20 May 2016. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2016 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL So here are the incredible numbers: the Festival has 40,000 accredited professionals working for, and running around its tightly guarded halls, its tented beaches and between the hotels, restaurants and fabled parties. Of that, some 4,500-plus are journalists, with 11,500 industry badges in the Marche […]
Film: Woody Allen at his best – tinsel town in the 1930s
13 May 2016. CAFE SOCIETY **** Is there a yearning in the corner of Woody Allen’s heart? In fact, don’t we all have a secret longing buried deep in our hearts? That’s the magic of Woody’s genius, when he gets it just right. He touches our emotions, connecting with each of us, with a lightness, […]
Tracks – true story of a loner who crossed the deserts of Austrailia
6 May 2016. Brace yourselves, Cinephiles – lots of quality films coming at us this week! Nearly all non-English ones that I would highly recommend. We are in international Geneva, after all. Check out these other corners of our world… TRACKS *** Here’s another true story, based on the incredible trek of Robyn Davidson (played by […]
Film: Trumbo – the man who wrote household name movies under an alias
29 April 2016. TRUMBO ***1/2 You’ve probably never heard of Dalton Trumbo. Frankly, neither had I. But that’s because for many years he was one of Hollywood’s hidden gems of a screenwriter. Because of his political beliefs – being a Communist – he was blacklisted from writing for the major studios, and in fact incarcerated […]
Film: Demolition – of a man’s blocked emotions and his inability to love
22 April 2016. DEMOLITION ***1/2 The title is unfortunate, for it may keep people away, thinking it’s just another Schwarzenegger destruction blockbuster. It is nothing of the sort. It is rather an introspective, modern tale of a man’s blocked emotions and his inability to love. Jake Gyllenhaal once again gives a fascinating, Oscar-worthy performance (remember […]
Film: The Jungle Book – this sumptuous live-action version does not disappoint
15 April 2016. THE JUNGLE BOOK **** We are all more or less familiar with this adventure tale about a little boy growing up in the jungle amongst wild animals, either through the original classic by Rudyard Kipling, its various apparitions as comics, or the unforgettable Disney animated film of 1967. This sumptuous live-action version […]
Film: Truth – how two top TV journalists had their careers destroyed
8 April 2016. TRUTH *** Let’s be honest – it’s the strong acting of Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford, and the rest of the accomplished cast, that makes this film especially worthwhile. But its recounting of the true incident in 2004 that cost the careers of two top television journalists in the U.S. is also […]
Film: Kung fu Panda 3 – about everyone finding their own best self
1 April 2016. Not the greatest week dear cinephiles, but a fine one for your kids with the Panda film, which you will also enjoy. 1 to see, 2 to skip. KUNG FU PANDA 3 *** What a delight to see an animated film for children that has fun and action but also an underlying […]
Film: A perfect day – a droll look at the absurdity of war
A PERFECT DAY ***1/2 The multi-awarded Spanish director Fernando Leon de Aranoa – of such socially-conscious yet personal films as “Les Lundi au Soleil” and “Princesas” – has come up with another winner. This time he’s gone international, taking a droll, almost sarcastic look at the consequences and absurdity of war, somewhere in the Balkans […]
Film: Brooklyn – a love story about a girl who emigrates alone
15 March 2016. BROOKLYN **** A fine romantic film is a rarity, and here is such a pearl. Underlying the romance is the more meaty tale of a young girl emigrating alone to America from her home in Ireland in the early 1950s, with all the turmoil that such a move entails: the fears of a […]
