Review: Antiviral

 

Brandon Cronenberg (son of David) has written and directed an intense and disturbing debut film looking at society’s increasing obsession with celebrity. Getting to the sick heart of this cultural disease, Cronenberg has created a white walled world that delivers a claustrophobic film experience with a mesmerising central performance from Caleb Landry Jones.

 

Full review published in Starburst Magazine here

 

Antiviral is out in the UK on 1st February 2013

 

Review: Zero Dark Thirty

 

Zero Dark Thirty is a breathtakingly brutal and powerful account of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, charting the ten years it took to capture him. Director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) employs a race-against-time narrative focusing on the investigative team, their extreme tactics and the ramifications of a shifting political landscape during the course of their probing mission. The gaze is mainly on CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) and the gender politics surrounding her career defining assignment.

Full review on Filmoria

 

Zero Dark Thirty is out in the UK today.

Alliance of Women Film Journalists

 

I'm now a member of the alliance. For more information AWFJ

American Mary Review

 

Jen and Sylvia Soska’s American Mary summons the spirit of Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers with classical music, cold instruments and red scrubs along with a dark Lynchian aesthetic. There are Asian and European horror influences too, yet astonishingly the film feels personal and unique. 

You can read my full review in New Empress Magazine.

Out on DVD and Blu-ray now.

Women in Comedy

I don’t usually write about TV (unless it’s Alex Mack…) but Lena Dunham’s double win at the Golden Globes has prompted me to talk about women in comedy.  

For Best Performance by an actress in a TV series (comedy or musical), Lena was up against Julia Louis-Dreyfuss who apart from bringing us the Elaine dance in Seinfeld 

 

now leads the cast of Veep created by Armando Iannucci and Miss Bossy Pants herself, Tina Fey, who created and stars in 30 Rock as the secret snuggie wearing, night cheese eating Liz Lemon.

Fey added the phrase “I want to go to there” to my every increasing quoting vocabulary and wrote the screenplay for one of the best teen movies ever made, Mean Girls.  Lena was also up against  Zooey Deschanel for her role in New Girl and Amy Poehler for her role as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation who opened the show with Tina Fey.

I’m glad Dunham won the awards and her voice is being recognised and celebrated. Even if you place no particular importance on awards ceremonies her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes lays thanks to all of the women in the category and “every woman who felt there wasn’t a space for her”.

On winning the best TV series (comedy or musical) she spoke of the cast who have shown her “the meaning of bravery and nakedness both emotional and physical” and it can only be a positive thing to have such a talented, humble woman being a massive part of not only the TV world but the filmmaking one too.

Dunham also spoke of the people who supported her and helped her find her voice and made her feel “not like a cartoon character but a person who could express emotions”. This made me think of the ever supportive LocoFilm Festival who are championing comedy. This year they have collaborated with Underwire Festival with a focus on women in comedy and will be celebrating with the event Working Women on 26th January. If you’re having trouble finding your voice this could be a positive and inspiring place to start looking for it.

Lena Dunham’s debut feature film Tiny Furniture is available to buy as part of The CriterionCollection  You can read my review here.
Further reading: An interview with Lena Dunham conducted by Miranda July www.interviewmagazine.com/film/lena-dunham-february-2013

My Top Ten Films of 2012

2012 saw John Landis’ son, Max, put his hand to writing a screenplay with co-writer and Director Josh Trank in the extremely impressive Chronicle. Dolly Parton danced in the dark with the ghost of Kris Kristofferson and threw bread-rolls at Queen Latifah in Joyful Noise. The Muppets made a victorious return to the big screen.  We were rewarded with the uplifting Damsels in Distress in Whit Stillman’s long awaited return to filmmaking and Joss Whedon achieved the admirable feat of making not only the best superhero film out this year, in Avengers Assemble, but also a love letter to horror fans in The Cabin in the Woods. They all nearly made it into my top ten (apart from Joyful Noise) but not quite.

Read my top ten at Cinetalk here.

Film Festival Round-up 2012

Once again my viewing schedule has been dominated by film festivals. I reflect on the best I’ve seen.

The last week of January, usually a blue affair, was cheered up by Loco Film Festival and their screening of The Muppets, a vibrant, victorious return with Brett McKenzie penning memorable and lovable lyrics with a hint of Hall and Oates magic. Their discovery screen showed stand-out dark comedy Black Pond featuring the excellent line “who eats a banana before going to bed?”

To read more: http://www.cinetalk.tv/post/38295466988/kats-film-festival-round-up-2012

Review: John Dies at the End

Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli returns with his first film since 2002's Bubba Ho-Tep, and it's a masterful manifestation of special effects, animation and humour, all mixed to make a slithering sickly platter of hellfire, damnation and demon-fuelled trippy aesthetics.

You can read my full review at Starburst Magazine http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/latest-reviews-of-movies/3651-movie-review-john-dies-at-the-end

Released in the UK on 22nd March 2013