Archive for 'Film Reviews'
[FILM: Review] Restless
Restless
Opens December 8
***
Gus Van Sant’s latest film won’t set the world on fire like Elephant, Good Will Hunting or My Private Idaho did, but it’s a thoroughly charming and unexpectedly moving rework of several very familiar styles.
The closest comparison is Hal Ashby’s odd-couple romance Harold and Maude, about a precocious teen and a vivacious old [...]
Posted: December 5th, 2011 under Arts, Brag 440 (November 28), Film Reviews.
Tags: Dee Jefferson, Restless, The Brag
[FILM: Review] The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
Released November 17
*
Exclusivity is a hallmark of the Twilight film franchise. If you’re not fully versed in the characters and mythology, then Breaking Dawn Part 1 raises a lot more questions than it answers. For me, the experience of watching the film feels like coming into a TV soap [...]
Posted: November 28th, 2011 under Arts, Brag 439 (November 21), Film Reviews.
Tags: Alasdair Duncan, The Brag, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
[FILM: Review] Immortals: 3D
Immortals: 3D
Released November 24
***
If you’ve seen The Cell and The Fall, nothing on earth will keep you away from Tarsem Singh’s latest offering – a sword-and-sandals (blades-and-blood?) epic that draws on Greek mythology. There’s no denying Tarsem’s capacity for images of unparalleled beauty and terror; they’re the kind of images that can only come out [...]
Posted: November 28th, 2011 under Arts, Brag 439 (November 21), Film Reviews.
Tags: Dee Jefferson, Immortals:3D, The Brag
[FILM: Review] We Need To Talk About Kevin
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Released November 17
****
Lionel Shriver’s lengthy and grim novel was a bestseller and a book club favourite, partly thanks to its subject matter, which spoke directly to the primal fears arising from parenthood (particularly first-time), and highlighted a lurking shame behind modern expectations of self-fulfillment. The film version is likely to [...]
Posted: November 21st, 2011 under Arts, Brag 438 (November 14), Film Reviews.
Tags: The Brag, Topher Healy, We Need To Talk About Kevin
[FILM: Review] The Orator
The Orator
Released November 17
****
The Orator has on its side the magic and mystery of a society and culture totally unfamiliar to most Australians: rural Samoa, steeped in a heady mix of tribal lore, ritual, superstition, and Christianity – and shrouded in tropical jungle and mist. In this foreign land, director Tusi Tamasese pitches his tent [...]
Posted: November 21st, 2011 under Arts, Brag 438 (November 14), Film Reviews.
Tags: Dee Jefferson, The Brag, The Orator