One of the most, if not the most interesting place for cinema post 2010 is Chile. Its no accident that two breakout Chilean films wowed audiences in Cannes and Berlin in 2013 when nothing from Chile had been shown in Berlin since the 90’s. Young directors like Sebastián Lelio (Gloria) and Pablo Larrain (No) have drawn […]
Category Archives: Film Reviews
March
03
Gloria – Sebastián Lelio spotlights the invisible woman. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
March
02
30 Years Ago Today: Repo Man – Alex Cox and the Lattice of Coincidence. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
If Repo Man is the seemingly miraculous meeting of perfect dialogue with perfect performances with a directorial aesthetic that both pierced the facade of Reaganomics as well as accurately representing a relatively unknown, and yet soon to be infamous sub culture along with the perfect soundtrack, then it begs the question, how often are these […]
March
01
Le Weekend – Roger Michell and Hanif Kureishi bring back a little Godard. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Sometimes there is a thinness in who we purport to be. The post modern relief for anxiety is meant to be the project, our work, our relationship, our children, the stuff of life that we build are meant to give us meaning, not just occupy our time until we die, but one of the agonising […]
February
25
I, Frankenstein – A new kind of disaster movie. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
If it has ever seemed improbable that a twenty-one year old female could have conceived the idea of one of the greatest horror monsters in human history, that is because a crucial piece of information has been missing from all the previous adaptations of Mary Shelly’s book. That crucial detail? Frankenstein was HOT. You didn’t […]
February
23
I heart Huckabees – David O. Russell and what happens in the meadow at dusk. (Film review)
posted by lisathatcher
It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog (have I told you lately that I love you?) that I heart Huckabees is not only my favorite David O. Russell film, but its one of my favorite films to watch and enjoy – perhaps it’s not completely convincing in its approach and […]
February
18
Three Kings – David O. Russell’s anti-anti-war film. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Continuing with the ideas that so evidently interested David O. Russell in his first two films, he moves into his third with an altogether different take on the theory and idea of the Lacanian Big Other, although still retaining it as an important motivator. Three Kings is based on a script written earlier by comedian John Ridley, […]
February
18
Nebraska – Alexander Payne and the perfectly painted character. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Nebraska, the first film Alexander Payne has made as a director that he did not write, or co-write, is a step away from the acceptance despite damnation history that marked an Alexander Payne film right up until The Descendants, even if it still deals with unlikable characters. Nebraska speaks more to the layers, that old onion thing, and the […]
February
17
30 years ago today – Footloose (the first)
posted by lisathatcher
I was a nerd in high school. Not one of those faux nerds who wears black, adores Daria and secretly designs rockets and makes downscale models of them work, not one of those nerds a-la Molly Ringwald who is shy and designs super-amazing clothes out of thrift store rags in her spare time, not one of those […]
February
17
Flirting with Disaster – David O. Russell and the sexual enormity of our parents. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
There is a general idea that David O. Russell is the master of that 90’s indie aesthetic, character driven, quirky-screwball-laced-with-heart films that go a little deeper into clichés, usually by subverting them. They’ve almost developed into their own mini art-house genre now and American Hustle does see Russell distance himself from the idea more and use depth, not […]
February
11
Great Expectations – Alfonso Cuarón and the horrible mistake. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
The story of Alfonso Cuarón’s adaptation of Great Expectations has become, after sixteen years and many exciting films, a perpetual essay in what went horribly wrong with this film. Cuarón defenders group together to lay ‘blame’ at the feet of Mitch Grazer, who to be fair had only the Dickens adaptation credits of Scrooged ten years earlier […]
Lisa Thatcher 