Reviews

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"The Miseducation of Cameron Post" (2018) Review

There's a moment in the trailer of Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity" where Sandra Bullock's astronaut is cast off the space station and sent hurtling into the void. Tumbling, clutching vacant space; that lack of an anchor is the perfect metaphor for the director and co-writer Desiree Akhavan's "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" a disturbing vision of life behind the lines of gay conversion therapy. 

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"You Were Never Really Here" (2017) Review

Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay elevates the vigilante tropes of  "You Were Never Really Here" into a sensory experience dripping with the haunting psychological cost of death. Dizzying pulsating soundscapes seamlessly edited around fleeting glimpses into disturbing events and a subversive vision of vengeance; Ramsay and star Joaquin Phoenix have delivered something that refuses to be forgotten. 

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Sydney Film Festival 2018 Film Diary Part 1 - "The Blood of Wolves," "Holiday" and "West of Sunshine"

To give you a flavour of 2018 Sydney Film Festival, I'm going to be compiling 'capsule' sized reviews of every film that I caught. The only exceptions to this will be those films that have a guaranteed an Australian cinematic release, in which case you may see a capsule review that forms the bedrock for a more extensive analysis of the movie.

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To Consume and Be Consumed: “IT” (2017) & “Raw”’ (2016)

“IT” opens with the cold dusty den of Bill’s bedroom. The rain is pouring and while the town of Derry seeks refuge, there’s an ominous atmosphere right from the outset that there’s something lurking in the edges of this warm and cosy world. Julie Ducournau’s “Raw” begins on a quaint deserted country road, framing the sporadic passing traffic from a position on the side of the road where you’d imagine a speed camera to be lurking. A car comes into frame, and just as it reaches the centre, something suddenly darts into the centre of the road. The car swerves and crashes hard into a tree, killing the occupants. This was clearly no accident. 

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"Red Sparrow" (2018) Review

Tradecraft for a female spy has the dark reality of being required to use sex as a weapon, or at least a distraction to penetrate (no pun intended) the guard of a foe. Francis Lawrence’s “Red Sparrow,” a crisply shot, contemporary spy thriller tackles the harsh sexual and psychological manipulation require to be a successful espionage asset.

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“Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) Review

Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” is a top shelf whodunnit played out with crisp pace and crackles, thanks to a cache of intentionally opaque performances from a prestige cast including Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Olivia Colman, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad. Branagh has orchestrated the perfect actor/director vehicle for himself that finds the perfect tone between prestige and pulp cinema.

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"Black Panther" 2018 Review

“Black Panther” is an avalanche, a nexus for underrepresented voices to be thrust into the throne. The superhero genre grew up a decade ago, with the arrival of “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight”; and since then it’s rarely elevated out of an escapist arrested development.

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