Ink
dir Danny Boyle; with Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce 26/UK ****
James Graham adapts his stage play for the screen, which is then turned into an explosion of imagery and sound by director Danny Boyle. It's the story of how tabloid reporting expanded in 1969 Britain, recounted with close-up camerawork, energetic cutaways and journalistic angst. At times, style drowns out substance, but there's also a sense of urgency as we see how news reporting got to where it is today.
dir-scr Werner Herzog; with Kate Mara, Rooney Mara 26/Ire ****
A genuine oddity, this fable-like film feels more like it came from Yorgos Lanthimos than Werner Herzog. But it's based on a true story, and the iconic German filmmaker brings his distinct quirkiness to an odyssey about two sisters who defiantly march to their own beat. And as the film crackles with charm and wit, their tenacious quest is for a world full of love, so the emotions continually catch us by surprise.
A genuine oddity, this fable-like film feels more like it came from Yorgos Lanthimos than Werner Herzog. But it's based on a true story, and the iconic German filmmaker brings his distinct quirkiness to an odyssey about two sisters who defiantly march to their own beat. And as the film crackles with charm and wit, their tenacious quest is for a world full of love, so the emotions continually catch us by surprise.
dir Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi; with Jim Morrison, Hilaree Nelson 26/US ****.
Jaw-dropping cinematography puts us right on the slopes with intrepid climbers as they spend five years trying to do something unprecedented: after scaling the rarely climbed northern face of Everest, Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson intend to ski back down. Filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi get fully involved, tracing huge emotional currents throughout this unpredictable story.
Jaw-dropping cinematography puts us right on the slopes with intrepid climbers as they spend five years trying to do something unprecedented: after scaling the rarely climbed northern face of Everest, Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson intend to ski back down. Filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi get fully involved, tracing huge emotional currents throughout this unpredictable story.
dir-scr Kuba Dorabialski; with Mia Wasikowska, Vedrana Bozinovic 26/Bos ***.
Defiantly resisting a standard movie narrative structure, Polish filmmaker Kuba Dorabialski wrote, directed, edited, photographed and composed the music for this ambitious meta-drama. The story is a fascinating exploration of the place where art and history converge, knowingly blurring lines between books, movies and journalism as an author confronts her motivations. While it's darkly intriguing, Dorabialski's approach is also indulgent and stylised, which leaves it feeling somewhat academic.
Defiantly resisting a standard movie narrative structure, Polish filmmaker Kuba Dorabialski wrote, directed, edited, photographed and composed the music for this ambitious meta-drama. The story is a fascinating exploration of the place where art and history converge, knowingly blurring lines between books, movies and journalism as an author confronts her motivations. While it's darkly intriguing, Dorabialski's approach is also indulgent and stylised, which leaves it feeling somewhat academic.
Salón de Belleza
dir Nathalia Acevedo; with Sam Louwyck, Erwan Kepoa Fale 26/Mex ***.
From Mexico, this experimental drama is shot in a richly immersive style that creates a hypnotically enigmatic ambience. Filmmaker Nathalia Acevedo is gifted at capturing details that reveal characters and settings in an unusually visceral way, telling an evocative story without the need for dialog. The lead character is simply called “the individual”, making him an everyman in a surreal but profoundly human odyssey.
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