later), even the jaded horror veteran may find themselves a little spooked. I have to… Read More »
Review: The Expendables 2
If the first Expendables was an enjoyable – if slightly stolid – homage to the (in)glorious Cannon fodder of the 80s that wasn’t quite as funny or crazy as we hoped for, the second adventure takes nothing seriously, playing exclusively for laughs. It’s an understandable approach, and the steroid sexagenarians all work (very) hard for chuckles amidst the carnage. But for every odd funny moment there are dozens of damp… Read More »
UK Box Office: 10/8 – 12/8/2012
Foul-mouthed bears continue to wow UK audiences, as Ted beats out The Dark Knight Rises for the second week running. 1. Ted (513 sites) W/E: £3,174,766 Total: £17,214,269 2. The Dark Knight Rises (548 sites) W/E: £2,196,449 Total: £46,259,177 3. Step Up 4: Miami Heat (396 sites) W/E: £680,052 NEW 4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (475 sites) W/E: £602,236 Total: £3,702,877 5. Brave (147 sites) W/E: £574,261… Read More »
