Category film review
Divergent (2014): “If you don’t fit into a category, they can’t control you.”
It’s yet another young adult fiction dystopian future fantasy turned into a film series! Divergent (2014, dir. Neil Burger) is based on the popular trilogy of novels by Veronica Roth, and stars Shailene Woodley as Tris, a special young woman with hidden abilities. Its synopsis is as follows: In a world divided by factions based […]
Putty Hill (2010): Quick-shot review!
Director Matthew Porterfield’s emotionally raw yet expressively quiet independent drama film Putty Hill (2010) focuses on the death of a young man named Cory, and the ways in which it has affected his family and the different people around him. Throughout the film, a disembodied voice from behind the camera talks to each of the […]
Alfred Hitchcock Blogathon: The Pleasure Garden (1925)
An awesome blogathon focusing on the genius of Alfred Hitchcock is happening over at The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger and Movierob! Pretty much every film that Hitchcock ever had a hand in creating is being reviewed, in honour of what would have been his 115th birthday on August 13th. You can read all […]
Pompeii (2014): “I don’t want to spend our last moments running.”
Based on the true story of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in CE 79, Pompeii (2014, dir. Paul W. S. Anderson) is a disaster film in every sense of the term. We follow Milo (Kit Harington), a Celtic gladiator who as a child witnessed the murder of his entire family and tribe by the Romans […]
Watchmen (2009): Quick-shot review!
Based on the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen (2009, dir. Zack Snyder) is a very different type of superhero film. Its synopsis is as follows: In an alternate 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering […]
Genre Grandeur: Mac and Me (1988)
I recently took part in an excellent series called Genre Grandeur for the month of July, over at the wonderful Movierob, where the genre of the month is alien films! I used this opportunity to finally watch a bad film classic which just so happens to be about aliens – Mac and Me (1988). I […]
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008): “Life is short. Life is dull. Life is full of pain. And this is a chance for something special.”
Director Woody Allen’s love letter to the beautiful Catalonian capital, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) tells the tale of two American tourists enjoying a holiday in the city. They meet a charismatic Spanish artist (Javier Bardem) who approaches them with a scandalous request. Both Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) become enamoured with him, but […]
Capturing the Friedmans (2003): Quick-shot review!
An extremely confronting documentary, Capturing the Friedmans (2003, dir. Andrew Jarecki) focuses on a normal family that becomes a media sensation as a father and son are accused of heinous crimes against children. Family patriarch Arnold Friedman was a popular community figure and science teacher when, on the day of Thanksgiving 1987, he was busted […]
No (2012): “Chile, happiness is coming.”
Directed by Pablo Larraín, No (2012) tells of a tumultuous time in Chile’s history where, after intentional political pressure, its leader the dictator Augusto Pinochet called for a national referendum, so that citizens could decide whether he should stay in power for another eight years. Chileans were encouraged to vote either “YES”, for the dictator to stay […]
Castaway on the Moon (2009): Quick-shot review!
A quirky Korean drama-comedy-romance hybrid, Castaway on the Moon (2009, dir. Lee Hae-Joon) tells the story of a man stranded on an island within his own city, and a woman who observes his predicament from afar. Kim Seung-geun (Jung Jae-young) is stricken with debt problems that he can’t escape, leading him to attempt suicide by […]
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