Paradise – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 8, 2016 Reviews Andrei Konchalovsky offers a cross-section of Europe under Nazi rule through his three main characters: French-Nazi collaborator Jules (Phillippe Duqesne), Russian Resistance member Olga (Julia Vysotskaya),...
Questi Giorni (These Days) – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 8, 2016 Reviews In Questi Giorni, four young friends go on a trip to Belgrade. Like any road journey film, the characters get to work out their baggage through their travels, which here include illness, relationships and...
Voyage of Time – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 7, 2016 Reviews 30 years in the making makes a decent marketing line for Terrence Malick’s latest film Voyage of Time. With such a line and a pedigree name attached, it can’t help but underwhelm even if it does indeed...
Safari – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 6, 2016 Reviews After the death of Cecil the Lion, it’s become clear that public opinion of big-game hunting is at an all-time low. So Safari is a timely documentary about the reviled activity that yields many...
The Distinguished Citizen – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 6, 2016 Reviews Small-town Argentinian nationalism clashes with European cosmopolitanism in The Distinguished Citizen. The resulting wreckage is both funny and depressing. After fleeing to Europe four decades ago, Nobel...
King of the Belgians – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 6, 2016 Reviews The mockumentary has recently seen a resurgence with comedies like What We Do In The Shadows and Popstar. King of the Belgians continues this trend and is one of the funniest films of the year. Taking...
Home – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 6, 2016 Reviews For the first half of Home, it’s difficult to understand what story the filmmakers are trying to tell. It’s clearly meant to be a teen film, but there’s a lack of direction in the plot that mirrors the...
Spira Mirabilis – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 5, 2016 Reviews Massimo D'Anolfi and Martina Parenti are ambitious film-makers at least, but the baffling Spira Mirabilis is too self-absorbed to be of much appeal to audiences. Touted as a “visual symphony” the film...
The Bleeder – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 2, 2016 Reviews Taking a look at the life of Chuck Wepner, the real-life inspiration for Rocky Balboa, The Bleeder appropriately feels eclipsed by greatness. It stands in shadows that include the legacy of Muhammad Ali, the...
Hounds Of Love – Venice 2016 Review Kambole Campbell September 2, 2016 Reviews Hounds of Love is one of those films that most people can only stomach once. Sharing a namesake, and maybe some themes, with the hit song by Kate Bush, Australian director Ben Young's debut film is a deeply...
Prevenge – Venice 2016 Review Stephanie Watts September 2, 2016 Reviews Prevenge opens with a heavily pregnant Ruth (Alice Lowe) murdering a seemingly harmless, although admittedly creepy, reptile shop owner. No explanation is given, and from here we hang onto Ruth’s...
The Beautiful Days Of Aranjuez – Venice 2016 Review Kambole Campbell September 2, 2016 Reviews The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez lacks as much momentum as it does sense. After the great opening 3D shots of Paris, the film proceeds to disappear up itself and stay there for an excruciatingly tedious 90...
Arrival – Venice 2016 Review Stephanie Watts September 1, 2016 Reviews “Well, what do you make of that?" Colonel Weber (Whitaker) rather amusingly asks linguist professor Louise (Adams) after he plays her an indecipherable recording of the sound of aliens that have just landed...
American Anarchist – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 1, 2016 Reviews The Anarchist Cookbook is among the most controversial books ever published, detailing how to make bombs and weapons. So it’s surprising that the subject of American Anarchist, the book's author...
Miljeong (The Age Of Shadows) – Venice 2016 Review Cathy Brennan September 1, 2016 Reviews Miljeong follows a trend of Chinese and South Korean period films that chart those countries' victimisation by the Japanese in the first half of the 20th century. It’s a decent genre flick that should...