Upfront confession: I am not a huge Sofia Coppola fan .. she tends toward the self-consciously artsy and feminist and I find I usually cannot look past this, it interferes with my suspension of disbelief. BUT. I have recently (re)watched her directorial debut “The Virgin Suicides” for the 3rd or 4th time and as flawed … Continue reading
Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has created a mythical masterpiece in Pan’s Labyrinth. Part parable, part gothic phantasm, part social commentary, it is difficult to either describe Pan’s Labyrinth or, to praise it too much. This film truly is a masterpiece of cinema. Set in 1944 Spain, the fascists have won the civil war and … Continue reading
The word skinhead usually conjures up swastikas and other race hate memorabilia but skinheads were not always sutured to racist politics or ideas, in fact, many of the racists that came into play during the late 1980’s and 1990’s shaved their heads to look more intimidating and had nothing to do with skinheads per se … Continue reading
I have just reviewed the harrowing ‘Snowtown’ (released in the US as ‘The Snowtown Murders’) here so I am going to review two more Australian films that deal with isolation, crime and the claustrophobia of circumstance; Animal Kingdom and Lantana. Animal Kingdom is about a rather ordinary and uninteresting suburban crime family – the Cody’s – … Continue reading
Beautiful story, beautiful setting, beautiful imagery and cinematography. “Let the Right One In” is not just a vampire film or a horror film, it’s a testament to adolescence and the sublime .. . . I am loathe to wax too lyrical but cinema does not often get any better than this in terms of pure … Continue reading
As the need to start making concrete moving plans and actual, real contracts for adjuncting are arriving, I needed something to really take my mind off questions of quitting work, taking leave, moving back to the city and taking leaps. In such times I invariably watch more than I should. Don’t get me wrong, I … Continue reading
Drowning-By-Letters 
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