LFF day nine:
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN ★★½☆☆ Fiennes as director lags behind Fiennes as actor. If not for his presence, wouldn't be out of place on TV. MILIUS ★★★½☆ A blast for fans of the writer-director. Wall-to-wall talking heads: Spielberg, Scorsese, Lucas, Schwarzenegger, Coppola. NIGHT MOVES ★★★☆☆ Insufficient from Kelly Reichardt. Eco-sabotage crime and punishment, delivered without her usual fresh eye. THE GRANDMASTER was the #LFF surprise film. My review after the screening at the Berlin Film Festival in February: http://www.filmaluation.com/the-grandmaster.html LFF day eight:
WHY DON'T YOU PLAY IN HELL? ★★★★★ Meta cinema at its most joyous. Plot seeds sown throughout, ready to bloom. Steeped in love of genre. EXHIBITION ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing. You feel every minute. Reminds of tedious architecture and marriage flick COME RAIN, COME SHINE. TURBO is out in the UK on Friday. I interviewed director David Soren about his car race/super hero/snail mash-up. Here, he talks about his eccentric high-speed animation… [to read more, click here.]
LFF day seven: 2 AUTUMNS, 3 WINTERS ★★½☆☆ Fourth wall breaking French mumblecore. As many demerits as merits. THE SACRAMENT ★★½☆☆ Get to the chopper! Weak. Lacks attention to detail. Plot and character logical flaws dominate too greatly. LFF day six: LABOR DAY ★★★★☆ Kate Winslet. Josh Brolin. Director Reitman has fashioned a warm and aching film akin to PERFECT WORLD era Eastwood. TRACKS ★★★½☆ Melancholic adventure. Visually ravishing, but narratively undernourished. Mia Wasikowska shines as usual. GRAND PIANO ★★½☆☆ Imagine DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE set at a classical concert. Clunky, silly, badly acted, but mildly fun. IDA ★★★★½ Quiet emotional heft. Mesmerising in its compositions and unpredictability. Out to own today: Summer in February“Why can’t there be a cable to Nigeria?” Florence Carter-Wood “There will some day,” Gilbert Evans Just a sample of the excruciating dialogue, which also include exclamations like, “I’m not your gypsy!” If it weren’t for the three brief moments of gratuitous female nudity, SUMMER IN FEBRUARY would not be out of place as weekday afternoon schedule-filler on the goggle box. Reminds me of Julian Fellowes’ hackneyed and disappointing directorial debut, SEPARATE LIES. Both share dated concerns and overblown melodrama, delivered by thesps who have proven themselves in other projects. [To read more, click here] V/H/S/2“That’s why I wanted to find you, warn you,” Clarissa (Hannah Hughes) Horror anthology V/H/S was far more successful than its rival THE ABCS OF DEATH thanks to having greater time to flesh out the dread. The former now has a sequel. The segments rely on the same flimsy but efficient idea of burglars coming across a stash of video cassettes in a creepy house. ‘Tape 49’ has a private investigator and his partner searching for a missing college student. Breaking into his home, there’s the odd chilling moment in between each segment. [To read more, click here] Director Jonathan Glazer and producer James Wilson talking after UNDER THE SKIN tonight.
LFF day five: INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS ★★★★½ What a character the Coen brothers have created! No arcs, no learning. Abrasive. Eminently watchable. ABUSE OF WEAKNESS ★★☆☆☆ Who is abusing who? The audience receives brunt. Banal mutually parasitic relationship. Huppert can't save. ADORE ★★☆☆☆ I've seen sci-fi films with more believability. Watchable, just, thanks to Naomi Watts and Robin Wright. UNDER THE SKIN ★★★½☆ Think if Noé, Lynch, Roeg and Carpenter teamed up to remake SPECIES. Imaginative - oppressive - bizarre. RIGOR MORTIS ★★☆☆☆ Tonally uneven action horror. Grim backstory doesn't sit right alongside over the top antics. |
This website is written by Hemanth Kissoon.
Filmaluation is dedicated to arts culture, with a particular focus on film. I care about intelligence, quality and entertainment. Need some movie and TV show recommendations? See the drop down to the right of the Home tab. Enjoy. The vital ambitions of art and entertainment: - Perceptiveness - Illumination - The unexpected - Innovation Brains and soul are key; but adrenaline junkies do not fret, there is also much love for an experience that delivers a sucker-punch to the guts via stunningly delivered thrills. Noun, “filmaluation”: The evaluation of a film Verb, "to filmaluate”: To evaluate a film I am well aware how difficult it is to make a film, put on a stage play, create a television show, write a novel, let alone make something of note. (That appreciation doesn’t stop me from having high standards though.) This online magazine is edited by Hemanth Kissoon. Filmaluation is owned by Filmaluation Limited (Company number 8549302. Registered in England and Wales) Archives
February 2024
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