Month: December 2014

Film Review: Ida (2014)

With its startling use of black and white and meticulous compositions, one can understand how Pawel Pawlikowski's Ida has distinguished itself and been tipped as Poland's Academy Award entry for Best Foreign Film. Underneath this veneer, however, is where the film's treasures truly exist. Focusing on a repressed, tight-lipped nun (who is on the verge of…Read more Film Review: Ida (2014)

The Complex – Chapter III: The Circle

The office was located inside a three bedroom apartment that was shared with two clients. Stepping inside, he sighed with relief at how much better the apartment looked at night. The late evening darkness cloaked the room, which masked much of its generally disheveled nature. He walked down the hallway of the apartment towards the office,…Read more The Complex – Chapter III: The Circle

Film Review: The Theory of Everything (2014)

In the realm of public intellectuals few loom larger than Stephen Hawking, the iconic theoretical physicist and ALS sufferer. The magnitude of the man's life and career goes largely unrealized in the new film The Theory of Everything, which is salvaged through the extraordinary pathos evoked by stars Eddie Redmayne (who plays Stephen) and Felicity…Read more Film Review: The Theory of Everything (2014)

Film Review: John Wick (2014)

As my good friend and fellow dweeb Nick Allen once pointed out: middle-aged killing machines have become the new normal in contemporary Hollywood actioners. Initiated by Liam Neeson's crusty John Mills in Taken, and expanded upon by Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher), Denzel Washington (The Equalizer), and Pierce Brosnan (The November Man), wizened bruisers have suddenly become as…Read more Film Review: John Wick (2014)

Film Review: Irma la Douce (1963)

Anyone familiar with the classic film The Apartment would think that a reunion between its director Billy Wilder, and its stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine would produce another charmer. Well, I'm here blabbering on the Internet to tell you that you're dead wrong. Reuniting just three years after their mega-hit, this distinguished trio produced…Read more Film Review: Irma la Douce (1963)