Inside Llewyn Davis Review
The Greenwich Village Folk scene of the early sixties provides the setting for the Coen Brothers’ wonderfully meandering portrait of a struggling folk musician. The folk setting does not define Inside Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) though, Llewyn is in many ways more a representative of artists in general and in particular one struggling to have … Read more
Short Takes: May 2013
MICHAEL KOHLHAAS (C-) Mikkelsen/Lavant both great but they have little to do in this plodding, windswept period piece. ZULU (D) CSI: CAPE TOWN. Dull & predictable ‘thriller’. Socio-politics sometimes interesting, often problematic. Bloom hilariously bad. VENUS IN FUR (B-) Trashy good fun. Lots of amusing fact/fiction director/director parallels. Dialogue superb, everything else merely solid. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (B) … Read more
Heli Review
A depressing insight into a poor family in Mexico makes for uneasy if occasionally powerful viewing in Heli, Amat Escalante’s third feature following Sangre in 2005 and Los bastardos in 2008. Heli is named after its central character, a poor young man who works at a local Japanese Automobile factory and lives with his partner, … Read more
Good Vibrations Review
Music biopics so often get it drastically wrong, from over enthusiastic hagiography to a complete lack of understanding of the subject of the film, the missteps often quickly mount up. Significant blunders in these films are far more common than redeeming qualities but, thankfully, Good Vibrations is one of the better ones. Focusing not on … Read more