The Bookshop [2018] – ★★ Leo Tolstoy once said that all literature can be divided into two types of stories: a man goes on a journey, and a stranger comes to town. The Bookshop falls into the latter category. The film first caught my attention when it won a number of Spanish Goya Awards, including…
Author: Spotlight on Film
Providing in-depth reviews of films since 2011.
Films that “grapple” with Faith: “First Reformed” (2018) and “Novitiate” (2017)
First Reformed [2018] – ★★★★★ First Reformed comes from director Paul Schrader, who co-wrote the scripts to such films as Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980), and who also directed American Gigolo (1980) and Affliction (1997). Clearly inspired by Robert Bresson’s classic film Diary of a Country Priest (1951), First Reformed tells of Reverend…
What Some Films Really Cost to Produce: Accidents When Filming
The intention of this post is not to depress or offend anyone. As most of you will know, yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts announced a new category of award called “Achievement in Popular Film”. My point is that, rather than devising this preposterous category, it would have been better for the Academy to finally recognise the invaluable contribution of stunt performers, who sometimes risk their lives to make a great scene for us all to enjoy. What follows are ten instances where the process of making an action film did not go as planned so as to demonstrate that film-making can be dangerous and, thus, the bravery, artistry and contribution of stunt performers (crew/coordinators) should be recognised.
5 Great Films about Real-Life Adventurers and their Journeys
I. Kon-Tiki (2012) Kon-Tiki is an Academy Award nominated adventure film which tells the true story of Thor Heyerdahl (Pal Hagen), a Norwegian adventurer, who sailed around 5000 miles from Peru to Polynesia on a wood raft in 1947 to prove his point that it was possible for pre-Columbian tribes to populate Polynesia from the…
“The Lost City of Z” Review
The Lost City of Z [2016] – ★★★ “There is very little doubt that the forests cover traces of a lost civilisation of a most unsuspected and surprising character” (from a letter of Fawcett to the Royal Geographical Society, December 1921, Grann (2009) at 55). Based on a great book by David Grann titled The…
The Winter in July Blogathon: The Sword in the Stone (1963)
The Sword in the Stone [1963] – ★★★ My second post for Debbie’s Winter in July Blogathon is on Disney’s animation The Sword in the Stone (1963), and, like my previous post, take note of spoilers! Once again I would like to extend my thanks to Debbie for hosting such an amazing blogathon, and also check out…
The Winter in July Blogathon: Frozen (2013)
There is nothing like snowy and wintery films to cool us all down in the middle of this summer, and Debbie at Moon in Gemini hosts The Winter in July Blogathon for this very purpose. For this fun blogathon, I chose to write on animated films Frozen (2013) and The Sword in the Stone (1963)….
Hitchcock’s “The Birds”
Fifty-five years on, Alfred Hitchcock’s highly atmospheric, suspenseful and original horror creation is still a “must-see” film.
“Millennium Actress” Review: Transcendental & Beautiful
Millennium Actress [2001] – ★★★★1/2 A cinematic journey to stardom and to finding answers as to the identity, history and inexplicability of love, while “playing” with time, and fusing reality and make-believe. “All the world’s a stage, [and] all the men and women [are] merely players”, famously stated William Shakespeare. It appears that this quote…
4 Intriguing “International Crime” Films
I. Piracy Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as “any illegal acts of violence or detention… committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft and directed…on the high seas against another ship or aircraft…”. In 2017, there were 117…
20 Fascinating Films about Visual Art
1. Andrei Rublev (1966) It will be a crime not to begin this list with Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece Andrei Rublev. A paragraph will not be sufficient to do justice to this largely black-and-white film which lasts around three hours, and, in some way, is a difficult watch. Andrei Rublev was a 15th century icon painter…
“Thoroughbreds” Review
Thoroughbreds [2017] – ★★★1/2 What happens when a street-smart, completely unemotional teen girl rekindles her childhood friendship with a doubtful, book-smart girl who has emotions, but who wants to get rid of one pressing problem in her life? This situation lies at the core of Thoroughbreds. Rising stars Olivia Cooke (The Limehouse Golem (2017)) and…
Mirrors in Films: Duality, Secrets and Revelations, and the Passage to the Otherworld
In this piece, I am focusing on three interpretations of mirrors in films: (i) the character’s dual nature; (ii) secrets revelation; and (iii) clandestine passage to the Otherworld.
“My Evil Twin”: 10 Films Exploring Twins’ Polarity
Doppelgängers have been baffling people for centuries. Identical twins, in particular, have always held a certain fascination on the public, with some saying that they possess sinister abilities or are “mystically bonded”. However, it is the notion of “an evil twin” which probably holds the most fascination, as it involves the timeless tale of the…
“Big Fish & Begonia” Review: Other-Worldly & Beautiful, even if a tad Confusing
Big Fish & Begonia [2016] – ★★★★1/2 Often perplexing, but still uncanny, almost mystical and visually-stunning cinematic experience. This fantastical tale is about Chun, a girl who is a member of a tribe of mythical beings (“neither humans nor gods, but others”) living underwater, capable of controlling tides and knowing the secrets of nature. As…
“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” Review
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2017) “Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck” (Orson Welles). It seems that this quote is particularly applicable to the story, where one financial institution based in Chinatown, New York – Abacus, became the centre of the government’s prosecution in 2012, and still remains to this day…
Unpopular Opinion Tag (Films) II
Last year, in August, I posted a similar post – Unpopular Opinion Tag (Films), where I talked about three movies that people generally love, but I hated. Now, it is time to do a “reversal” post. Here, I will be talking about three films that people or critics do not like much, but I actually…
“La Notte” Review
Movie Movie Blog Blog hosts a blogathon that celebrates movies originating in 1961, and Michelangelo Antonioni’s La Notte is one of those films. Like Antonioni L’Eclisse, which followed a year after, La Notte concerns itself with the existential theme of personal alienation in the world which becomes busier and more progressive. In such a place,…
“The Mercy” Review
The Mercy [2018] – ★★1/2 There is a method in his madness. This is the way some were able to characterise Donald Crowhurst’s insane desire and, ultimately, attempt to finish a single-handed, non-stop round-the world trip or the Golden Glove (Yacht) Race sponsored by Sunday Times in 1968. Completely amateur, Crowhurst, nevertheless, entered the race,…
“A Quiet Place” Review
A Quiet Place [2018] – ★★★★ 🤫 Silence never felt as terrifying as in A Quiet Place, a film that is truly scary, without appearing over-done. John Krasinski’s dystopia A Quiet Place is currently on everyone’s lips, a horror that tries to “reinvent” the horror genre (if such thing is possible after Get Out (2017) and The Witch (2015))….
Spotlight on Film 