There are essentially four hugely influential and significant directors from Japanese cinema’s first half-century: Mikio Naruse, Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, and Kenji Mizoguchi. Both Kurosawa and Ozu are easily the best known internationally; Naruse and Mizoguchi less so. Let’s focus … Continue reading “I, Yang Yuhuan, am not a Puppet” | The Empress Yang Kwei-Fei (1955)
There is a strong whiff of classical tragedy about John Lee Hancock’s The Founder, a true life-inspired drama about the McDonald brothers (Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch) who unwisely trust entrepreneur Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) with their revolutionary fast food … Continue reading REVIEW: The Founder (2016)
What would you do if, while sorting through your late father’s possessions in the family home, stumbled upon a decades-old tape recording of yourself – just a small child – that incriminated you in a major unsolved crime? What would … Continue reading REVIEW: The Voice of Sin (2020)
Herbert Ross’ political drama True Colors has a weak screenplay, humdrum direction, and a white-guy-sax musical score that refuses to ever end, but its two lead performances almost manage to save it. Almost, but not quite. Peter Burton (John Cusack) and Tim Garrity … Continue reading REVIEW: True Colors (1991)
Henry King’s Prince of Foxes is a serviceable historical drama, but the presence of screen legend Orson Welles among its cast overwhelms everything in his path. When Welles is on screen, it is riveting stuff. When he is not, there is a … Continue reading REVIEW: Prince of Foxes (1947)
One of numerous studio-backed potboilers to have largely fallen out of the public memory, Michael Apted’s Class Action is an almost entirely formulaic legal drama that benefits from – and is immeasurably lifted by – stars Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth … Continue reading REVIEW: Class Action (1991)
Hirokazu Kore-eda is currently one of the most talented and effective directors of feature film drama in the world, and a good measure of that talent is the fact that such claims are not even controversial. His 2018 drama Shoplifters, which … Continue reading MIFF REVIEW: Broker (2022)
“The Test” Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort) is an American journalist who has become the first non-Japanese reporter for a major Tokyo newspaper. Bristling against the strict rules and overbearing heirachy of his new employer, Jake begins investigating a pair of … Continue reading TV REVIEW: Tokyo Vice 1.01
Bernard Rose’s 1994 biographical film Immortal Beloved, about Austrian composer Ludwig van Beethoven, is packed with fanciful conspiracy theories and untruths. Despite this, it is so powerfully dominated by Gary Oldman’s superb and fiery lead performance that it is difficult … Continue reading REVIEW: Immortal Beloved (1994)
I am a dedicated supporter of the 90-minute feature. While Hollywood’s blockbuster movies seem to get longer every year, it is refreshing to be able to sit down to a bite-sized film and consume it with ease. For small, intimate … Continue reading REVIEW: Petite Maman (2021)
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