Tagged: Film
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
Mini-Review: Jason Bateman’s Bad Words (2013) is a Solid Directorial Debut and a Funny Black Comedy
*S-P-O-I-L-E-R-S*
Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) is a 40-year-old middle school dropout who found a loophole in the system and managed to participate at the illustrious Golden Quill spelling bee. Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn) is a journalist trying to find out why he’d do such a silly thing. Guy seems like he doesn’t care about anything. He is an asshole to anyone he meets, but things change when he befriends a 10-year old kid (Rohan Chand). Will the two end up as the finalists in this ridiculous contest? You’ve guessed it! Continue reading
Mini-Review: Mifune (1999). The Third Dogme Film and Already Breaking the Rules.
Originally published on filmstvandlife.
Kresten (Anders W. Berthelsen) just got married. After his first wedding night, he wakes up to a phone call informing him that his father has passed away. He has to leave for the Danish countryside, but the thing is that his wife didn’t even know he had a father or a brother. Kresten returns to his old home, a farm in the middle of nowhere. After the death of his father he now has to deal with his intellectually challenged brother Rud (Jesper Asholt). He decides to hire a maid, Livia (Iben Hjejle), who’s actually a prostitute. Things get more and more complicated as his wife finds out how many things he’s been keeping from her. 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
Three Reasons: Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945). An Honest Depiction of Alcohol Addiction.
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In 1946 Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945) won the Austrian-American auteur five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay (the film is based on Charles R. Jackson’s homonymous book). While I love to make fun of the Oscars or get really pissed at their poor decisions, this is one of those instances where I feel they got it right. Then again, you can’t go wrong with Billy Wilder. I recently watched this film for the first time and absolutely adored it. In typical Criterion fashion I decided to share Three Reasons why I think this is a must-see. 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
Mini-Review: Mia Wasikowska Crosses the Australian Desert in John Curran’s Tracks (2013)
*Cruel Spoilers (Because Life is Cruel)*
Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska) is living the dream, if your dream happens to be walking 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) around the Australian desert with four camels and a dog. Nobody’s sure why she’d embark on such a crazy journey, but everyone’s fascinated by her story. One annoyingly nice National Geographic journalist (Adam Driver) in particular. After days of loneliness in the desert, because she clearly doesn’t like humans Robyn discovers that she is lonely and that she doesn’t really like people. Continue reading
Mini-Review: Marie Gillain is ‘Fresh Bait’ (1995). The American Dream Gone Wrong.
*Spoilery Spoilers*
Nathalie (Marie Gillain) is a “professional flirt”. Every night she’s out to get phone numbers of rich French “playboys”, who might get her a job (or not). Eric (Olivier Sitruk), her boyfriend, dreams of going to the United States and making a lot of money. To get there he needs a starting capital. Hey! Why not rob one of Nathalie’s wealthy contacts? Sounds like a plan, but it seems that none of the horny bourgeois keep their money in safes anymore. How far are Eric and his buddy Bruno (Bruno Putzulu) willing to go for a fistful of francs? 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
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