Very on-trend with recent nihlistic entertainment (Game of Thrones, House of Cards) where there are zero characters to sympathise with, High-Rise is vertiginous film about a very dire fact that is becoming apparent more and more these days: that high-minded efforts to create equality for the past century seem to have either been a veneer (in Western democracies) or a catastrophe (in communism). The film, … Continue reading High-rise (2015)
It is no news that in our age it is rather cheap and easy to be self-obsessed: we broadcast the daily minutiae on Twitter, show the flitered snaps of our coffees, travels and faces on Instagram, and dump blogs on arts, politics and travel on unsuspecting audiences. Although it is probably since times immemorial that people searched for their identities and meaning by scoruing through … Continue reading Welcome to me (2015)
Paolo Sorrentino returns to shining a light on the poor rich souls dangling precariously from the top of Maslow’s Pyramid; chronicling the beautiful paradox of questioning, from the top of the greasy pole of worldly success and talent, if this is truly all there is to life and, more importantly, if it is enough to keep you going. While La Grande Bellezza seductively examined lingering … Continue reading Youth/ La Giovinezza (2015)
For those of us who feel a bit strange wandering through the thicket of life (especially post-uni, pre-fully-adult), and occasionally (melodramatically, egoistically?) despairing about the choices (made, possible, or impossible), Into the woods, brings our woes to the big screen, by way of fairytales, set to a lovely Sondheim score. Inspired by a psychoanalytical readings of fairytales, it premiered as a stage musical in 1986 in … Continue reading A primer in lostness: Into the woods
Although I not am sure that any of those strolling the red carpet in a few hours time will be checking to hear about my take on the best films of the year (even to break the tedium of a normal Academy Awards night), it is still good to take stock of a rather good year in film, not the least because it seems that … Continue reading Top films of 2014
It is a truth universally acknowledged, especially among those of tender soul, born in Europe, young and educated at some of its finest universities, that the world is going to the dogs and that we are all doomed. Those with longer hair and penchant for floral prints see the doom in the impeding food shortage, those who are more into pashmina shawls and ethnic prints see it in political … Continue reading Century of Fakers: La Grande Bellezza/Frances Ha
If “Vampire Weekend” and “Contra” sounded like the best final year party you’ve been to, then “Modern Vampires of the City” is a lot like the day after: slow, meditative and a bit melancholy. After all, what is there to look forward to after uni parties with Cape Cod prepsters, campus romances, and disputes with overly serious drama students, but an inevitable down of a … Continue reading TNT Review: Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
