Saturday, April 17, 2021
Ben Is Back (2018)
A drug addicted teenage boy shows up unexpectedly at his family's home on Christmas Eve.
Good ensemble drama provides some original ideas to tell the story of a family dealing with drug abusing child.
Friday, April 16, 2021
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Fascinating, assuredly made, but
over-ambitious drama is multi-layered and delves into serious issues on
life, death and creativity (and monomania) however, not just so deep;
nonetheless, a remarkable debut and a great vehicle for Philip Seymour
Hoffman's genius.
Maltin**: "Screenwriter Kaufman (in his directorial debut) incorporates many of his darkly comic, non-sequitur trademarks at first, then grows melancholy and downbeat as his hero confronts the futility of his quest to understand what his life is all about. Clever and original but wearying, not unlike its main character. The cast is uniformly fine."
Revenge (2017)
A young woman is enjoying a romantic getaway with her wealthy boyfriend until his two sleazy friends arrive for an unannounced hunting trip. As tension mounts in the house, the situation abruptly and viciously intensifies, culminating in a shocking act that leaves her brutalised and left for dead.
Tough, excellently made rape-revenge drama presents the gut-wrenching ordeal of a woman abused by a trio of despicable alpha-male-minded men; extremely suspenseful, well photographed in beautiful landscape and with a superb performance by Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz.
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Kästner und der kleine Dienstag (2016)
A biographical look on Erich Kästner and his biggest fan around the second world war.
Adequate and heartfelt German/Austrian TV production is watchable for its good cast and period detail (even though it uses Vienna interiors to represent 1930s Berlin).
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Monday, April 12, 2021
The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
A Hollywood director emerges from semi-exile with plans to complete work on an innovative motion picture.
Posthumously reconstructed Orson Welles film is probably as haphazard and incoherent as its production history, with a complex, barely film-within-a-film plot, massive experimentation with all kinds of cinematic trickery and an overpopulated cast, but besides seemingly random shots, there are many moments of sheer beauty and pure genius.
Sunday, April 11, 2021
1408 (2007)
A man who specialises in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.
Above-average Stephen King adaptation
delivers the scary goods with a good John Cusack performance, but after a
genuinely doom-laden introduction slowly goes over the top and adds an
ambiguous ending.
Maltin***: "Genuinely scary chiller, nicely paced with clever touches, brings new meaning to the Carpenters' song "We've Only Just Begun.""
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