Posted on August 2nd, 2009 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Antichrist – Lars von Trier Wittgenstein said he always found Freud worth reading – for thought-provoking psychological ideas. He expressed no interest in Freud’s work as the basis for a therapeutic regime. As ever, this is both clear thinking and wise. In Antichrist, Lars von Trier tempts us to become as entangled in Freudian […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Drama, Europe/World cinema, Extended essay, Fantasy, Lars von Trier, Philosophical | No Comments »
Posted on April 21st, 2009 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet State of Play – Ken MacDonald Question: you have a cleverly plotted, superbly crafted, well written movie with first class actors on top of their form: these ingredients are drawn together with assurance and style by an excellent Director and edited to a heart-beat – at times racing with the breakneck pace of events; […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Action, Hollywood, Political, Thriller | No Comments »
Posted on April 9th, 2009 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Apprentice Week 3 – getting serious Damn. It’s so much more fun to take the p*ss. OK there was the usual playground bully hubris from Ben “I’m the best looking man here” Clarke; and routine autocratic obscenity from Debra “I’m the f**cking Project Manager” Barr. James McQuillan’s verbal diarrhoea continues though thankfully we […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Television | No Comments »
Posted on January 12th, 2009 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Reader – Stephen Daldry This is a morally complex film: which probably explains why it has polarised critical opinion. The Reader demonstrates better than any recent film I can remember, the vital importance of what the viewer brings to the artistic experience – both to the quality of that experience and the value […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Europe/World cinema, Extended essay, Philosophical, Political, Romance, Stephen Daldry, Thriller, War | No Comments »
Posted on December 23rd, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Gommora – Matteo Garrone Thomas Hobbes, 16th Century English philosopher once described human life without government, state authority, as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Garrone’s award-winning film occupies a Hobbesian world: neither his Direction nor Maurizio Braucchi’s screenplay, based upon Roberto Saviano’s whistle-blowing book Gomorra (2006), make any attempt at a coherent narrative […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Action, Drama, Europe/World cinema, Gangster, General, Matteo Garrone, Philosophical, Political | No Comments »
Posted on December 20th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Lemon Tree – Eran Riklis At the very heart of this quiet, dignified film is a performance by Israeli-Arab Hiam Abbass of such power and stillness that it not only draws us into the pain and mental anguish of poor Palestinian widow Salma Zidane, but also resonates with the ancient Israeli/Palestinian conflict for which […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Drama, Eran Riklis, Europe/World cinema, General, Philosophical | No Comments »
Posted on October 22nd, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Pianist – Roman Polanski Films with a Holocaust setting pose acute and unique problems for critical and aesthetic analysis. In no other context of human behaviour are important distinctions between moral and aesthetic judgement so disturbingly blurred. The Holocaust stands apart as the most appalling of all examples of man’s inhumanity to man […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Drama, Europe/World cinema, Extended essay, Philosophical, Political, Roman Polanski, War | No Comments »
Posted on October 18th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Motorcycle Diaries – Walter Salles Friendship, self-awakening, and indignation at injustice, are at the heart of this empathic and deeply felt film. The real journey through fifties South America of Ernesto, later ‘Che’, Guevara and his friend Alberto Grenado is engaging, funny, moving and redolent of a rare sense of humanity. The film […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, Drama, Europe/World cinema, General, Political, Walter Salles | No Comments »
Posted on October 17th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Ray – Director Taylor Hackforth London. Astoria Theatre, Finsbury Park. 1960. A young, white, Suffolk teenager sits, front row circle, with a 20 year-old ‘chaperoning’ mate, having somehow wangled a couple of tickets from the promoters of Ray Charles’s first ever London gig before they even went on sale. Two white sore thumbs in […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Drama, General, Hollywood, Musical, Oscar Winner, Taylor Hackforth | No Comments »
Posted on October 14th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Pursuit of Happyness – Gabriele Muccino An old saying demolished. The traditional advice to actors – ‘never act with animals or children’ is comprehensively contradicted in this touching film by the real life father and son Will and Jaden Smith (8). Here mutually dependent and totally supportive performances create the moving central relationship […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Drama, Gabriel Muccino, General, Hollywood | No Comments »
