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Tag Archives: Historical Drama
Review: The Handmaiden (2016)
THE HANDMAIDEN is unmistakably a Park Chan-wook film. A polished tale of control featuring sadistic torture and plot-reevaluating twists, this is far beyond the ordinary bodice-ripper. During the Japanese occupation of Korea, a thief (Kim Tae-ri) masquerades as a handmaiden … Continue reading
Review: Silence (2016)
The release of a new Martin Scorsese film is still something to mark on your calendar, but perhaps the undoubtedly ambitious guilt trek SILENCE was too personal for his own good. Two Portuguese Jesuits travel to Japan to investigate reports … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Adam Driver, Akira Kurosawa, Andrew Garfield, Apocalypse Now, Drama, Film, Historical Drama, Liam Neeson, Martin Scorsese, Movies, Silence, The Mission
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Review: Risen (2016)
I don’t think we’ve ever had a Roman film noir before (please tell me if I’m wrong on that). If RISEN had lent more on these distinctive tropes or even retained a modicum of ambiguity by the end, it could … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Cliff Curtis, Film, Film noir, Historical Drama, Joseph Fiennes, Kevin Reynolds, Life of Brian, Movies, Mystery, Peter Firth, Risen, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
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Playing Catchup: The Masterpieces
It’s that time again: time for me to admit to some classic films I hadn’t until very recently seen, and how they have impacted me on my first watch. This time I thought I’d catch up on two that have … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Feature
Tagged Alec Guinness, Christopher Walken, David Lean, Drama, Film, Historical Drama, Lawrence of Arabia, Michael Cimino, Movies, Peter O'Toole, Robert De Niro, Sessue Hayakawa, Stanley Myers, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Deer Hunter, The Great Escape, Vilmos Zsigmond, War Movie, William Holden
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Review: Love & Friendship (2016)
It’s Jane Austen, but not quite as we know it. Whit Stillman’s LOVE & FRIENDSHIP adapts one of the titanically influential novelist’s lesser-known and unfinished stories (originally titled LADY SUSAN) and the result is a film that is both delicate … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Chloë Sevigny, Comedy, Film, Historical Drama, James Fleet, Jane Austen, Jemma Redgrave, Justin Edwards, Kate Beckinsale, Lady Susan, Love & Friendship, Morfydd Clark, Movies, Romance, Sherlock Holmes, Stephen Fry, Tom Bennett, Total Recall, Underworld, Whit Stillman
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Review: Brooklyn (2015)
If there was one thing I wasn’t expecting in a swooning transatlantic romance it was the sight of Saoirse Ronan humiliatingly relieving herself in a bucket. Said scene takes place during a harrowing stormy Atlantic crossing early on in the … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín, Domhnall Gleeson, Drama, Emory Cohen, Film, Fiona Glascott, Historical Drama, Jim Broadbent, John Crowley, Julie Walters, Michael Brook, Movies, Nick Hornby, Romance, Saoirse Ronan
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Review: Bridge of Spies (2015)
The thing about Steven Spielberg is that he’s consistent. A couple of clangers aside (and 1941 and A.I ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE are at least terrible in interesting ways) you can usually rely on him to deliver something special. That goes double … Continue reading
Review: Suffragette (2015)
By rights, there should have been more films made on the campaign for women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom by now. It’s a great story that is more relevant than ever today, and it’s completely dumbfounding that 2015 sees the … Continue reading
Review: A Little Chaos (2014/15)
A LITTLE CHAOS is a plumb job for Alan Rickman, requiring him to shoot some pretty people in pretty surroundings, then being able to orate and flounce around to his heart’s content when he himself occasionally appears on screen. We … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged A Little Chaos, Alan Rickman, Alison Deegan, Film, Helen McCrory, Historical Drama, Jeremy Brock, Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Movies, Stanley Tucci
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Review: The Monuments Men (2014)
THE MONUMENTS MEN is an all-star ensemble period comedy-drama directed by George Clooney. It should be great, but doesn’t quite get there despite the good intentions behind it and the abundance of talent involved. The year is 1943, and Hitler’s … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Cate Blanchett, Christian Rodska, Comedy, Film, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Historical Drama, Hugh Bonneville, James Payton, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Matt Damon, Michael Dalton, Movies, Robert M. Edsel, The Great Escape, The Monuments Men, Udo Kroschwald, War Film
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