Tina is a customs agent with a nose for trouble. She can literally smell human emotions, which is a handy talent for sniffing out suspicious border crossers. But when a mysterious male traveller’s odour confounds her, she’s faced with hugely disturbing insights about who she is and what she wants.
No monsters seem more ghastly or disturbing in the films of David Cronenberg than his depiction of the rich.
Hundreds of thousands of Turkish cats roam the metropolis of Istanbul freely. They wander in and out of people’s lives, becoming an essential part of the city. Claiming no owners, the cats live between two worlds, neither wild nor tame–bringing joy and purpose to the people they choose to adopt.
Leyla, a woman in her late 40s, decides to move to Istanbul after working for several years in the German adult film industry. Her opportunist producer ex-boyfriend Yılmaz takes advantage of her drug addiction to persuade her to take part in one last film.
A harsh social drama about guilt and parenthood, in his darkest film yet Thomas Vinterberg tries to recapture the simpler, more straightforward filmmaking of his earliest work
“A genuine revelation. We may finally have an heir to Kubrick.” – LA Weekly “A grand statement on what it means to be a human being.” – Blankprojecter “It’s simply one of the most unique, original and mind-blowing movies you’ll see in a theatre all year.” – Playlist It’s rare to find a movie that has been…
Image Credit: Wild Bunch (spoiler free) Like any Gaspar Noé film, Vortex opens with its end credits. At the tail end of it, a text appears on the screen and says: “À tous ceux dont le cerveau se décomposera avant le coeur.” Translating to “To all those whose brains will decompose before their hearts.” There’s…
Paul Mescal as Calum Paterson Frankie Corio as Sophie Paterson Director: Charlotte Wells Twenty years after their last holiday at a fading vacation resort, Sophie reflects on the rare time spent with her loving and idealistic father Calum. At 11-years-old, as the world of adolescence creeps into Sophie’s view, Calum struggles…
A FANTASTIC TALE OF LOVE, DISOBEDIENCE, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE Throughout the many years in the filmmaking industry, Hollywood studios has had a long history of competition, which can sometimes mean producing a movie to outdo and outshine a rival studio. Because of this, some studios have on occasion create similar movies to…
A GREAT CHARACTER STUDY AT THE IMPASSE OF FRIENDSHIP Friends are an important part of everyday life. The intrinsic and intangible ideas of having a platonic relationship with someone (as a camaraderie companion) is beneficial and healthy building block of life, which can result in a major impact on oneself. Essentially, good friendships are…
Toronto film festival: the director goes back to his childhood for an endearing, if overlong, film with an Oscar-tipped Michelle Williams as his mother
By Divina Sethi Kelebeğin Rüyası (The Butterfly’s Dream) is a 2013 Turkish romantic drama. It is based on the tragic true story of struggling poets Muzaffer Tayyip Uslu and Rüştü Onurx, played by (the gorgeous) Kivanc Tatlitug (Kuzey Guney, Ask i memnu, Kurt Seyit ve Sura) and Mert Firat (The Water Diviner, Baska Dilde Ask) […]
Kelebeğin Rüyası (The Butterfly’s Dream)
With yet another year of movies behind us, it’s never too early to start looking ahead to next awards season! The 2022-23 season is already chock-full of big-name directors and actors vying for Academy Awards. What are some films we can expect to see in the conversation next year? Will any of these films be […]
40 Films to Watch for the 2023 Oscars
It’s a movie that you’ll be happy to get up and walk away from, simply for the astounding freedom of being able to get up and walk. Darren Aronofsky’s film, The Whale, takes morbid obesity to its most realistic, destructive level. It’s cringy, it’s sad, it’s unyielding, but more than anything it’s honest. With a […]
The Whale
Inisherin is a (fictional) island off the coast of Ireland. It is 1923. The civil war (“A bad do, that.”) can be heard but, on the island, there is nothing to do but toddle off down the pub or gossip in the general store, saving up the details for confession. And, in this world, Colm, […]
Film Review: The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Martin McDonagh is one of our greatest living playwrights, with his work being widely produced, from the sacred stages of Broadway to the smallest public theatres in Asia, and everywhere in between, his penchant for darkly comical morality tales being the source of many fascinating discussions under the direction of a range of artists who […]
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Listening to a Russian oligarch and an American luxury yacht captain drunkenly exchange clichés about socialism versus capitalism over the ship’s PA system strikes me as farce without tragedy — and the joke is that it’s Woody Harrelson as the captain whose aggressive about socialism and the Russian who sounds like an OAN reporter. Good […]
Ship of fools: ‘Triangle of Sadness’
My university was in the small town of Socorro, New Mexico. We had one small theater called the Loma, which usually showed movies a few months after their release. In the autumn of 1987, I went with a group of friends to see the Joel Schumacher film, The Lost Boys, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, […]
Finding the Lost Boys
Many of us have read posts and articles pertaining to predictions and rankings. Because of BAFTA and SAG results, most claim to know how Oscar night will pan out tonight for the winner of Best Film. Why do the classic winners seem so much better than winners in recent years? How far back do you […]
Oscar Best Films
