If the title alone doesn’t inform you Prisoners is a film about war, the opening shots leave the viewer in no doubt. A beautiful image of a deer walking a snowy path is soon framed by a forest of irenic trees as the camera pans slowly back, Hugh Jackman’s voiceover recites the Lords Prayer eventuating […]
Category Archives: Film Reviews
September
30
The East – Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij go Freegan. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Zal Batmanglij comes from a family of overachievers. His Mother, Najmieh Batmanglij is the award-winning cook book author and his brother is one of the members and primary song writers for the band Vampire Weekend, so it isn’t such a stretch to see how Brit Marling could have been impressed with his short film and […]
September
29
Rush – Ron Howard and racing car porn. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Formula One racing is about money. Nothing else. Besides being able (and wealthy enough) to win or consistently grade high in the lower classes, the racing drivers, constructor teams, track officials, organisers, and circuits are required to be holders of valid Super Licences which fall into the category of many thousand dollars per season. The […]
September
23
Fat Girl – Catherine Breillat crushes the coming-of-age flick. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
I get so bored From Six to Ten From Ten to Six From Six to Six. All my life, both day and night I get so bored If only I could find Alive or dead, a man, a body, An Animal, I don’t mind, Just to dream As an antidote to the tiresome coming-of-age films where […]
September
21
Birth – Jonathan Glazer and the concept of eternal love. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Jonathan Glazer is best known for his music film clips, including work with artists like Nick Cave, Radiohead, Massive Attack and The Dead Weather to name a few. His third film, Under the Skin has been making the festival rounds this year and its one on my “must see” list for when I get the […]
September
18
I’m So Excited – Pedro Almodóvar and his joyous message to the people of Spain. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
I read somewhere (I really wish I could remember where) that BDSM increased dramatically in Australia when we had a right-wing government. It’s been six years, and we have now re-elected an even more conservative version of that right-wing government, moving Australia into the more extreme version of all that “right-wing” embodies these days, which […]
September
17
Blue Jasmine – Woody Allen and Cate Blanchett make ugly lovely. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Make no mistake, I like Woody Allen films – but that’s a little like saying “I’m not racist, some of my best friends are black” because it can seem like an apologist statement on its own. One of my favorite films is Husbands and Wives, even with the rabid stealing from Bergman’s Scenes from a […]
September
13
Elysium – Neill Blomkamp with a strong point well made. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
I wasn’t going to see Elysium until I’d seen District 9, which reportedly is the far superior film, and looks it from the trailer. But my viewing got all screwed up recently and I found myself at the movies with a ticket and Elysium the only film on the bill I hadn’t seen. And so […]
September
12
John Dies at the End – Don Coscarelli takes on David Wong. (Sydney Underground Film Festival Review)
posted by lisathatcher
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “That if Franz Kafka was here his head would explode?” “Actually, yeah.” It’s difficult to discuss a film like John Dies At The End without having read the book, seeing as the book is a kind of mash-up parody of so many disparate influences, having its own cult following. […]
September
11
Salinger – Shane Salerno reveals himself to be the great Holden-Caufield-Wannabe. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Below is Will Smiths great monologue about The Catcher in the Rye from the film Six Degrees of Separation. Its one of my favourite cinema moments and well worth the watch if you have 5 minutes. I haven’t read “The Catcher” for years although I fairly regularly read Nine Stories. Because of this, I thought […]
Lisa Thatcher 