by Martin | Dec 7, 2014 | movies, reviews
METAMORPHOSES Christophe Honoré’s film is based on something I’ve not read – Ovid’s Metamorphoses – but no need to be alarmed: the stories are spelled out very clearly. Indeed, almost too clearly. The set-up is that Europa (Amira Akili) is a...
by Martin | Nov 16, 2014 | movies, reviews
When nervous maid Cynthia (Sidhe Babett Knudson) turns up at the mansion of entomologist Evelyn (Chiara D’Anna) our first impression – as she harshly calls into question Cynthia’s ability to wash knickers – is that Evelyn is an exacting, even cruel,...
by Martin | Nov 8, 2014 | movies, reviews
SPRING If you thought Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset might have been improved if Julie Delpy had periodically turned into a squid (and is there anyone who doesn’t?), then this may well be the film for you. American backpacker Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci)...
by Martin | Oct 25, 2014 | movies, reviews
What better way to ease yourself gently into a film festival than with a nearly-three-hour black and white Russian film based on an sf novel I’ve never read? Aleksei German’s film (based on a novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky) is set on a planet which...
by Martin | Oct 18, 2014 | movies, reviews
I’ve always been put off by Redemption DVDs because they seem to be marketed at sadomasochistic lesbian vampire Goths and (moreover) their male admirers – and I am neither. Look beyond the packaging, however, and you will often find a decent transfer of a...
by Martin | Oct 4, 2014 | movies, reviews
Mere seconds after rogue stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) appears in Martin Scorsese’s film, I was eagerly awaiting his comeuppance, if not actual slow death by steamroller. Unfortunately I had to wait nearly 3 hours and even then (SPOILER ALERT)...
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