About Me

Showing posts with label foxfire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foxfire. Show all posts

Thursday, 20 September 2012

Review: Foxfire - Confessions of a Girl Gang


Comparisons to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders can’t be helped with the  period American setting, coming of age storyline, young cast and aspects of gang violence, but that’s as far as the similarities go with exploration of masculinity replaced with a look at the female struggle of the 1950s. Palme d’Or winner (Entre Les Murs) Laurent Cantet adapts Joyce Carol Oates tale of female empowerment, teen angst and communism encapsulating the spirit and the political mood with pulpy being replaced by poetic. The setting, clothes and the girls’ mannerisms feel appropriate for the time but sometimes the female camaraderie and interactions just don’t sit right. Staying close to the source material delivers the message clearly but it gets bogged down with an overly long running time of 143 minutes that ends like a bad biopic. 

You can read my full review over on Cinetalk

Thursday, 6 September 2012

TIFF 2012 Picks

1. The Brass Teapot
Starring Juno Temple and Michael Angarano as a couple who discover a brass teapot that dispenses cash when they feel pain. What lengths will they go to for money? Director Ramaa Mosley's first feature film.
For more information click here

2. A Werewolf Boy (Neuk-dae-so-nyun) After a promising debut in End of Animal (a disorientating post-apocalyptic monster movie) this is South Korean Director Jo Seung-Hee's second feature. Coming of age, fairytale and a werewolf? Fingers crossed. For more information click here


3. Ghost Graduation
A Spanish comedy described as The Breakfast Club meets Ghostbusters. Though Director Javier Ruiz Caldera's first feature was the spoof film Spanish Movie (the less said the better) perhaps he can find his own voice in his second film. For more information click here


4. No One Lives
Director Ryuhei Kitamura returns with a horror film that will hopefully deliver on its title. His previous films include the  Midnight Meat Train (starring Vininie Jones) and Versus. Both personal favourites of mine. For more information click here


5. John Dies at the End
Based on the popular horror novel by David Wong (Jason Pargin) featuring gateways to hell, mind-bending drugs and meat monsters and directed by Don Coscarelli (Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep) this could either be a CGI monstrosity or a cult classic.For more information click here

 6. In Another Country
Isabelle Huppert stars in Hong Sang-Soo's latest film set in the Korean seaside town of Mohang. Three separate stories exploring human vulnerability and relationships. For more information click here



7. Much Ado About Nothing
Joss Whedon's spin on Shakespeare. I am so intrigued by this. For more information click here







8. Pieta
Kim Ki-Duk makes a return to  storytelling after his hiatus. His last film was the documentary Arirang which charted his road to recovery from post traumatic stress and depression  Hopefully a return to form. For more information click here


9. Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang
Laurent Cantet (The Class, Entre Les Murs) adapts Joyce Carol Oate's dark tale of female empowerment set in 1950s America. For more information click here




10. The ABCs of Death
An ambitious horror anthology with 26 gory chapters from directors such as Xavier Gens, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Nacho Vigalondo, Ti West, Adam Wingard and many more! For more information click here



11. Sightseers
If you like your comedy black and brutal Director Ben Wheatley (Kill List) delivers on all fronts in his third feature film. For more information click here





12. I Declare War
Directors Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson team up in this dark comedy about children playing war games. Mixing fantasy and reality and entering the mindset of the little warriors this could prove to be unsettling territory. For more information click here


13. Spring Breakers
Director, Harmony Korine (Gummo, Mister Lonely) dresses James Franco up in Hawaiin shirts and cornrows. If nothing else, this film looks spectacularly seedy. 





14. Berberian Sound Studio
A rich puzzling mix of startling sound effects and dreamy visuals that pays homage to the Giallo and the often overlooked sound engineer. Not to be missed. For more information click here