Undertones: Volume 8 As we approach the end of the decade, it seems fitting that this installment of Undertones concern itself with some of the most memorable film scores of the ‘00s. Though the films range in financial or critical success, and opinions may be divided as to the strength of some of the films …
49- District 9 (2009) Directed by Neill Blomkamp Genre: Sci-fi District 9 is an allegory for our time, bursting with contemporary themes such as oppression, greed, power and propaganda and while the metaphor itself is pretty clear, Blomkamp goes for the visceral quality of the images and situations proving that sci-fi thrillers don’t have to …
Before I get to number 49 I feel the need to list fifty honorable mentions. This is a very personal list and I am confident that I could have easily chosen 100 foreign language films or 100 independent art house films and skipped out on all the Hollywood flicks, but I decided to go with …
59- Capturing the Friedmans (2003) Directed by Andrew Jarecki Genre: Documentary On the surface, the Friedmans were a typical 1980s American family until on one Thanksgiving Day, when that happy façade came to a crashing halt. After the local police discovered the dad had engaged in the buying and selling of child pornography, they questioned …
69 – A Serious Man (2009) Directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, The Coen Brothers deliver their most intimate film yet. Expanding upon some of the themes they’ve played with in the past, the film deals with everything from man’s search for meaning, …
Richard Linklater continues to be a sneakily brilliant director. Working with the actors, he slowly imbues his otherwise stock characters with a humanity that really pays off in the back half of the film. Me and Orson Welles Directed by Richard Linklater In lesser hands, Me and Orson Welles might have been a grandiose love letter …
Two pianists, two war films of disconcerting beauty, lots of weight loss and some black chadors – here are some of the best international films of the decade. 1. Gegen die Wand / Head-on (2004) Directed / Written by Fatih Akin Drama, Germany & Turkey If a film ever deserved the characterisation of possessing …
79– Divine Intervention (2002) Directed by Elia Suleiman Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama Palestinian writer-director Elia Suleiman has rightfully been compared to Charlie Chaplin with his talent to create such brilliant deadpan black out sketches in the midst of his long slow-paced moments of expressive silence. Divine Intervention is his second feature, best described as the …
A delirious cocktail of satire, sex, music, murder and cod-Shakespearean dialogue, Russ Meyer’s cult classic is a blast from its pistol-in-the-mouth start to its tongue-in-cheek finish. Even if you’ve never seen a Meyer film and don’t share his predilection for buxom ladies with limited acting skills, the story of an all-girl rock group in Hollywood …
89- Azumi (2003) Directed by Ryûhei Kitamura Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action Lovers of Asian cinema should love Azumi. A slick, relentless, violent yet beautiful genre piece with breathtaking stunt choreography and impressive wirework by Yuta Morokaji that makes the fight sequence in Kill Bill seem tame. – 88- The Proposition (2005) Directed by John Hillcoat …
100- Brick (2005) Directed by Rian Johnson Genre: Film Noir, Mystery, Crime Rian Johnson’s Brick is a rare gem; the low-key, post-modern approach mingles ’40s and ’50s costume accents and the hard-boiled attitude of the great 1930s and ’40s detective novels with the institutional drab of a suburban high school. Take the regular struggles of …
Australia may not have an overabundance of horror films but they do have a rich history within the genre ranging from lowbrow slashers to moody thrillers and outrageous horror comedies. The recent success of the acclaimed documentary Not Quite Hollywood has shed light on a much overlooked aspect of Aussie genre filmmaking. Although horror movies …
The greatest accomplishment of this film is how it seeks to surprise its viewers, not just with what happens but with where we place our loyalty. Short Cuts (1993) Directed by Robert Altman United States – 187 min. Color Criterion Spine #265 The Criteron Collection’s two-disc issue of Robert Altman’s 1993 film Short Cuts comes …
The first time I watched The Graduate, it did not take long for me to realize that the movie would prove to be a lot different from what I had expected. All this revelation took was hearing the opening of The Sound of Silence and feeling its solemn mood. The music choice shows how multi-dimensional …
Workmanlike and inoffensive, Brothers will neither devastate nor severely disappoint. Brothers Directed by Jim Sheridan The latest in a long line of Sheridan dramas oriented around family units, Brothers, adapted from the 2004 Danish feature of the same name, is competently constructed and generally well-performed, but hovers just above mediocrity throughout the proceedings. Perhaps in …
Completely entertaining and dripping with fan appreciated details, Watchmen is a gift to comic book nerds and film enthusiasts alike. – Watchmen: Director’s Cut Directed by Zach Synder Trying to determine the value of a film based on a book (or graphic novel in this case), is a dangerous undertaking. Separating the downfalls and offering credit …
Amreeka Directed by Cherien Dabis Screenplay by Cherien Dabis 2009, USA There is an obvious correlation between the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the rise in Islamaphobia across the United States. Arabs (or anyone Arab-looking) who had already established their lives in the States before that year suddenly found themselves the target of racial prejudice, …
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Directed by Chris Weitz Are we to expect more from a feature film than from an average episode of a daytime soap? That’s one of many questions to be begged not only of casual moviegoers but of even the most hardened fan of Stephenie Meyer’s socially negligent Twilight series as …
Troma’s dug deep into the depths of Ukraine’s smut factory to unleash this skeezy compilation of Soviet shorts from trash hound extraordinaire Yakov Levi. All the shit sharin’, prostitute slangin’ and babushka fearin’ you could hope for is finally here. Shameless Tasteless, features everything from anal dares gone wrong to dance floor abortions (gone right?) …
It happens pretty often where you see a movie for the first time and it has the ability to give you shivers. It moves you and makes you feel a certain way, unlike anything else. Sometimes, you are lucky enough to see those movies in a theatre and lose yourself for a few hours. When …
Duncan Jones made his debut with the film Moon, released earlier this year. Now talk of the talented director’s next film is buzzing about. Variety reports that Jones has recently signed on, with Jake Gyllenhaal in mind to be his leading man; his latest script endeavor is called Source Code, being released by Universal. Ben …
2012 Directed by Roland Emmerich This review is SPOILER ridden so beware. Then again, if you’ve seen any disaster movie made since 1960 then nothing will be a surprise. Trust me. Judd Apatow, Tina Fey, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell and all the other maestros of contemporary comedy should be afraid, as there is a new …
Exploding vehicles (and heads), decapitations, a whole lot of nudity and an overexcited Quentin Tarantino are just the starting point for Not Quite Hollywood: the wild, untold story of Ozploitation!, Mark Hartley’s jaw-dropping history of Australian genre cinema. Forget Picnic at Hanging Rock: it’s more a case of let’s blow up Ayers Rock and set …