Beast From The East
The snow defeated the cinemas, but it didn’t defeat me! Home safe and sound after helping a woman push her car up a hill and stepping in a snow bank right up to my knee.
Month: February 2018
My Friend Dahmer
A dramatised biopic of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s teenage years. I’d say it’s probably best to come to this movie with no idea about who Jeffrey Dahmer is, and just see it as a character study of a disturbed young man missing opportunities to reach out for help. Otherwise, it is a bit unsettling watching…
The Charmer
An engaging film about an Iranian guy who tries to get his green card in Denmark but seducing women in the hopes of marrying them. It’s an interesting look at race and gender and power. For him, these white women hold his life in their hands, they can decide if he stays and prospers here…
How Victor “The Garlic” Took Alexey “The Stud” to the Nursing Home
A Russian comedy (not often you get to say that). Viktor is a supreme dobber who discovers that the father he assumed died in prison is in fact living with a spinal cord injury in a flat across town. His father is an even bigger dobber than him, so Viktor decides to pap him off…
The Cured
A zombie allegory for the release of political and paramilitary prisoners and their reintegration back into their community after the end of The Troubles. To hammer it home, the zombie virus is called the Maze virus (Maze Prison, Maze virus, gedit?) It’s one of those films where I actually would have preferred to read as…
Sweet Country
An Australian film about a black guy who shoots a white guy in self-defence. And if a story starts like that, you know how it’s gonna end. Visually, this film conveys the awe of the Australian landscape, following Sam as he goes on the run. Despite the fact he could kill his pursuers numerous times,…
The Swan
A film about a girl that gets sent to live with her relatives in rural Iceland. And that’s about it.
Mobile Homes
A film about homelessness and parenthood. A woman tries to provide what life she can for her son while they flit between motel and squat, selling fighting cocks with her violent boyfriend. What I liked about this was its portrayal of neglect and abuse as not necessarily the product of people but of the practicalities…
120 BPM
A love story set among the Parisian branch of Act Up, the AIDS activism group. It has a very naturalistic style to it. It is the first time I’ve seen a political activism meeting look like a real political activism meeting, boring and with agendas and petty bickering and menial practicalities and clash of personalities.…
Pin Cushion
A British Mean Girls with no jokes. Played straight down the line, this is a tale of female loneliness. With echoes of the start of Carrie, this is a film about the outsider, what it’s like to be permanently locked out of the society the rest of us seem to share in with ease. It’s…