Posted on October 5th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Keeping Mum – Niall Johnson Not quite Ealing – but close. At times. Ealing comedies were all about tone: a kind of arch, insouciant darkness to relish not just enjoy. The logic of the English social class system followed through to its ultimate absurdity. All the fixed butts of Englishness that were affectionately ridiculed […]
Filed under: 3 star, Comedy, Europe/World cinema, General, Humorous, Niall Johnson | No Comments »
Posted on October 3rd, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Pride and Prejudice – Director Joe Wright Not quite Rachmaninov but close. Matthew MacFadayen’s Mr Darcy emerging from the early morning mist to open his passionate heart to Elizabeth Bennett runs neck and neck, or rather chest to chest, with Colin Firth’s wet shirt. It’s the surging sub-Rachmaninov score that perhaps gives it the […]
Filed under: 3 star, Drama, Europe/World cinema, General, Joe Wright, Romance | No Comments »
Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Layer Cake – Matthew Vaughan Layer Cake has all the warmth and depth of characterisation of the Tarantino films it emulates, but without their visual flair, imagination, style and wicked irony. Like Quentin, director Matthew Vaughn is irreducibly referential – Seven, Lock Stock of course and the quintessential British Gangster movie – Get Carter. […]
Filed under: 2 star, Europe/World cinema, General, Humorous, Matthew Vaughan | No Comments »
Posted on September 26th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Passenger – Michelangelo Antonioni Uncompromising and austere, Antonioni, like a painter, demands everything of his audience. He once described his actors as ‘living pigment’ – mere elements in his ‘picture’, not its raison d’être. His is not a hostile universe: worse – it is an absolutely indifferent one. Hostility might induce rebellion. Our […]
Filed under: 5 stars, Antonioni, Drama, Europe/World cinema, General, Philosophical, Political | No Comments »
Posted on September 25th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema – Sophie Fiennes Great film. Dumb title. This is a tour de force of intellectual passion and sheer irrepressible enthusiasm displayed by Slavoj Žižek’s, Slovenian psychoanalyst, sociologist and philosopher. Žižek applies his psychoanalytic concepts to the interpretation of cinema as a serious and cathartic art form. His obvious love […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, Europe/World cinema, General, Philosophical, Sophie Fiennes | No Comments »
Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet A Cock And Bull Story (Tristram Shandy) – Michael Winterbottom Eric Morecombe, Andre Previn’s lapels in hand, responding to the maestro’s accusation that he has just played all the wrong notes, famously replies with mock menace – “No, I played all the right notes….but not necessarily in the right order”. An apt metaphor for […]
Filed under: 3 star, Comedy, Europe/World cinema, Fantasy, General, Humorous, Michael Winterbottm, Philosophical, Political | No Comments »
Posted on September 21st, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Bride and Prejudice – Gurinder Chadha For once I’m at a complete loss. I need guidance. Cinematically this film is a cross between Blue Hawaii and an execrable advert for my local Indian restaurant. I loved Bend It Like Beckham which really seemed to explore with humour and perceptiveness the boundaries of assimilated or […]
Filed under: 1 star, Comedy, Europe/World cinema, General, Gurinder Chadha, Humorous, Romance | No Comments »
Posted on September 21st, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Hero – Zhang Yimou It is rare that one can recommend a film simply because of its stunning visual style. The cinematography (Christopher Doyle), editing and especially vibrant colour throughout create a movie that, irrespective of anything else, is always fascinating to watch. I have not seen a film before where a different […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Action, Drama, Europe/World cinema, General, Humorous, Philosophical, Political, Romance, War, Zhang Yimou | No Comments »
Posted on September 19th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet House Of Flying Daggers – Director Zhang Yimou In a film with some extraordinary martial arts action scenes, the most exciting sequence in this absorbing film is a dance: the ethereally beautiful Ziyi Zhang as blind heroine Mei, performs the Echo dance with an elegance, style and riveting tension, that matches anything in HOFD’s […]
Filed under: 3 star, Action, Drama, Europe/World cinema, General, Philosophical, Romance, Zhang Yimou | No Comments »
Posted on September 16th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Hidden Blade – Director Yoji Yamada Words can die. And the concepts they represent can die with them. Not overnight. Almost always it is of a long terminal disease characterised by neglect and misuse. Does it matter? Often not, but sometimes an important element in the way we think about ourselves and our […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Action, Drama, Europe/World cinema, General, Philosophical, Political, Romance, Yoji Yamada | No Comments »