Category: drama
REVIEW: Stonehead (2017)
Stonehead (Zhu Hongbo) is a third-grader living with his grandmother in rural China. His parents, like most in the village, have left for the city to earn money, leaving Stonehead behind. A model student, he wins a merit certificate and a free football, however the following day his teacher insists the football is a gift ...
REVIEW: Heat (1995)
Career criminal Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) plans a succession of heists across Los Angeles with his crew: Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore) and Trejo (Danny Trejo). After a raid on an armoured car results in a ring-in (Kevin Gage) shooting a guard dead, McCauley's crew is pursued by the LAPD Robbery ...
“The world just as it is” | Agora (2009)
A woman looks to the skies in search of order. A student is torn between an infatuation with his teacher and his political ambitions. A slave struggles to admit his religious faith. These three interrelated lives form the core of Agora, a 2009 historical drama by Chilean writer/director Alejandro Amenábar. At the time of its ...
REVIEW: Black Sun (1964)
A jazz-obsessed homeless delinquent named Mei (Tamio Kawaji) lives in the tower of a derelict Tokyo cathedral, and spends his days engaged in petty theft and hot-wiring cars. Returning home one night he discovers an injured American G.I. (Chico Roland) hiding out from the police after apparently murdering a fellow soldier. Koreyoshi Kurahara's The Warped Ones remains ...
REVIEW: The Last Princess (2016)
Following the death of her emperor father, Deok-hye (Son Ye-jin) - the last princess of Joseon dynasty - is forcibly relocated to Japan as part of that country's ongoing occupation of Korea. Trapped in Japan alongside her brother, Deok-hye struggles to return home to her people - and to assist in the resistance efforts against ...
REVIEW: In Another Country (2012)
Isabelle Huppert plays three different women, all named Anne, all visiting the Korean seaside town of Mohang during the off-season. It is an odd little set-up for this South Korean portmanteau film, written and directed by arthouse darling Hong Sang-soo and screened in competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. I generally find Hong a ...
REVIEW: Lion (2016)
Five year-old Saroo lives in Khandwa, India. After getting onto the wrong train he soon finds himself 1,600 kilometres away in Calcutta, unable to speak the language or to ever find his way home. Eventually he is adopted by Australians Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham). Decades later, an adult Saroo discovers ...
REVIEW: The Virgin Queen (1955)
It is the year 1581. Captain Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd), freshly returned to England from war in Ireland, ingratiates his way into the court of Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis). He hopes the gain the Queen's permission to launch a naval venture, but instead finds himself trapped in court as her new favourite. The Virgin ...
REVIEW: Lost and Love (2015)
It is estimated that roughly 70,000 children are kidnapped in China every year. Human traffickers snatch children from their homes and off the street to sell for foreign adoption, and often to domestic Chinese families desperate to have a child that they have been unable to produce themselves. Partially inspired by a true story, Peng ...
REVIEW: Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) is a burned-out paramedic working New York City's graveyard shift. He is haunted by visions of a patient he failed to save, and despite his pleas his supervisor refuses to fire him. Over a series of nights, Frank's experiences push him closer to the edge, but also connect him with Mary ...
