Inexplicably, Sam Taylor-Wood’s adaptation of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY pales in comparison to the book itself, lacking sexual tension and featuring an atrocious performance from Jamie Dornan.
CITIZENFOUR
Laura Poitras’ entertaining and thrilling documentary CITIZENFOUR is less a character study of Edward Snowden than an act of questioning our own knowledge of surveillance.
Into The Woods
Rob Marshall’s star-studded Sondheim adaptation is a boring and gradually nonsensical traipse through familiar fairy tale narratives.
My Man
Isobel Yeap reviews Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s MY MAN, a disappointingly heavy-handed tale of a Lolita-esque relationship between a schoolgirl and her adopted father.
The Special Need
THE SPECIAL NEED is a touching and honest documentary about three friends – one of whom is autistic – taking a road trip, a compassionate investigation of autism and the stigmas around it.
In Bloom
Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’ In Bloom is a tender film about two teenage girls trying to maintain their integrity while negotiating the complex moral universe generated when their country is afflicted by civil war.
I Believe in Unicorns
Leah Meyerhoff’s I Believe in Unicorns is a two-dimensional and ultimately unsuccessful film, which tells the story of Divina, a sixteen-year-old girl who believes in unicorns
The Dirties
Matt Johnson’s THE DIRTIES, playing at both Possible Worlds Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival, is an excellent film, riveting and thought-provoking and in parts very funny.
Joy of Man’s Desiring
Denis Cote’s JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING is an often visually impressive film, but too often predictable and obvious in its symbolism.
The Case Against 8
Ben Cotner and Ryan White’s The Case Against 8 follows the legal turmoil surrounding California’s controversial Proposition 8 – a ballot that repealed same-sex mariage in the state.