In Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy shared his wisdom that “happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. 140 years later in Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach ignited the silver screen with a splendid, bittersweet rendition of the Tolstoy wisdom. Marriage Story begins with much promise, as all marriages invariably do,…
Category: Film Reviews & Quotes
Moulin Rouge! – The Broadway Extravaganza
For wide-eyed first-timers to New York, the lure of Broadway and all its promises of razzle dazzle would have been irresistible. Such was the lure which led me to fork out a mouth-watering US$500 for two mezzanine tickets at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in midtown Manhattan. If the stage setting was anything to go by…
A Star is Born (2018)
“I just wanted to take another look at you”. So he did. And in his eyes she is reborn. The age-old tale of stardom and discovery has been told innumerable times before. And indeed, A Star is Born has been remade on three separate occasions since its original 1937 film, as a musical in 1954…
The Guilty (Den Skyldige) (2018)
Country: Denmark Language: Danish There is something about film festivals that resonates with the eclectic in me. Whilst a plethora of Asian (and other foreign) films have graced cinema screens Down Under in recent years, my quest for everything Nordic has so far left me with slim pickings. That is, until the 2018 Sydney Film…
Walk With Me (De Standhaftige) (2016)
Country: Denmark Language: Danish Much has been said about companionship being the greatest form of love. As elusive as this feels sometimes, it often presents itself in the most unlikeliest of places. Little did I know that I would find it in a small budget arthouse Danish film, where a weighty subject matter finds its…
8 Films to Unleash the Wanderer in You
Life has been a little stationary of late (read into that as you will). In between my bouts of itchy feet and jealous rage at everyone else’s happy snaps, I recharge my restless soul by pursuing my other (slightly more sedentary) passion: lapping up more of those happy snaps on the big screen. For those…
Top 5 Picks for French Drama
I like my films subtitled; just as I prefer my literature foreign. As a film fanatic (and a contrarian at that), it wasn’t long before the formulaic Hollywood trifecta of violence, drugs and sex drove me to the brink of distraction. (“What’s wrong with that?” I hear you say. Nothing! Well, nothing at all if…
The Light Between Oceans (2016)
“A husband who loses his wife is known as a widower, but there is no word to describe a parent who loses a child”. It is a brave task for one to explore the trappings of parental love. It is a braver task still to interpret a bestselling page-turner on the trappings of parental love…
Me Before You (2016)
Long before its theatrical release in Australia, I have waited with bated breath for a film adaptation of one of the most popular modern romances – Jojo Moyes’ bestseller fiction Me Before You. Needless to say, the subsequent release of a tastefully edited trailer was enough to whet my appetite for a night of The…
Brooklyn (2015)
By now it should come as no surprise to you that I like simple stories told well. John Crowley’s adaptation of Colm Toibin’s 2009 novel Brooklyn is one of those stories. Crafted with exquisite, understated finesse, Brooklyn serves as a poignant reminder of just how powerful relatively unadorned cinematography can truly be. The film chronicles…
The Before Trilogy – Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) & Before Midnight (2013)
The Art of Conversing & the Articulation of Love I have always held a special fascination with the simple things in life; the confluence of unspoken companionship and quotidian quibbles which so often come to define personal relationships. In filmmaking, nowhere has it been manifested so starkly than in Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy. Whilst Linklater’s…
Everest (2015) – A Vicarious Cinematic Thriller
“It hurts. It’s dangerous. It costs a small fortune and ruins relationships…[then] why?” As a vicarious thrill seeker, the “why” of adventure tourism (euphemism for death-defying stunts) has seldom bothered me. I am much intrigued by the “what” and the “how”. Until now. The conquest of Mt Everest, as portrayed by Baltasar Kormakur’s Everest, is…
McFarland USA (2015)
For one who is only a sedentary sports spectator at best, I have, ironically, watched a disproportionate amount of sports in film and considers them to be one of my favourite genres. Perhaps it is the foreignness of the subject matter (which I have often alluded to as being able to produce a certain lustre)….
The Hunt (Jagten) (2012)
Country: Denmark Language: Danish, English “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed”. I would loathe to adopt the words of Adolf Hitler on any matters of authority, however it presents such a chilling allusion to Thomas Vinterberg’s latest Danish drama The Hunt (Jagten) that I would…
Far From the Madding Crowd (2015)
“They spoke very little of their mutual feelings: pretty phrases and warm attentions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends.” And indeed, Thomas Vinterberg’s screen adaptation of the classic Thomas Hardy love story Far From the Madding Crowd (screenplay by David Nicholls) leaves you with the sensation that less is undeniably more. Despite precedent successes,…
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