This is not Bonnie and Clyde, nor Mickey and Mallory. It isn’t Badlands or Heathers, it’s far too rooted in reality. Queen and Slim, a feature debut from Melina Matsoukas, with screenplay by Lena Waithe and James Frey, punches you in the gut before kissing you full on the lips. It’s beautiful,brutal and devastating. WhenContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Queen and Slim”
Category Archives: Film
Binge
My eyes are circled with the natural kohl of insomnia. I pace the floors. It’s stupid o’clock and yet you won’t let go of me. I can’t go cold turkey. I’ve tried. Please set me free of your grip. Why do you do this? I’m no passive consumer, I review art for a pittance. I’mContinue reading “Binge”
Album Review: Bo Ningen- The Holy Mountain
Who better than the London based Japanese psych/noise band Bo Ningen to provide a new soundtrack for Alejandro Jodorowsky”s cult 1973 film The Holy Mountain? They’ve always been sonic explorers, pushing layers of intensity in their sound and open to experimentation. This new album, a reimagining of the soundtrack, epitomises this, from the layered, hypnotic TheContinue reading “Album Review: Bo Ningen- The Holy Mountain”
Documentary Review: Becoming Frida Kahlo
We all know Frida Kahlo: survivor of polio, and a terrible bus crash; flowers in her hair and autobiographical art, married to Communist and prolific artist Diego Rivera, twenty years her senior. These are merely outlines, bare sketches. Louise Lockwood’s exhaustive three part BBC documentary films fill in the colours. There are details from her great-nieceContinue reading “Documentary Review: Becoming Frida Kahlo”
One From the Archive: Forever Summertime
. FOREVER SUMMERTIMEJune 26, 2018 • Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Virgin Suicides’: essay by Lorna Irvine. All of my favourite films have an elusive quality to them: so it is with Sofia Coppola’s debut feature from 1999, ‘The Virgin Suicides.’ It deftly captures the nature of ephemeral youth. Air’s gorgeous electronic soundtrack is elegiac, with throbbingContinue reading “One From the Archive: Forever Summertime”
And …Cut!
I kinda miss The Marx Brothers. Their beautifully crafted slapstick was matched only by the witty one-liners. Vaudeville performers who emerged during the Depression era in America, they epitomised freewheeling anarchy and sight gags like few others. Laurel and Hardy are great, but the Marx Bros kicked it up a notch. They each brought somethingContinue reading “And …Cut!”
Film Review: Love, Lizzo
Until the recent allegations against her, I had a lot of admiration for Lizzo. Born Melissa Jefferson in Detroit, she went from niche hip hop artist to global superstar in a decade: not bad for a big, Black woman who sings, raps, twerks and is a classically trained flautist with her own clothing brand andContinue reading “Film Review: Love, Lizzo”
Film Review: Little Richard – King And Queen Of Rock ‘n’ Roll
As befits the legendary, lare pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll, Little Richard – King And Queen Of Rock ‘n’Roll is a wild ride.James House’s documentary for Arena is conventional in its linear structure- but Richard Penniman’s life was anything but. Born in Macon, Georgia in 1932, Penniman was moved by gospel singers he’d heard inContinue reading “Film Review: Little Richard – King And Queen Of Rock ‘n’ Roll”
Overlooked Classics: Blancanieves
This film is so masterful, and I’m concerned people have forgotten about it just over a decade later, or never seen it. Still, it endures. It’s absolutely unique and beautiful. Pablo Berger ‘s Goya winning flamenco spin on Snow White, Blancanieves, is a fairy tale like no other. It’s silent film, fable and anti-war metaphorContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Blancanieves”
Film Review: Arena- Cindy Sherman #Untitled
Claire Beaven’s film for Arena, which focuses on one of American contemporary art’s true trailblazers, photographer and film maker Cindy Sherman, is absolutely fascinating. Because Sherman still remains camera -shy when not in one of her (in)famous disguises, there are older, rare interviews interwoven into the film, and a nice updated voiceover from Sherman (withContinue reading “Film Review: Arena- Cindy Sherman #Untitled”
Hit The North 