Category: Reviews
Review: Estonian Experimental Indie Film Metáfora
Metáfora (English: “Metaphor“) opens with a gorgeous black and white shot of the moon, fading out to classical music and a narrating voice over. It is hard to summarize the film’s plot, mostly because there isn’t any actual plot in the traditional sense of the word or at least from what we are used to in 99% of the films we watch. Metáfora chooses to be the odd 1% of cinematic experiences that decides to take an alternative narrative approach and subvert the viewer’s expectations. But to what effect? Continue reading
Documentary Review: Chris Paine’s Who Killed the Electric Car (2006)?
After attending a mandatory course (to get my definitive Swiss drivers license) on how to drive ecologically and save a lot of fuel I was kind of confused. One of the instructors mentioned that the electric car isn’t actually as eco-friendly as you’d think. That was the first time I had heard someone say that. It seemed counter intuitive to what I thought to be true, so naturally being a film buff the logical reaction was to seek out a documentary that would discuss the issue in a more sensible and in-depth manner, so I decided to watch Chris Paine’s Who Killed the Electric Car? Continue reading
Short Film Review: Bodybuilder Kim Kold is Dennis (2007) the Inspiration for Teddy Bear (2012)
*Spoilers & Such*
Dennis (Kim Kold) is an introverted bodybuilder, who lives with his elderly mother Ingrid (Elsebeth Steentoft). One day he decides to call up Patricia (Lykke Sand Michelsen), this cute chick from the gym and ask her out on a date. Suspecting that his mother won’t like him hanging out with anyone other than herself, especially not a woman, he tells her that he’s going to the movies with his friend Peter. His passive aggressive mother obviously knows that he’s lying to her and manipulates him into making him feel guilty. Mothers, right? Continue reading
Review: Yamamoto Masashi’s Creepy, Funny & Sexy Stalker Romance Thriller “Man, Woman & the Wall” (2006)
Ryo (Ôno Keita) just moved into a new apartment. Satsuki (Aoi Sora) is his hot neighbor, so hot in fact that he gets off just by listening to her taking a bath or showering. Ryo starts an unhealthy obsession with Satsuki, which is okay because her boyfriend Yuta (Kato Hiroto) is an even creepier stalker. Unbeknownst to her, Satsuki starts a relationship with two weirdos at once. What will happen when she finds out that she’s been spied on by the two men she’s been dating? Why does Ryo prefer masturbating instead of having sex with Satsuki? And why doesn’t anyone call the police? Continue reading
Short Documentary Review: Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980). Les Blank Doesn’t Show Us.
Werner Herzog bets fellow filmmaker Errol Morris that he won’t be able to complete his debut feature Gates of Heaven (1978). Herzog is so convinced that Morris won’t be able to finance and release the documentary about pet cemetery business that he’s willing to eat his shoe, if his friend should succeed. Morris does indeed succeed, but will Herzog live up to his promise? You better believe it. After boiling his boots for 5 hours with a little garlic,herbs, stock, salt and hot sauce – Guten Appetit! Continue reading
Review: Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love (2012) Shines Through Sheer Simplicity
Akiko (Rin Takanashi) is a sociology student in Tokyo. She’s kind of going through a rough patch with her boyfriend Noriaki (Ryō Kase) who is ridiculously jealous and suspicious of where she hangs out at night. If only he knew that she was a prostitute. One night Akiko is practically forced by her pimp to go to a client a little bit outside of the city. If only Watanabe Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), the old professor requesting Akiko’s services, knew what trouble he’d get in when he let her into his home. Continue reading
Review: Sono Sion’s Experimental Film “I Am Keiko” (1997) is Almost the Opposite of Entertainment
Suzuki Keiko is turning 22. Her father died of cancer and she manage to secretly steal some of the remaining bones from the crematorium. Keiko is alone and thinking a lot. In three weeks she will be 22. She decides to chronicle these three weeks. She decides to chronicle every hour, every minute, possibly every second. Time passes. Time passes as she speaks. She speaks of time passing. She counts the seconds as they pass. Her 22nd birthday is nearing. Time is still going. She can say or do whatever. Time doesn’t care, it just goes on, with the same exact, precise, boring rhythm and pace. Continue reading
Review: Ryu Murakami’s Tokyo Decadence (1992). More Than Sex, S&M and Bondage. But That Too.
*Ookite Kudasai: NSFW*
Ai (Nikaido Miho) is a timid college girl by day and an escort pretty much anytime she’s not in school (which seems to be like… always!). She specializes in satisfying the wealthy business men, which mostly means a lot of S&M or weirder stuff. Deep down Ai just wants to be happy. But she can’t. The man she loves married another woman and now lives in London with his son. Ai goes from one client to another, but the more she sees of this dark world of sexual perversions, the more she feels empty and alone. Continue reading
Short Film Review: Gia Coppola & Tracy Antonopoulos’ Uber Sweet “Non Plus One” (2010)
Jason Schwartzman plays a young man trying to come up with something to write in a cafe. Kirsten Dunst plays a cute waitress giving him a refill. As his eyes meet hers he is instantly starts fantasizing about what it would be like to be with her. His mind starts drifting away, as he imagines their life together. They fall in love and do a lot of silly, but cutesy little things together. It’s all (well, mostly) innocent fun, until he wakes up. Was it just a dream? Hang on: There’s a twist. Continue reading
Review: Catherine Breillat Pulls a Chantal Akerman in Her Masteriece Fat Girl aka À Ma Soeur (2001)
*Les Spoilèrs*
Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) and Elena (Roxane Mesquida) are two sisters on holiday with their parents in their vacation home in the French rivera. Anaïs is Elena’s younger sister. She is fat, complexed and angry. Boys don’t like her. Elena is beautiful, fun and more open. Boys definitely like her, especially this Italian guy Fernando (Libero De Rienzo) they randomly meet at a bar. Like every guy, Fernando has only one thing on his mind. Elena is not ready to lose her virginity, but Fernando gradually talks her into it. Did I mention that Anaïs and Elena share the same room? Awkward! Continue reading
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