Tag: New Release

Female Writer, Film Reviews

The Aviary Review

We’re in the middle of nowhere with two women who seem to be fleeing somewhere and someone, as quickly as possible. The two women seem to know each other but they’re not particularly close. It’s as if their fates have been entwined because of their circumstances. The older of the two, Jillian (Malin Akerman) has a sense of authority to her. She’s clearly the one who has planned their escape, and is the most prepared and experienced for their journey in the barren landscape of the New Mexico desert. Blair (Lorenzo Izzo) on the other hand, is relying heavily on Jillian, placing all of her trust into the other woman. Quickly, we discover the reason for their night-time flight, they’re fleeing a cult known as “Skylight” which is run by the mysterious and ominous, Seth (Chris Messina). Continue reading The Aviary Review

jmamennLeave a comment
Female Characters, Film Reviews

Review: Before I Go

reached a point in her life where she’s faced with a midlife crisis of sorts. She finds other people annoying, getting into petty fights and arguments over little things such as being in the wrong queue at the grocery store or nearly getting hit crossing the road because the driver is checking their phone. She’s also struggling with bigger issues which include finding love in her fifties, her hoarder father (Robert Klein) and the anniversary of her mother’s death. Continue reading Review: Before I Go

jmamennLeave a comment
Film Reviews

Review: Finding Ophelia

How often do we sacrifice too much of ourselves in chasing a dream? An ideal form or figure, a person or concept. And how much is too much to give in pursuit of this? And what could be worse than losing your grasp of reality chasing figures, than realising that this manifestation of perfection may be genuine – if nightmarish. William Edgar forges a path like one many of us will recognise, chasing down an obsession, a woman, at the cost of the reality and loved ones surrounding him. Continue reading Review: Finding Ophelia

Dominic CorrLeave a comment
Film Reviews, Reviews

Review: The Sleepless

With a title like “The Sleepless” one may first assume that Michael DiBiasio-Ornelas’ latest film is a horror film. Instead, it’s a wonderfully relatable comedy which follows two thirty-somethings, Zach (Nyambi Nyambi) and Sophia (Rebecca De Ornelas), who are both struggling with insomnia. When the pair meet each other randomly at 3AM, in the only spot nearby open for coffee, they decide to share each other’s company in the early hours of the city that apparently never sleeps. Continue reading Review: The Sleepless

jmamenn1 Comment
Film Reviews

Review: Monochrome: the Chromism

While the film tries very hard to build suspense, there is too much exposition and not enough action. We meet the main characters and learn of their relationships to each other in the broadest terms and that is pretty much the entire film. A news reporter (Shashana Pearson) does her best to warn of impending doom but the tension never really ratchets up. The camera is repeatedly thrown out of focus when various characters are either physically or emotionally in crisis and this becomes a distraction. The acting is simply not strong enough to make us care for these people, whether they are facing the apocalypse or are oddly blending into Technicolor in addition to that. “Monochrome: the Chromism” may grow into a more solid story in future episodes but for now, it might be best to wait to see the whole series to get a clearer understanding of the plot. Continue reading Review: Monochrome: the Chromism

jmamennLeave a comment
Female Characters, Female Filmmaker, Female Writer, Film Reviews

Film Review: Nocturne

There’s one daunting line from the film that sums up both the driving force of the film itself as well as the life of a creative as a whole: “Music is a bloodsport.” Creative environments are often the most competitive as many try seeking acknowledgement and attention to give them wide acclaim and recognition – after all, the spotlight usually only has room for one. In some ways, this has always been the connective and cathartic part of these struggling artist stories and Quirke perfectly captures this with how she introduces and characterizes the film’s characters. Continue reading Film Review: Nocturne

Tom MooreLeave a comment
Film Reviews, Reviews

Review: Death Of Me

On paper, this latest flick by Darren Lyn Bousman sounds terrific. It’s essentially “The Hangover 2” meets “Rosemary’s Baby”–in tropical Asia! We’re touring the spiritual locales with Christine (Maggie Q) and her photographer/journalist husband Neil (Luke Hemsworth). We first meet them waking up after a wild Friday night. Neither can seem to remember the happenings that had transpired the evening prior–though one thing is certain; Christine’s passport is missing, and without it, neither can get back to the mainland. What ensues is two-thirds of an interesting film; interesting setup, disastrous finale. Continue reading Review: Death Of Me

miquewatsonLeave a comment
Female Characters, Female Filmmakers, World Cinema

First Look: Song Without A Name

The 30th October will see the release of Melina León’s unique, stunning and truly moving debut feature film, “Song Without a Name”. Based on a true story, “Song Without a Name”, was nominated for the prestigious Golden Camera at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Hauntingly beautiful, the film has been shot in stark black and white, and features a powerful performance from newcomer Pamela Mendoza, who is a young mother whose baby is stolen. The film also features a stellar performance by Tommy Párraga, who plays a journalist hitting endless Kafkaesque dead ends, as he burrows into the corruption and strife of a country in turmoil. Continue reading First Look: Song Without A Name

jmamennLeave a comment
Documentaries, Film Reviews

Review: Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

There are rare people who live in such a way as to strike others as perhaps not being quite human. They are so much larger than life, as the cliché goes, that one has to wonder if there isn’t some outlet they are hiding somewhere on themselves where they plug in at night and receive a surge of superhuman power the rest of us lack. Oliver Sacks was just such a person and his superpower was observation. Not just any observation, but so intense and so compassionate that animal rights activist Temple Grandin describes it as being as formidable as the Hubble telescope. His powers of perception were matched by his way with words so that humanity has been graced with a unique window into the uncharted waters of the human psyche from his many books and essays. He was a pioneer of recognizing that mental illness and mental disorders do not define a human life but simply characterize limits that they often find ways to rise above. In the 1960’s when he first started his work as a neurologist, this was an extremely radical thought. This documentary by Ric Burns does not shy away from depicting its subject in all of his iconoclastic glory. Continue reading Review: Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

jmamenn1 Comment
Film Reviews

Review: The Owners

Tell me if this sounds familiar: a group of four lowlifes want to make some easy money. A mansion owned by an elderly couple; a doctor and his wife is the only thing that stands in the way of the promise of mountains of cash and a secure future. So, the band of wankers break into the house while gram and gramps are out, only to discover that their nonexistent plan has backfired–one thing leads to another, and the tables have turned. Continue reading Review: The Owners

miquewatsonLeave a comment