Director: Paul Verhoeven Starring: Virginie Elfira, Charlotte Rampling, Daphne Patakia Running Time: 132 minutes “Lesbian nuns!” “A wooden Virgin Mary sex toy!” The press packet for Benedetta speaks loudly for itself, an eye-catching and/or hand wringing series of headlines from festival first impressions all the way to Liveline. It might seem like one of those…
Director: Christopher Makoto Yogi Starring: Steve Iwamoto, Constance Wu Runtime: 100 mins Having premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, I Was a Simple Man follows the slow and impending demise of an elderly Japanese American man living in Hawaii and pieces together the parts of his life that have made him who he is.…
Jess is away so the boys play in the latest of our increasingly loopy recaps of the films we’ve watched recently. Néil gives his thoughts on Ti West’s X, Ethan goes over Escape from Mogadishu and Luke takes a look at The Worst Person in the World. Commando is recommended! Pierce Brosnan is celebrated! Some…
Director: Yu Chieh Cheng Starring: Mo Tzu Yi, Chen Shu Fang, Run Yin Bai Runtime: 106mins Taiwanese director Yu Chieh Cheng is a near veteran when it comes to issues surrounding identity. 2009 saw the release of Yang Yang, a film that probed the complicated journey of a French-Taiwanese woman and how this shaped her…
Director: Kavich Neang Starring: Piseth Chhun, Hout Sithourn, Jany Min Runtime: 130 mins For filmmaker Kavich Neang, White Building is deeply personal. Already in his youthful but promising career, he has cut his directorial teeth by chronicling the painful destruction of the apartment block where he and his peers were raised. In 2019, he documented…
Director: Joachim Trier Starring: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum Running Time: 128 minutes In a central scene of Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, our heroine Julie runs through streets frozen in time, leaving the boyfriend with whom she has no real future to pursue Eivand, the fun free-spirit who she’s…
Director: Ti West Starring: Mia Goth, Jenny Ortega, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Stephen Ure, Owen Campbell Running Time: 106 minutes The late 70s was a boom period for two of the sleazier sides of pop culture – slasher horror, and pornography. The rise of the home video market meant that viewers could enjoy…
Director: Audrey Diwan Starring: Anamaria Vartolomei Runtime: 100 mins Happening (L’événement) is a French film adapted from Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical account of having an illegal abortion in the 1960s. Ernaux’s genuine experience gives this film the weight and depth required for such serious subject matter. In Happening, we meet Anne Duschene (played by Anamaria Vartolomei), a young college student…
Director: Hannes Þór Halldórsson Starring: Auðunn Blöndal, Egill Einarsson, Sverrir Þór Sverrisson Running Time: 98 minutes If there’s one thing you can say about Cop Secret with absolute certainty, it’s that it is the best movie to be made by a professional Icelandic goalkeeper… Ok – that’s a joke that I’m positive will have been made 100 times…
Director: Ryoo Seung Wan Starring: Kim Yoon Seok, Jo In Sung, Heo Joon Ho, Kim So Jin Running Time: 121 minutes As can no doubt be gleaned from current global events, accuracy is important in depictions war. While factual accuracy should never be side-lined in pursuit of a good plot, it’s often the case that…
