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Sundance Journal: The Nightingale

Jason Gorber — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 18:00:28 +0000

Few films are more brutal than The Nightingale. The follow-up from The Babadook director Jennifer Kent is an unapologetic look at the vile, dehumanizing violence at the heart of colonial Australia in the 19th Century. Clare (Aisling Franciosi) is a young Irish woman working for her papers of freedom, sentenced to a Tasmanian outpost under...

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‘Adrift’ Review: All’s Not Lost Yet

Jason Gorber — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 17:00:51 +0000

A couple of fundamental things work in favor of Baltasar Kormákur’s latest film, ‘Adrift’. First is our core connection to survival yarns, which are surely as old as human communication. Secondly is our connection to the ocean, a natural body whose power both frightens and entices, reaching past our simian impulses to speak directly to...

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‘My Cousin Rachel’ Review: Pretty Costumes, Muted Thrills

Philip Brown — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 19:00:30 +0000

Adapted from a novel by Daphne Du Maurier (‘Rebecca’, ‘The Birds’) and mounted with the prettiest period costumes available in the British film industry, ‘My Cousin Rachel’ is a thriller from another time with a contemporary thematic sheen. It’ll work for those who enjoy the old films that inspired writer/director Roger Michell (‘Notting Hill’), but...

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‘Their Finest’ Review: Heartwarming Pap with a Twist

Philip Brown — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 19:00:41 +0000

‘Their Finest’ represents a particular long-running strain of British filmmaking – nationalist period pieces with a touch of comedy and heaps of melodrama. It’s not a particularly high-minded or ambitious little feature, but it will cause smirks and smiles in all the right places. That counts for something. The ever-delightful (and too often underused) Gemma...

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Sundance Journal: ‘Their Finest’

Luke Hickman — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 18:00:29 +0000

I’m quite cynical about Hollywood insider films (including Oscar front-runner ‘La La Land’). The joke used to be that if you wanted to make a film that was certain to get accolades, it had to be about the Holocaust. Now, you only have to make one that praises Hollywood. Although ‘Their Finest’ is a 100%...

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‘The Riot Club’ Review: British Class Warfare – The Movie

Philip Brown — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 16:00:44 +0000

So, here’s the thing with Britain: The class structure is out of control! Rich toffs rule the country, while the lower classes are stuck in a rut they’ll never emerge from. The divide runs so deep that the accents for the high and low people of England are different and there’s nothing anyone can do...

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‘Love, Rosie’ Review: When a Lily Plays a Rose

Philip Brown — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 16:00:13 +0000

Romantic comedies rank high in a list of genres that are difficult to pull off. Glossy romantic fantasy tends fizzle under fairy tale idiocy, while real world love stories tend to be far too awkward and uncomfortable to push the right wish fulfillment buttons. As a result, most rom-coms mix and match elements from both...

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