Note: I originally placed reviews for Wild and Tracks next to each other in my publication scedule, because I thought they may be similar films (with Tracks coming out a full year earlier) but after seeing Wild, I realised they’re very different films, with very different female leads. They are as different as Platoon and […]
January
20
Great Movies I (almost) missed in 2014 – Tracks (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
One of the rather dire problems of Tracks, is that its protagonist, Robyn Davidson (performed by Mia Wasikowska) seeks to escape the patronizing gaze of a humanity that tries to fetishise her, which is the very motivation to make the film. It’s a tricky one, because on the one hand, Tracks is the perfect film […]
January
19
Still Alice – Julianne Moore swims skillfully through an ocean of tears. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Ok, so the first thing to say is that Julianne Moore is amazing in Still Alice and even though she deserved The Award for so many other films, it will certainly help me sleep just that little better at night knowing she finally has ‘One’, and unlike Susan Sarandon that should have had one forever, […]
January
19
The Theory of Everything – Black Holes filled with treacle and saccrine soaked time. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
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 […]
January
18
The Winslow Boy – Witty words at the Genesian. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
The Winslow Boy 17 January to 14 February at The Genesian Theatre You can grab your tickets here. Photography credits Mark Banks Life for lawyers is changing. One of the great unintentional by-products of mass communication on the internet is the redistribution of power via a demystification of elitism. Vocations such as lawyers and merchant […]
January
17
Masterclass – Gareth Davies and the power of performance. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Masterclass Old Fitz Theatre, 13 – 31 January Grab your tickets here. Photography – Marnya Roth In the cinema, the viewer is an afterthought, a reality that occurs after the film project is complete, one of a series of numbers in a room. In the theatre the spectator is real (as opposed to a reality) […]
January
17
Short and Sweet Top 80 – The Festival kicks off on a high. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
The Short and Sweet Theatre Festival Sydney stages, Jan 7 to march 15. You can grab your tickets here. Images by Sylvi Soe. One has to be patient and generous with large-scale festivals forging their own imprint on a culture. Often it takes a few years for a festival to find its footing, but […]
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 […]
Lisa Thatcher 