It’s surprising there aren’t more “anti-boiurgoise” films being made these days. Some of our best film, literature, art and music come from a loathing of the privileged middle class and its annoying patronage that the arts cannot live without. Certainly we see less rebellion against this strangely cloistered section of society who keep mental moral […]
Author Archives: lisathatcher
December
06
What Richard Did – Lenny Abrahamson gives us more than a morality tale. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
December
06
Luis Buñuel and the perfect martini.
posted by lisathatcher
One of my favourite blogs Open Culture, has a lovely little piece in it (borrowed from the excellent Dangerous Minds blog) about Luis Buñuel and is appertiff-turned-daily ritual, the martini. Martini is my favourite drink, although to the world of Luis Buñuel I am a heretic and a philistine because my martini consists of Vodka (!) 1/4 vermouth (!!) […]
December
04
Primer – Shane Carruth and the art of deception. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
So it might seem possible, that as we advance in science and technology, we might be able to construct a wormhole, or warp space and time in some other way, so as to be able to travel into our past. If this were the case, it would raise a whole host of questions and problems. […]
December
03
On/Off – Lisa Chappell and the torch(urous) masks of Cabaret. (Theatre review)
posted by lisathatcher
Sydney-siders know the Bordello Theatre wasn’t purpose-built for Lisa Chappell’s ebullient and darkly erotic comedy On/Off, but it sure feels like it was when you’re sitting there. Bordello is the kind of theatre that makes me sorry I don’t smoke anymore, with its weighty velveteen, its lavish gold brocade, its sumptuous carved wood, and it […]
December
03
Enders Game – Gavin Hood adapts and directs a film that will be defined by its sequels. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
In the raging battle for the pre-teen, teen and YA market place Enders Game is the latest addition to hit the screens, but its a little tricky for Lionsgate Films to land this one safely and it will be interesting to see how Enders Game goes. The film’s story is a long way from the […]
December
02
Night Train to Lisbon – Billie August paints us a rather empty Pascal Mercier. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons) is a Swiss professor of ancient languages who happens upon a woman on the brink of suicide as he is meandering to work one day in the rain. He cries out to stop her, and when he is successful, acts a little like the dog surprised it caught the car. Gregorius is […]
December
02
King Lear – The Independent Theatre Company and a thriving Sydney Shakespeare Festival. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
King Lear is arguably Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, and this is partly due to the ambiguity of its moralising, as well as its starkly contemporary themes. Who can’t relate to a tired ruling father going a little “odd” in his old age, sibling rivalry over a fortune, or acting out of ego rather than rational common […]
December
01
Something In the Air – Olivier Assayas remembers what was never grasped. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
If books, film and art were not dangerous, they wouldn’t need to be burned, banned or derided, but it is possible that the destruction of powerful art isn’t as prevalent as necessary, because there is no doubt it is one of the signposts that informs our choice of reading material. In the 1933 riots in […]
December
01
Gravity – Alfonso Cuarón retells Kubric and Tarkovsky in a feminist reading. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Ryan, you’re going to have to let go. I want to hear you say you’re going to make it. At the risk of being unpopular (and who cares about being popular right?) I’m going to perform a completely feminist reading of Gravity, because it does justice to the film maker, so if the ‘F’ word […]
November
29
Closed Circuit – John Crowley and the film that should have been better. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Off to a great start, Closed Circuit opens with several squares of footage as shot through twelve CCTV cameras until a bomb goes off and we realise we’ve been watching the footage just prior to a terrorist attack. During the opening credits we see a Turkish man, Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto) taken into custody and the […]
Lisa Thatcher 