White Material [2009] – ★★★★1/2 White Material is set in one unspecified French colonial African country, and follows Maria Vial (Isabelle Huppert), an owner of a large coffee plantation. Well-known to the area, Maria lives on the estate with her ex-husband Andre (Christopher Lambert), her ex-husband’s father Henri and grown-up son Manuel. However, there are…
Tag: Thriller
“The Power of the Dog” Review
The Power of the Dog [2021] – ★★★★1/2 “Deliver my soul from the sword/My darling from the power of the dog” (Psalms, Preface to Thomas Savage’s novel The Power of the Dog (1967)). The Power of the Dog centres on two very different brothers Phil and George Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons) living on…
“Death of a Cyclist” Review
Death of a Cyclist (Muerte de un ciclista) [1955] – ★★★★ Death of a Cyclist is a Spanish-language film that was the winner of the FIPRESCI Award at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem (Main Street (1956)), this social realist film tells of a couple of secret, privileged lovers residing in Madrid who…
“Everybody Knows” Review
Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben) [2018] – ★★1/2 This mystery-thriller comes from acclaimed director Asghar Farhadi (The Salesman (2016)), and stars such big stars as Penelope Cruz (Volver (2006)), Javier Bardem (Mother! (2017)) and Ricardo Darin (The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)). It thus seems as though this film can do no wrong, but, unfortunately,…
Hitchcock’s “The Birds”: Review & Analysis of Main Elements
The Birds [1963] – ★★★★★ 🐦 Fifty-five years on, Alfred Hitchcock’s highly atmospheric, suspenseful and original horror creation is still a “must-see” film. This film by the “master of suspense”, Alfred Hitchcock, takes inspiration from a story by Daphne Du Maurier (Rebecca (1940)) of the same name, and is about strange behaviour of birds in…
“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…
“The Limehouse Golem” Review
The Limehouse Golem [2017] – ★★★★ This film, based on a novel by Peter Ackroyd Dan Leno and The Limehouse Golem, starts with Victorian London being shaken by a series of gruesome murders deemed to be perpetuated by an individual so mythical he is called Golem. Eccentric Inspector John Kildare (Bill Nighy) is assigned to…
Agatha Christie Adaptations: Murder on the Orient Express (1974), & (2017)
Murder on the Orient Express [1974] – ★★★★ It is no wonder that Agatha Christie chose the Orient Express, once the most luxurious train in the world, as the setting for one of her fictitious crime scenes. From Paris to Istanbul, a journey of some 1,920 miles, will take passengers around 1883 (the date of…
The Horrorathon: Les Diaboliques (1955)
Maddy at Maddy Loves Her Classic Films is hosting the Horrorathon, celebrating horror movies in the light of the forthcoming Halloween, and I have decided to contribute with a review of one intelligent and highly influential film which some view to be one of the precursors to the modern psychological horror/thriller genre. Les Diaboliques [1955] –…
“Blade Runner” Review
Blade Runner [1982] – ★★★★1/2 “A humanoid robot is like any other machine; it can fluctuate between being a benefit and a hazard very rapidly. As a benefit, it’s not our problem” (Rick Deckard in Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) Since its release in 1982, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner has achieved a…
The Alfred Hitchcock Blogathon: Rope (1948)
Maddy at Maddy Loves Her Classic Films is hosting The Alfred Hitchcock blogathon, and this is my entry dissecting one of Hitchcock’s most claustrophobic and intriguing films: Rope (1948). It is a tense and cerebral film that belongs to one of my favourite cinematic “genres”: “one location” films. This “genre” was later used by Lumet (Twelve…
“Psycho” Review
Psycho [1960] – ★★★★★ 🚿 A true classic which stood the test of time, revolutionising the presentation of horror on screen and showcasing Hitchcock’s unparalleled talent for creating suspense. Adapted from a novel by Robert Bloch, this film is a classic of psychological horror genre, which practically revolutionised the way horror films were shot ever since…
“Nocturnal Animals” Review
Nocturnal Animals [2016] – ★★★★ After directing critically-acclaimed A Single Man back in 2009, Tom Ford has decided to try his hand in directing something darker and more complicated, an adaptation of the novel by Austin Wright Tony and Susan. Nocturnal Animals is a drama/thriller having two stories running in parallel: one in which Susan…
Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” Review
Rebecca [1940] – ★★★★1/2 “…I suppose sooner or later in the life of everyone comes a moment of trial. We all of us have our particular devil who rides us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end” (Daphne Du Maurier Rebecca (1938)). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Rebecca is adapted from the best-selling novel…
“Déjà-vu” Review
Déjà-vu [2006] – ★★★★ “What if you had to tell someone the most important thing in the world, but you knew they’d never believe you?” (Doug Carlin) In 2006, Tony Scott directed a time-travel thriller Déjà-vu, starring Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer, presenting a story of A.T.F. agent Doug Carlin who starts to investigate the bombing…
“The Infiltrator” Review
The Infiltrator [2016] – ★★★★ The 1980s. A federal agent Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) works as an undercover in a notorious drug trafficking ring established by Pablo Escobar. Robert Mazur is now influential and charismatic Bob Musella who operates alongside two other undercover agents: his “fiancée” Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) and best friend Emir Abreu…
“Dead Ringers” Review
Dead Ringers [1988] – ★★★★ David Cronenberg’s 1988 feature Dead Ringers is the director’s “trademark” film starring Jeremy Irons, and loosely based on a real-life story of identical twin brothers working as gynaecologists in New York. The story closely follows Elliot and Beverly Mantle (both played by Jeremy Irons), who share their lives so closely…
“Eastern Promises” Review
Eastern Promises [2007] – ★★★★ Eastern Promises is David Cronenerg’s film starring Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel and Naomi Watts. The script is written by Steven Knight, better known for Amazing Grace (2006) and Locke (2013), and the film starts with a young Eastern European girl dying during childbirth, leaving her baby girl and a diary behind,…
“Kalifornia” Review
Kalifornia [1993] – ★★★1/2 Directed by Dominic Sena, Kalifornia centres on two couples and takes place on the road. On the one hand, we have an intelligent pair of up-and-coming journalists: Brian Kessler and Carrie Laughlin, played by David Duchovny and Michelle Forbes, who are in the midst of an important Serial Killers book project and who…
Ayoade’s “The Double” vs. Villeneuve’s “Enemy”
The question of personal identity and its duplication have been fascinating people for centuries. From Edgar Allan Poe’s William Wilson to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, the theme has been pervasive in almost every form of art. When it comes to films, such works as Sommersby (1993), Face/Off (1997), The Prestige (2006) and Black Swan (2010) may…
Spotlight on Film 