By Theresa Rodewald. Instead of perpetuating the myth of Australia as terra nullius or ’empty land’ that previous to European settlement had not belonged to anyone, the film depicts the clash of colonisers and First Nations people in a country that had been anything but empty.” Gorgeously shot and drawing […]
Between God and the Streets: Zeshwan Ali’s Two Gods
By Edward Avery-Natale. The potential conflict of God and the streets is but one collocation in a film ripe with dialectical appositions, which are themselves well represented by the choice to shoot the movie in black and white.” Two Gods, directed by Zeshwan Ali, is a study in contrast and […]
Underdogs Unite! Dream Horse Rouses to Victory
By Elias Savada. Director Euros Lyn, a Welshman himself, creates an affectionate rendering of country life and the subtle idiosyncrasies of the people in this one (race) horse town….” The true story about thoroughbred racehorse Dream Alliance that was transformed into the rousing documentary Dark Horse back in 2015 has […]
The Dark Hobby: Speaking Up for the Endangered
By Elias Savada. Just because Hawaii has protected its underseas reefs, sand, and rocks from pilferage, the state has taken a totally opposite approach to protect the sea life that does most of the work to keep its reefs from dying.” The world is a sad and beautiful place. And […]
A Welcome Return to Saudi Arabia: Haifaa Al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate
By Ali Moosavi. Though a simple story, The Perfect Candidate is a quiet gem that explores a number of deep-rooted issues regarding the rights of women in conservative societies, how women are viewed by men in these cultures, and the role of music and media in providing both joy and […]
The Elements of a Scene: Punk the Capital
By Edward Avery-Natale. The documentary zooms in on particular individuals and bands without falling victim to the easy and well tread path of tracing only the few bands that everyone knows…. [P]unk is about the fans and the small bands who never play outside of their hometown or record an […]
Comme si, Comme Saw: Spiral
By Elias Savada. Strings a handful of grisly murder traps together in its fairly mundane whodunit frame.” As the Saw horror series goes, its new spinoff, being fully titled Spiral: From the Book of Saw, isn’t much to write home about. Despite the presence of comedian Chris Rock, in a […]
A Toxic “Crime of Passion”: Phillip Noyce’s Above Suspicion
By Theresa Rodewald. Whether the film wants its audience to revel in or ignore the casual, low-key sexism and the gratifying violence towards women is unclear. But it definitely expects us to cut it more slack.” Above Suspicion could have been an analysis of privilege and power, of patriarchal structures […]
Movie without a Mission: Ryan Kruger’s Fried Barry
By Elias Savada. This is one of the most unusual alien visitation films you’ll ever watch. Especially if you don’t give any thought to why the other-worldly presence was careless enough to pick Barry for its stopover on Earth.” The 3:44-minute South African short Fried Barry is an acid trip […]
Return of the Early 80s Action Film: Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man
By Thomas Puhr. If you’re willing to surrender to the testosterone-saturated, borderline fascistic dialogue – at times, the characters’ locker room banter sounds like it’s taken from a subpar John Milius script, or an unironic Paul Verhoeven film – there’s some pleasure to be had.” With his latest genre exercise, […]