A film about a couple of junkies trying to come clean, and the struggle as they sabotage themselves and each other. Opens with a suicide, so you know it’s gonna be cheery. I liked that the film was beautiful and humanising while not sugar-coating the characters, not making them super-likable or cast as martyrs. They’re…
A documentary about a Dutch satirical sketch on slavery in chocolate production which develops into the creation of a global ethical chocolate company. It’s bizarre because what starts out as anti-commercialist comedy ends with a commercial entity. It’s a bit like the weird trajectory of Bob Geldof’s life which was to be a rock star…
A documentary about a postman who stands for mayor in his dying little village on the Bulgarian border with the plan to regenerate the community by hosting Syrian refugee families. This is met with a mixed reaction, some positive and some negative. He goes up against the incumbent and this absolute legend of a man…
Well, that fair wakes you up in the morning! Just out of Below Her Mouth, a hot as fuck erotic romance between semi-reformed rogue Dallas and closeted soon-to-be married woman Jasmine. Erika Linder is absolutely gorgeous as Dallas, the complete asshole you know you’re gonna fall for despite yourself. Everyone in this is fit as…
A documentary about Asian-American rappers. I found interesting the interplay between the hypermascinilised rap culture with the demasculinised racial stereotype of Asian men in a search for authentic representation of masculine identity. Side by side to that, Awkwafina has to go into that world where the stereotype for Asian women is massively sexualized, and the…
A reverse of fortune movie. Much as I liked seeing Sandra Oh and Anne Heche star, because I think they’re really underutilised actors, the fact that everyone in this movie’s an asshole and no one really learns anything kinda leaves me flat. I know the point is the never-ending fight between the two main characters…
Little does the main male character know when the mistress of the house walks in on him carrying out a sexual assault, she’ll be the scary one in their relationship. A violent sexual period drama, about life lived on nail ends and viscera, suffocated beneath the silence and subservience of Victorian decorum. The casting of…
A beautiful animation about children in care forging new families among friends. It’s not sugar-coated, the children bear the scars of their abuse, quite literally in some cases, but with the help of friends, they can survive and even heal. A hopeful, heartfelt film.
Liberation Day was fucking awesome! Utterly mad and very funny. Laibach become the first outside band to play North Korea, and it’s as weird as a self-fellating monkey. Have you ever seen a documentary where an interview is interrupted by a goat’s fart? I have.
Window Horses, an animation about a Chinese-Canadian girl who is invited to read at an Iranian poetry festival, and goes on a journey learning more about her history, her family and herself. I did really well with this one, I lasted right up until the last 20 minutes before crying. It was so beautiful and…