It is not possible to make a film like Back of the Night, written and directed by Valentyn Korotkevych, without being aware that this is an experience for a specialised audience or mood only. It is deliberate. Excruciatingly slow in its first few minutes and alive with existential anguish, the film speaks to a niche… Continue reading Back of the Night: We Are Well Past Needing Words
Category: Reviews
Eclipse: Understanding Personal, Social And Environmental Rehabilitation
Led by Yao Dapre Nicol aka Olouy, The Gasser brothers’ 8-minute experimental short, Eclipse evokes metamorphosis to explore the idea of choice, through parable-like dialogue, electronic music, and hypnotic dance. On the technical front, the film relies heavily on its editing to drive the film forward – an essential responsibility given the lack of a… Continue reading Eclipse: Understanding Personal, Social And Environmental Rehabilitation
Canceled: A Melodramatic Comedy Most Of Us Can Relate To
In a jacked up way, the protagonist of Canceled embodies the sentimentalities of every heartbroken series fan ever. On the other hand, writer-director Jimmy Caputo makes no effort to make its protagonist at all likeable. Instead, we see the unhealthiness through the melodrama of it all. Not that the film has any intentions of taking… Continue reading Canceled: A Melodramatic Comedy Most Of Us Can Relate To
Crazy: The Use Of Nonchalant Deception For Comedy
The clues that writer-director Holt Boggs plants in his nail-biting mob-drama-but-actually-a-comedy are placed so casually, you do not notice them at all until all the pieces have fallen into place. There is little that is spared from being turned upside down, the end result looking nothing like what you think it would be. Perhaps the… Continue reading Crazy: The Use Of Nonchalant Deception For Comedy
Idea: The Lesser Seen Serenity Of Creating
Olli Huttunen’s 3-minute silent film Idea trails the literal journey of an idea, whether it finds itself metamorphosed into a fully-fledged creative process or ignored and abandoned. The craft of the film is deceptively simple. There are no characters, only the presence of a nascent idea, wandering and flowing along wherever trains of thought and… Continue reading Idea: The Lesser Seen Serenity Of Creating
Coming Home: A Cinematic Epiphany On The Definition Of Love
Pranav Kothary’s Coming Home is a 14:57-minute-long discovery of relationships, love and vulnerability. Through the eyes of a teenage girl, we learn about what introspection means to the young, how damaging a broken marriage can be for a child, and why love isn’t always as heady as promised to be. Liz is due to leave… Continue reading Coming Home: A Cinematic Epiphany On The Definition Of Love
Darling, Darling Wendy: Embracing The Complexity Of Peter Pan
Based on Peter Pan’s epilogue, Elise Robertson’s Darling, Darling Wendy, written by Katherine Sainte Marie, sets itself fifteen years after the events of Neverland, Wendy now a grown woman with a daughter of her own, unhappy and ailing for a permanent return to Neverland. The film regards Wendy (played by Sainte Marie) with sympathy, even… Continue reading Darling, Darling Wendy: Embracing The Complexity Of Peter Pan
Re-displacement: A Sci-Fi Therapy Into Memory Reclaim
The first thing you notice in writer-director Lewis Coates’s Re-displacement is its visual tone. Carefully designed and ingeniously executed shots of everyday objects, but in a seemingly futuristic way that gives away the time zone of the film’s setting. Yes, it is futuristic, and yes, it is almost fantasy-ridden; for Re-displacement deals with concepts our medical… Continue reading Re-displacement: A Sci-Fi Therapy Into Memory Reclaim
Sensor: Seeing PTSD For The Horror It Is
While Brian L. Tan’s Holdout dealt with the fallout of WWII, his latest, Sensor (written by Jonathan Hirsch) deals with the aftermath of the Vietnam War, both films focusing attention on an individual level: the things a soldier does for duty and weight they bear for it. The themes are similar but treated differently; Holdout… Continue reading Sensor: Seeing PTSD For The Horror It Is
VECT0R: Tribute To The Matrix & Co.
Made with a skeletal crew and budget, Jan Sørup’s sci-fi VECT0R plays like an homage to the sci-fi greats. You’ll spot inspirations from The Matrix, Blade Runner 2049 and even a glimpse of the blazingly beautiful Mad Max: Fury Road. Also Sørup’s debut film, VECT0R is heavy on the special effects, containing a world that… Continue reading VECT0R: Tribute To The Matrix & Co.