There is something unsavory about the bio-pics in 2014 that I have yet to put my finger on, but seem to have a lot to do with using a famous person for the sole purpose of motivating a dying-to-be-inspired audience in the wake of our universal conviction that the bio-pic can’t really get to the […]
Category Archives: Film Reviews
January
19
The Theory of Everything – Black Holes filled with treacle and saccrine soaked time. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
January
14
Ubroken – Americans worshipping Americans. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
It will come as no surprise to find I had great hopes for Unbroken. I felt Angelina Jolie had worked on a truly subversive project with Maleficent, and I was very grateful to see a female character portrayed the way Jolie presented us with the great Disney villain. I knew the critics would be vicious […]
January
13
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Magic realism meets stream of consiousness. (Film review)
posted by lisathatcher
Let’s generously ignore the fact that Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance) is yet another film about the growing old anxieties of over privaledged white males, for two reasons – a marvellous little mini-speech by Sam (Emma Stone) shouted at her dad (Michael Keaton) informs us that if Alejandro González Iñárritu doesn’t necessarily know we’re […]
January
12
Foxcatcher – The bleak world of American capital. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Number one on the seven social sins penned by Mohandas K Gandhi in Young India in 1925 is Wealth Without Work. Foxcatcher is a film primarily about Capitalism and why it’s dying. In many ways it is the third in a trilogy by Bennett Miller, starting with Capote, about the commodification of crime, turning to […]
January
11
Movies I missed in 2014: Whiplash
posted by lisathatcher
Whiplash raises some interesting questions about why we go to the movies and what we expect from them. From even the most cursory glance at any writing by anyone who knows their jazz, it becomes obvious the film has no interest in portraying what it takes to become a great jazz musician – something neither […]
January
06
Life Itself – A broad brushtroke over a fascinating life. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
When a man who devoted such a large and important part of his life to examining our relationship to the image, it is no small thing that he allows a documentary to be made that broadly and intimately exhibits his later-in-life deformity as a result of massive thyroid surgery. In fact Life Itself remains quite […]
January
02
Films I missed in 2014: Starred Up (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
A film that is probably getting a little more love than it deserves, Starred Up is a 2013 made film released here in 2014 that is gaining some momentum by appearing on quite a few year-end lists. It’s popularity resides firmly in three performances; an astoundingly good Ben Mendelsohn, raw stripped back direction from David […]
January
01
2014: An interesting year in film. The best films I saw last year.
posted by lisathatcher
Well, I hate lists, because they are always about the list maker and project the kind of misplaced authority grading always implies. I spend a great deal of time trying to work out why I like or don’t like a film, examining my initial responses against my always evolving barometer for integrity, and searching for […]
January
01
The Imitation Game – How many copies do you want? (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Think of all the worst clichés about mad scientists, the “driven genius” and closeted homosexual males consumed by intense frustration resulting in profound works of greatness and you have The Imitation Game, a clumsy, frustratingly banal film more interested in preserving the mythology around masculine genius (complete with tics, physical awkwardness, ugliness and a delightful […]
December
29
Great movies I (almost) missed in 2014: Under The Skin (Film review)
posted by lisathatcher
Jonathan Glazer has established himself as one of the most interesting directors working today with Under the Skin bringing his peculiar talent for the unsettling under a stark spotlight, where it existed more as background noise in his previous two features, Sexy Beast and Birth. Both Sexy Beast and Birth explore complexities in female sexuality […]
Lisa Thatcher 