The selection of films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was even stronger than usual. Of the 10 films I saw, only one was frankly awful, three disappointing, while the rest were good or outstanding. Here is my overview of the must-sees and the must-avoids. Let’s start on a positive note: 1.) Cold Fish [...]
As the Toronto International Film Festival approaches, it seems like a good time to reflect on the film that got away. Everyone who has been to a film festival has at least one of these, and probably even a list of them. The film that was sold out. The film that just wouldn’t fit into [...]
I recently had the pleasure of seeing a Polanski film in utter innocence. As the result of a rare set of circumstances, I found myself in the wrong cinema in front of a film which had a very restricted title sequence, so that I knew the title of the film from the beginning, but didn’t [...]
At his most successful, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has managed to create films which combine a mainstream approach to storytelling with an artist’s attention to image. Some would argue that “Delicatessen” is Jeunet’s strongest film so far—much darker than “Amélie,” and it has achieved a cult status. But it was “Amélie” that gained the biggest audiences: whereas [...]
I must confess to a prejudice: I hate films that don’t change spaces. At the theatre, it doesn’t matter to me if there are no set alterations and every scene takes place in the same location; when it comes to film, I want to move from one space to another. This may sound like an [...]
You may have seen the trailer for the latest Jim Carrey comedy, I Love You Phillip Morris. If so, I’d advise you to quit while you’re ahead. Like most comedy trailers, it cannily includes most of the film’s funniest moments. This has always struck me as a kind of misrepresentation: the trailer is supposed to [...]
If you read the newspaper articles that appeared following the death of Eric Rohmer early this year, you will have come across the cliché that his work is ‘talky’: the implicit criticism is that Rohmer’s films feature too much dialogue and not enough action. Personally, I see nothing wrong with characters engaging in thought-provoking debate. [...]
Why did we watch ‘Amour?’
Short and Swede
No: Too Good at Recreating the 80s
Lawrence of Arabia: Deserving of its Place in the Sun
Top 10 of 2012
Sound of My Voice (2012)
The Master (2012)
‘Village at the End of the World’: Help Wanted?
‘Eat Sleep Die’: Asking for a little more
From Senegal to Saudi Arabia: Girls working for change
