Posted on March 6, 2012 by nicklacey
In the movie previous to this, Emily Browning played Babydoll in Sucker Punch (US-Can, 2011) and is maybe in danger of being typecast as a vacant, sexy being (I don’t know whether that was her character in the film but name suggests as much). Glancing at the current issue of Elle I noticed that the [...]
Filed under: Australasia | Tagged: arthouse | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 15, 2012 by nicklacey
I first came across Michael Fassbender in Hunger, directed like Shame by Steve McQueen. His performance, as hunger-striker Bobby Sands, was extraordinary. His promise has been cemented in numerous films since ranging from X-Men First Class to Fish Tank (UK-Neth, 2009). His performance in Shame is also brilliant; he reminds me of Daniel Day-Lewis in [...]
Filed under: British Cinema, Independent cinema | Tagged: arthouse | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 25, 2011 by nicklacey
The Thin Red Line (US, 1998) is one of my favourite film so I was looking forward to director Terrence Malick’s latest. However I was pleased when it finished despite the film including some of the most beautifully imagery I’ve seen in cinema. It’s good to see a Hollywood film grappling with big questions (‘the [...]
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Posted on April 25, 2010 by nicklacey
I’m not sure what this says about me but I didn’t go and see this in the cinema as I was/am bored with being shaken out of my bourgeois complacency. A sense of duty led me to the DVD and it shook me out of my bourgeois complacency for a while – thanks Lars. The [...]
Filed under: Scandinavian cinema | Tagged: arthouse | 2 Comments »
Posted on December 17, 2009 by nicklacey
The Piano was one of the most feted arthouse films of the 1990s and stands up well at the end of the noughties. Beautifully shot, fabulously performed, fantastic direction, gorgeous music, a feminist message plus much to debate about; there’s not much more you can want from a film. It portrays the plight of middle [...]
Filed under: Australasia | Tagged: arthouse, melodrama | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 10, 2009 by nicklacey
Probably the most critically lauded movies of the year The White Ribbon left me bored after 30 seconds and I was faced by another 288 such units of boredom. You should probably stop reading now… as my critical faculties are obviously atrophying with age: how can you make a decision about a film in 30 [...]
Filed under: German cinema | Tagged: arthouse | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 14, 2008 by nicklacey
“Now without bitterness nor contempt now without fear of changes; only thirst…a thirst of a little something that kills me. Rivers of life, where do you run? Air! it’s air I need. What do you see in the dark depths? What is it that makes you tremble and fall silent? I can’t see! I look [...]
Filed under: Spanish cinema | Tagged: arthouse | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 13, 2008 by nicklacey
This is probably my favourite Wong Kar-Wai film. I love its portrayal of urban alienation and Chris Doyle’s cinematography is sensational. WIth its companion piece, Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam lam, Hong Kong, 1994), Fallen Angels offers a vision of Hong Kong as a hyper-real landscape on the brink (of Chinese takeover). Hong Kong, as [...]
Filed under: East Asian cinema | Tagged: arthouse, postmodern | Leave a Comment »
Posted on February 13, 2007 by nicklacey
This could be Bergman’s masterwork. An old miserable geezer gets a road trip down memory lane and finds how he’s wasted his life. Miserable? Not really; life affirming ‘yes’ so watch it. Some creepy dream sequences – nicely surreal. (DVD, 3)
Filed under: Scandinavian cinema | Tagged: arthouse | Leave a Comment »
Posted on December 29, 2006 by nicklacey
Twenty years after Breathless this movie was heralded as Godard’s return to form. 26 years after that this still looks good but I remember been baffled and enchanted in equal measure. It’s probably me that’s changed so I don’t find this movie difficult now; still has some fabulous composition’s and its wit is mordant. If [...]
Filed under: French cinema | Tagged: arthouse | Leave a Comment »