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Archive for the 'Films' Category

PUFFBALL

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Messy is probably the best word to describe Nicolas Roeg’s Puffball, his first theatrically released feature in twelve years, and by far the most questionable and simplistic film in the director’s canon so far.
Review by Pamela Jahn

THE CASE

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Dank, dark spaces and untamed tropical nature encroach upon a remote Yunnanese inn, where the appearance of a mysterious, floating case signals the return of dormant, irrational desires for the mild-mannered protagonist He Dashang (Wu Gang).
Review by Edwin Mak

LET’S GET LOST

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Bruce Weber’s acclaimed 1988 documentary about wild jazz genius Chet Baker is re-released theatrically in the UK in June.
Review by James DC

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

A multi-stranded narrative about the clash of Romanian and American cultures, California Dreamin’ is an affecting feature debut in more ways than one.
Review by James Merchant

LA ANTENA

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

The world of the film is one that combines Tales of Hoffman and 1984, where a totalitarian regime has literally removed the voice of the people. When characters in this world speak, letters appear in the air in front of their faces and all the contrivances of speech are given a visual alternative.
Review by Alex Fitch

TERROR’S ADVOCATE

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Terror’s Advocate is a chilling study of one man’s role in the entangled web of twentieth-century terrorism. Told with the dramatic pacing of a political thriller, Barbet Schroeder’s intense and compelling documentary features an astonishing cast of characters, from resistance fighters to terrorists to war criminals, who have been witnesses and participants in decades of political upheaval, all linked by the same lawyer – Jacques Vergès.
Review by Sarah Cronin

HEARTBEAT DETECTOR

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Amalric plays Simon Kessler, an in-house recruiter and psychologist at the Paris subsidiary of a German chemical company who is tasked with assessing the mental health of his CEO, Mathias Jüst (Michael Lonsdale), and discovers that he may have links to the Holocaust.
Review by Alexander Pashby

VEXILLE

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Coming across as a greatest hits package of both recent animé and science fiction movies in general from the last 25 years, Vexille combines the clichés of Japanese manga and cartoons – soldiers in mecha suits, androids who debate the nature of humanity, evil conspiracies demonising the Japanese nation – with over-familiar imagery.
Review by Alex Fitch

SHOTGUN STORIES

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Set against the backdrop of rural Arkansas, Shotgun Stories follows an escalating feud between two sets of half-brothers who differ in every way save for one side of their parental heritage.
Review by James Merchant

I’M A CYBORG

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

After three films that revelled in such dark issues as organ theft, incest and child kidnapping, wrapped in the key theme of revenge, it seems understandable that Park Chan-wook chose a lighter tone for his next project, the inventively titled I’m A Cyborg, But That’s OK.
Review by James Merchant