Posted on May 7th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Marley – Kevin Mcdonald Kierkegaard wrote: “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” Again: “Be that self one truly is.” And: “During the first period of a man’s life the greatest danger is not to take the risk.” Having fathered 11 children from 7 different women Robert Nesta Marley, in his […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, General, Kevin Macdonald | No Comments »
Posted on February 25th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Rampart – Oren Moverman When did the Hollywood Dream factory re-tool to produce nightmares? Was there a key year; a definitive film? I always feel the repressed misogyny in largely male directed movies finally crossed a borderline with Brian de Palma’s 1980 Dressed To Kill: the first film I remember where I was, […]
Filed under: 2 star, General, Hollywood, Oren Moverton | No Comments »
Posted on February 22nd, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Man On A Ledge – Asgar Leth Workmanlike thriller with a central device that generates tension at first then gradually suffers from the law of diminishing dramatic returns. Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is an ex-cop jailed for stealing a legendary diamond from ruthless tycoon David Englander (Ed Harris). Claiming he was framed, […]
Filed under: 2 star, Asgar Leth, General, Hollywood | No Comments »
Posted on February 12th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Carnage – Roman Polanski Why? – must be the first question that comes to mind when adapting a work from another medium to film. The most obvious answer is the commercial hedge it represents to take a work with a proven track record of success. French dramatist Yasmina Reza’s play Le Dieu du Carnage was […]
Filed under: 3 star, Comedy, Drama, General, Hollywood, Roman Polanski | No Comments »
Posted on December 29th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – David Fincher Like buses, you wait for ages for a film with a charismatic, independent, strong female character: then two come along at once: first Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl in The Killing I & II), and Lisbeth Salander (First Noomi Rapace, now Rooney Mara) in The Girl […]
Filed under: 4 stars, David Fincher, Detective, Drama, General, Hollywood, Romance, Thriller | No Comments »
Posted on November 20th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Wuthering Heights – Andrea Arnold “Well I’m not going to move to Yorkshire.” Comment from a guy I’ve never met as we left the Curzon. He was I think responding to the weather which dominates Arnold’s film, but his remark would have been just as apt referring to the characters as portrayed […]
Filed under: 2 star, Andrea Arnold, Drama, General, Historical, Romance | No Comments »
Posted on October 23rd, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Definetely Maybe – Adam Brooks I love feel-good movies: if they don’t insult my intelligence – and this one doesn’t. If they persuade me to believe in the characters and the emotions they have for each other – and this one does. If the feeling good has a little bit of […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Adam Brooks, Comedy, General, Hollywood, Romance | No Comments »
Posted on October 8th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Melancholia – Lars Von Trier Bookend Malik’s Tree of Life with Melancholia and you’ve got the world covered: from beginning to end. Malik’s conception makes more sense, for having brilliantly conjured a representation of the creation of the world, then his narrative has somewhere to go. Von Trier’s film if not Maliks’ graphic equal, is none the less […]
Filed under: 3 star, Drama, Fantasy, General, Lars von Trier, Philosophical, Sci-Fi | No Comments »
Posted on September 3rd, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet One Day – Lone Scherfig Da-Da-Di-Da; Da-Da-Da-Di – Rachel Portman’s musical signature to this movie is so evocatively Lawrentian and infuriatingly unforgettable that you expect Anne Hathaway’s Emma to emerge round a corner on a camel rather than her rickety, baseketted ladies bike. This theme regularly surges in and out like the tide […]
Filed under: 3 star, Director, General, Hollywood, Lone Scherfig | No Comments »
Posted on August 20th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Tree Of Life – Terence Malik “Why should I be good?” asks pre-pubescent Jack O’Brien (Hunter McCracken), one of three brothers whose childhood doubts and fears form the central narrative of this extraordinary film. In voiceover at the beginning of the movie his long-suffering, stoical mother Malik doesn’t […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Drama, Fantasy, Film Reviews, General, Hollywood, Philosophical, Terence Malik | No Comments »