Cannes: The Lobster review
Director Yorgos Lanthimos may be making his English-language debut with The Lobster, yet its still very much business as usual. This is another of his deadpan black comedies, revolving around an absurdist but critical look at societal norms. The Lobster exists within a world in which being single is perhaps the worst thing imaginable. Those who … Read more
Cannes: Tale of Tales review
The latest film from Italian director Matteo Garrone, and his first in the English language, is based upon the seventeenth century fairytales of Giambattista Basile, who pre-dated and heavily influenced the Brothers Grimm. While the movie may be in English, Garrone has not limited himself to actors from one particular country or of a single accent, … Read more
Cannes: Standing Tall (La Tête Haute) review
Opening with a tense and occasionally even upsetting sequence in a Judge’s office, director Emmanuelle Bercot wastes no time in throwing her audience straight into the grim reality of her subject matter in Standing Tall. Yet there’s nothing rushed about this early scene and Bercot uses it to set up the narrative with a great deal of efficiency. The main protagonist – although he … Read more
Steven ‘The Butcher’ Soderbergh Part 2 – Heaven’s Gate
Welcome to the second part of a series on Steven ‘The Butcher’ Soderbergh, wherein I take a look at Steven Soderbergh‘s online video releases. Throughout these features I will not only look at the way in which these films do, or do not, work but also try to understand Soderbergh’s possible motivations. In April of 2014, Steven Soderbergh posted a video … Read more