Go figure: you cannot easily watch James Cameron’s superlative film The Abyss (1989) on a streaming service – the closest you will get is the online stream of Australian pay television service Foxtel – but you can watch Juan Piquer Simon’s … Continue reading REVIEW: The Rift (1990)
Woody Allen’s most recent feature film finally hits American theatres on Friday, almost 18 months after it was released in Europe. It is a far cry from the famed writer/director’s former stature, when every arthouse and independent cinema around the … Continue reading REVIEW: Rifkin’s Festival (2020)
Adapting plays into films is always a difficult business. Since the 19th century at least the typical stage drama tends to be confined to as few locations as possible – ideally just the one if that can be achieved – … Continue reading REVIEW: The People Upstairs (2020)
Egon (Niels Schneider) is crown prince of the modern-day European kingdom of Letonia. Instead of applying himself to courtly duties, Egon spends much of his time drinking, smoking and loudly playing the drums. When he learns of the fabled kingdom … Continue reading REVIEW: Sleeping Beauty (2016)
A mother and daughter rail against their growing poverty in this low-scale Spanish comedy-drama; the feature debut of Argentinian artist Amalia Ulman. It comes packed with outstanding moments of humour and character, but its black and white presentation and relatively … Continue reading SFF REVIEW: El Planeta (2021)
The murdered body of a young man is found in the thick fog of La Gomera, the second-smallest of Spain’s Canary Islands. Despite an investigation, and charges laid against a local politician, no one is convicted and the crime remains … Continue reading REVIEW: The Mist and the Maiden (2017)
In 16th century Central America, a rapidly diminishing band of Spanish deserters trek through the jungle. They follow a hand-drawn map purporting to lead to El Dorado – the fabled city of gold. Surrounded by territorial indigenous tribes and deadly wildlife, … Continue reading REVIEW: Gold (2017)
Gerardo Herrero’s 2019 thriller The Goya Murders broadly sticks to genre convention and stereotype, but there’s a level of remixing going on that pushes it out ahead of the pack. Fans of serial killer narratives should enjoy it despite its imperfections … Continue reading REVIEW: The Goya Murders (2019)
A broken family leads a young woman on a mission to repair it in Icíar Bollaín’s wonderfully heartfelt and enjoyable 2016 drama The Olive Tree. Alma (Anna Castillo) is the adult daughter of Spanish chicken farmer Luis (Miguel Angel Aladren). Her … Continue reading REVIEW: The Olive Tree (2016)
Disaffected commercials director Toby Grisoni (Adam Driver) walks off the location shoot of his latest commercial when he realises he is close to the Spanish hilltop village where he shot his first ever film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Hoping … Continue reading REVIEW: The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
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