Trance
After wowing the world with last year’s stunning Olympic opening ceremony, Danny Boyle steps back behind the camera to concoct a high-octane art heist actioner. TRANCE enthralls with its hypnosis-induced audacity but the stupor quickly wears thin thanks to a perplexing, labyrinthine plot. Simon (James McAvoy) is an auctioneer at a pricey London art sale … Read more
McCullin
To see the great photojournalist Don McCullin’s images projected on to a cinema screen is an alluring prospect but other than exhibiting the majesty of his prodigious portfolio, filmmakers David and Jacqui Morris depict the man behind the camera. McCULLIN is an incredible, multi-faceted documentary; at once a paralysing exposition of war and humanity, and … Read more
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
Notes On Film: You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet At the ripe old age of ninety the grand-master of avant-garde cinema Alain Resnais bids adieu to an astounding career in film by throwing a soiree for the luminaries of French theatre. Like a long-winded story from a senile grandfather, YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET is typically … Read more
Cinema Mixtape: The Best of 2012
Notes On Film: The Best of 2012 As 2012 is drawing to a close I’ve cobbled together a list of my favourite films from the past twelve months. To be considered, the films had to have a 2012 UK release date. I also discounted re-releases. #1. The Master (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson. 2012) Paul … Read more
Django Unchained
Notes On Film: Django Unchained After rewriting history with the comeuppance of Hitler in 2009′s INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino turns his recompensing gaze on the institution of slavery with another ludicrous revenge saga. Ablaze with operatic violence, the rip-roaring DJANGO UNCHAINED is a vivaciously gratifying ode to the spaghetti western and Blaxploitation cinema. This is … Read more
The Master
Notes On Film: The Master THE MASTER, the sixth feature from arguably the most eminent filmmaker working today, has a beguiling power to fixate. Paul Thomas Anderson has created a work than can lull you in to a different state of consciousness. A deranged, sex-crazed dipsomaniac, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a floundering free spirit … Read more
A Simple Life
Notes On Film: A Simple Life Unsentimental but still hugely affecting, A SIMPLE LIFE is a beautifully observed film from prolific Hong Kong director Ann Hui. Its uncomplicated study of the virtues of modesty and self-sacrifice is a truly humbling watch. For her whole adult life Ah Tao (Deannie Yip) has spent her life in … Read more
Barbara
This article is also featured on the Picturehouse Blog Notes On Film: Barbara The winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Christian Petzold’s BARBARA is a drama that broods suspense against the foreboding backdrop of the socialist state of 1980s East Germany. Barbara (Nina Hoss) is a … Read more
To Rome with Love
This article is also featured on the website Movie Farm Notes On Film: To Rome with Love Woody Allen’s whistle-stop tour of Europe sees a stellar ensemble cast roll up to the Eternal City for another neurotic spin in a waggish tale of relationships and celebrity. TO ROME WITH LOVE is a flawed but enjoyable escapade. … Read more
Rust and Bone
This article is also featured on the blogs Kubrick on the Guillotine and Flick Feast Notes On Film: Rust and Bone After his 2008 contemporary masterpiece A PROPHET, director Jacques Audiard follows up with another beautifully potent drama. RUST AND BONE is a spellbinding story, both brutal and romantic, that captivates from first to last … Read more
