Sam Taylor- Johnson’s Amy Winehouse biopic suffers from the factor that afflicts many musical biopics: it’s too linear and on -the-nose, with a Wikipedia approach to its subject. So it’s all laid down here in heart -breaking detail: everything that’s well-documented about the talented Londoner- from her closeness to glamorous nan Cynthia (brilliant as everContinue reading “Film Review: Back To Black”
Tag Archives: Film review
Vintage Film Review: Rear Window
For a long time, Alfred Hitchcock was deemed ‘The Master of Suspense ‘. But of course, he was also big on voyeurism, and how it is we get drawn in to unhealthy obsessions such as murder plots and dark behaviour. So it is with his psychological thriller, Rear Window, written by John Michael Hayes andContinue reading “Vintage Film Review: Rear Window”
Film Review: Bjork -Cornucopia Live
On massive screens behind Bjork and her fellow musicians, flora and fauna burst into kaleidoscopic life in Technicolour. Birdsong and insects provide looped natural percussion, reflecting the singular artist’s twin obsessions: the natural world and technology in symbiosis. Bjork herself, in trademark masks and sculptural costumes, is almost a secondary character amid the visual overwhelm.Continue reading “Film Review: Bjork -Cornucopia Live”
Vintage Film Review: The Lost Boys
How 1980s is Joel Schumacher ‘s teen comedy horror film The Lost Boys? The “dudes” look like all of Bon Jovi at once. The “chicks” could be dropouts from The Breakfast Club. And the soundtrack is dreadful, full of macho douche soft rock. Only Echo And The Bunnymen’s tepid Doors cover hints at anything alternative.Continue reading “Vintage Film Review: The Lost Boys”
Film Review: Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
Sex is a dance that’s best when it’s improvised. That is seemingly the subtext to ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’. Written by comic actor Katy Brand and directed by Sophie Hyde, it’s a refreshingly honest look at age gap sex. Thankfully the candour means there are no traditional romcom tropes, nor “feeling to healing”Continue reading “Film Review: Good Luck To You, Leo Grande”
Vintage Film Review: Welcome To The Dollhouse
Todd Solondz’s debut feature film from 1995 is still the most painfully accurate depiction of school brutality I’ve seen: the usual parental advice of ‘just ignore them and they’ll go away” never works, simply because bullying is a ritual, and relentless in its targets. So it is for the main character here and target ofContinue reading “Vintage Film Review: Welcome To The Dollhouse”
Film Review: Crock Of Gold- A Few Rounds With Shane Macgowan
Crock of shit.
Film Review: A Real Pain
Jesse Eisenberg has often beautifully portrayed assholes (The Squid and the Whale, The Double, The Social Network) so it’s lovely to see him playing against type here, as well as writing and directing the film. It’s seriously impressive. He portrays uptight, neurotic but still empathic David Kaplan, a family man, who is thrown together withContinue reading “Film Review: A Real Pain”
Film Review: Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche
It ‘s tough at the top, and it’s far from easy being the offspring of a punk legend, either. That’s the overarching theme of Celeste Bell and Paul Sing’s critically acclaimed documentary about X Ray Spex singer Poly Styrene. Narrated by Bell herself, who shares a similarly sleepy, childlike drawl with her late mother, thisContinue reading “Film Review: Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche”
Overlooked Classics: The Devil and Daniel Johnston
This beautiful documentary by Jeff Feuerzeig focuses on the much missed cult singer songwriter and artist Daniel Johnston, a sensitive and thoughtful portrait of a troubled, gifted soul. Although the director takes a linear, somewhat conventional approach to Johnston’s life, he was absolutely unique, whether drawing comics and painting, or creating his beautiful, brittle music.Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Devil and Daniel Johnston”
Hit The North 