40/100
Leaving aside Damien Chazelle's seemingly complete lack of curiosity about, and distinction between, the silent, pre-code and Hays code eras beyond the basics of sound and no sound, for the second half of this to work as much as Chazelle so desperately seems to want it to work (apart from that ending, nothing could save that), the first half actually needed to credibly paint the Hollywood myth.
Instead Chazelle decided that what was really required to prop up his…
67/100
First time writer and director Frances O'Connor's heavily fictionalised take on Emily Bronte's formative (and sadly last) years has moments of brilliance but a lot of the writing is unfortunately either a little too formulaic or a little too broad to make this stand out.
As a director, O'Connor demonstrates extremely confident visual acuity and there are some great cuts and edits here that render a lot of the on the nose writing superfluous. And as an accomplished actress…
93/100
I have read a lot of comparisons to The 400 Blows but really this is James Gray's Au Revoir Les Enfants. It is just as earnest, just as sentimental and just as honest as Malle's film in its attempts by its creator to grapple with certain choices that were made and which have probably weighed heavily ever since.
There is a specificity of memory here that sets this apart from the numerous other coming of age films that have…
79/100
Cristian Mungiu tries to diagnose the cause of xenophobia and the treatment of 'others' and the result is a film that is so immersive in depicting a community and its history that the viewer can not only see the invisible alliances, the familial feuds and the petty grudges but can also get in sync with the daily routines and rhythms of the small Transylvanian town where this is set.
Shot in shivery blue tones and with an incredible depth…
