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American Reunion (Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:15:52 +0000

With the series largely driven out of pop-cultural consciousness by a combination of time and a slew of direct-to-DVD spinoffs, one might question the need for a fourth theatrical entry in the American Pie franchise. Surely such a sequel would be little more than a shameless cash-grab – an act of back-to-the-well laziness by a greedy studio and the prospect-less cast members alike. Well, you can hypothesize all you want [...]

Café de Flore (Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:09:33 +0000

Jean-Marc Vallée’s Café de Flore arrives with considerable hype from Quebec, where it garnered thirteen nominations in the 2012 Genie Awards. In many ways, the praise is understandable. Masterfully shot, edited, sound-mixed and scored, and featuring several fantastic performances, the movie is, in its best moments, phenomenal. Intermingling two tales of love and loss separated by thousands of kilometres and decades in time, individual scenes unfold with such devastating beauty [...]

The Hunger Games (Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:18:43 +0000

Twenty-four teenagers enter an arena. Only one comes out. And millions of people watch, enraptured.

The similarities between the fans of The Hunger Games and the fans within The Hunger Games are obvious; the fact that director Gary Ross and his co-writers completely fail to examine this similarity is one of many niggling problems with their otherwise satisfying adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ sensationally popular young-adult novels. Compared in equal measure to [...]

Coriolanus (Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 03:22:06 +0000

The directorial debut of actor Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter), Coriolanus is a ferocious modern day adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays. Headlined by Fiennes himself, and bolstered by a staggering cast of supporting players, this appropriately theatrical tale of wartime politics makes some questionably antiquated statements about class, but nevertheless captivates thanks to towering performances, gritty cinematography and – at the risk of stating the obvious – [...]

Black’s Game [Svartur á Leik] (IFFR Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:30:14 +0000

A gangster movie out of Iceland, Black’s Game [Svartur-Leik] was executive produced by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. As such, comparisons to his recent Drive — the best film of last year — are inevitable and perhaps not unwarranted. Both films are unashamed in their attempts to make every frame as cool as humanly possible. But while Drive employed ice-cold restraint and was a success, Black’s Game goes the [...]

Take Shelter (Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:02:21 +0000

The sophomore effort of writer/director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories), Take Shelter calls to mind the story of Noah, only to repaint the biblical hero as a paranoid schizophrenic. It begins when a Middle American family man named Curtis LaForche, played with ground-shaking intensity by Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), becomes convinced that an apocalyptic storm is just beyond the horizon and is compelled to take drastic action in order to [...]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Review) | By Anders Wotzke

Anders Wotzke — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:03:11 +0000

Unlike certain other MI6 agents depicted on film, the spies in Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy do not double as stuntmen. Their missions seldom require them to drive Aston Martins around Monaco, bedding billionaire heiresses and thwarting villains who stroke cats. More often than not, their wits are their weapons of choice. Blood is still spilt, sure, but this is about as decorous as spy movies get. I suppose [...]

The Tall Man (Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:31:04 +0000

In 2004, Cameron Doomadgee, a resident of an Aboriginal community in Queensland’s Palm Island, was arrested after swearing at police. Forty-five minutes later he was dead in custody, with injuries consistent with a severe beating. The arresting officer, a 6’ 7’’ tall senior sergeant named Chris Hurley, denied any wrongdoing, but after an investigation – one that was hampered by extensive media coverage and frequent accusations of bias and corruption [...]

What’s Your Number? (Review) | By Rebecca Mery

Rebecca Mery — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:49:13 +0000

Anna Faris has a truly enviable quality about her. It’s one that makes her nigh-on impossible to dislike whilst onscreen, one that manages to ooze an easy charm, no matter the level of mediocrity surrounding her. It’s the very same quality that makes her the quintessential air-head blonde, the quality that made her far and beyond the best thing about the Scary Movie franchise. I’d go as far as to declare Anna Faris as [...]

Crazy, Stupid, Love (Review) | By Tom Clift

Tom Clift — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:16:39 +0000

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s previous film, I Love You Phillip Morris, was one of the funniest and most moving romantic dramedy’s of the past few years, but went tragically underseen because it focused on a gay love story. Their follow up is a similarly heartfelt, but decidedly broader and more mainstream affair entitled Crazy, Stupid, Love. Juggling multiple love stories – not always successfully – is a film that [...]