Julie Delpy seems to treat her films as a form of family therapy as they frequently explore the emotional bonds and conflicts inherent in families. Her latest film Skylab is no different as it plunges us into a (possibly autobiographical) childhood reminiscence of a pivotal time in a woman named Albertine’s (Karin Viard) life. Neither plot driven nor particularly episodic,
Read moreRebelle aka War Witch is a Canadian film shot in the Congo which takes us on a harrowing journey into the world of child soldiers in sub-Saharan Africa. Its slight narrative tells the story of Komona (Rachel Mwanza), a 12 year old girl stolen from her home by rebels and forced to become a child soldier. Fuelled up on drugs
Read moreIt’s classic album time once again on Built For Speed and this week we go back to 1996 for Wilco’s alt country game changer Being There. There’s also plenty of new Australian and overseas music for you. On the movie front we look at sinister goings on in the sweaty Southern swamplands in The Paperboy and an astonishing story of deception in
Read moreIt’s a pretty daunting task for any director to try to create a prequel for a classic film. Tinkering with a well-established movie mythology means there’s a huge threat of a backlash should they get it wrong; Phantom Menace anyone? The task is even greater when it’s an icon of old Hollywood and such a universally loved film as The
Read moreWith their wonderful, ornate prose and vivid imagery, Charles Dickens’ novels seem ideally suited to cinema adaptations. David Lean realized this potential magnificently with his atmospheric 1946 version of Great Expectations. Less successful was Alfonso Cuaron’s miscalculated modern day version of Great Expectations with Ethan Hawke and Robert de Niro. The latest adaptation of this novel, from British director Mike
Read moreFor a country in which sport is almost a religion it seems strange that Australia has produced so few decent sporting movies. While American films have successfully turned baseball, into a near-mythic commentary on clashing American values, Australia’s sporting films seem to be little more than a mix of nationalistic chest-beating dramas, well-meaning, blink and you’ll miss them low-budgeters and
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