The third instalment of The Hunger Games delivers a solid and satisfying mediation on the mediatisation of war and revolution within the constraints of its Young Adult and relatively weak source material.
The Judge
David Dobkin’s The Judge has high hopes, but never quite delivers, in this heavy-handed family drama.
Film Finance for Now – The Age of Philanthropy
Last week’s Good Pitch 2 program in Sydney sheds an interesting light on the future of film financing, philanthropy and crowd-funding, in wake of government funding cuts.
Belle
Amma Asanta’s BELLE is a small yet satisfying film with a lot to say, and a surprisingly subversive way to say it.
Romeo & Juliet
The Julian Fellowes-penned adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic is a fairly atrocious rendition, showcasing profound ignorance and disrepect towards the original text.
Enigmas and Surprises: the BFI London Film Festival Announces its Line-Up
The British Film Institute has announced the line-up for their 2014 London Film Festival, throwing a spotlight on British film production this year and screening 248 films across London from the 8th-19th of October.
The Grand Seduction
Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch star in a completely unnecessary English-language adaptation of a reasonably successful Quebecois comedy.
Easy Money II: Hard to Kill
Easy Money II: Hard to Kill suffers from the law of diminishing returns, delivering a more formulaic and derivative take on the gangster film than its predecessor, though it is saved by the strength of both its director and cast.
71st Venice Film Festival Line-Up Announced
The 2014 Biennale di Venezia looks set to be a great festival, with new films by Iñárritu, Oppenheimer, Bogdanovich and Abel Ferrara’s recreation of Pasolini’s last days among the highlights.
You Have to See… Under Capricorn (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1949)
This week’s You Have To See is Alfred Hitchcock’s UNDER CAPRICORN, a strange melodrama set in 1800’s Australia that is too often lost among the shuffle of the Master’s great films.