Dancing along the fine line that separates cliche and sclerotic trope-ism, and heartfelt, engaging storytelling, takes a deft way with words, an ability to give breath to fully-realised characters and someone who gets the contrary depths and heights of humanity. Not everybody possesses such a laudable grab bag of talents Continue Reading
Movies
The short and the short of it: The escapist joy of Pups ‘n’ Planes
SNAPSHOTA boy with muscular dystrophy and his dog go on an adventure of discovery in an old spitfire plane. (synopsis via Vimeo (c) Wonderlust) Imagination is a powerful thing. It lifts us well and truly out of the banal and the everyday, the hopeless and the can’t-be-done to a place Continue Reading
Benjamin: “It’s about my inability to love, but I’m fine now.”
SNAPSHOTIn Simon Amstell’s affecting, bittersweet comedy, a rising young filmmaker is thrown into emotional turmoil by a burgeoning romance and the upcoming premiere of his second feature. (synopsis via IMDb) If you are to believe countless representations of falling love, all it takes is openness, a romantically fairy, god or Continue Reading
Movie review: Happy Ending #SCA19
Life is, whether we like to admit it or not, a series of reckonings. Going to school for the first time. Leaving home and starting life as a newly-minted grown-up. Marrying. Having kids. Not having kids. Securing that dream job. And as explored in Hella Joof’s supremely self-assured film Happy Continue Reading
Come and take a look behind the curtain with Star Trek: Discovery and Star Wars
Not everyone likes to pull back the curtain hiding the gears and mechanisms that make a movie or TV show come alive. For some, wholly entering into that created world is sacrosanct; they want the experience of being transported far away from the everyday, to feel as if it is Continue Reading
Weekend movie poster art: Think your family is weird? Meet The Addams Family
SNAPSHOTGet ready to snap your fingers! The Addams Family is back on the big screen in the first animated comedy about the kookiest family on the block. Funny, outlandish, and completely iconic, the Addams Family redefines what it means to be a good neighbor. (synopsis via Coming Soon) I adore Continue Reading
The Cat Rescuers: A documentary that celebrates the difference selfless compassion can make
SNAPSHOTWith over 500,000 streets cats struggling to survive in NYC, and the city unwilling to address the problem, spirited volunteers like Sassee, Claire, Stu and Tara have come to their aid. Their beat is Brooklyn, where the problem has exploded. Combing the borough’s alleys, backyards, and housing projects, they trap Continue Reading
Movie review: Aurora #SCA19
Like most genres that have spent a fair amount of time in the cinematic sun, romantic comedies have begun to look worn, tired and more than a little wrinkled in recent years. It’s not that recent entries have been bad as such, although goodness knows some have been, but simply Continue Reading
Christmas in July short film: Redesigning Christmas
SNAPSHOTIn this short vignette, the anxious young protagonist from Me and My Moulton looks on as her architect parents re-design Christmas. The tree, presents, and cake are all re-made in simple, clean lines using the principles of good design. But will Santa be able to get through the contemporary chimney Continue Reading
A whole lot of sequel fun with the living and the undead: Zombieland – Double Tap
SNAPSHOTThe original followed four strangers who meet on the road in the middle of the zombie apocalypse and, while initially at each other’s throats, they soon come to bond with each other and form a close-bonded group. Harrelson played the violent cowboy Tallahassee, Eisenberg played geeky Columbus, with Stone and Continue Reading