Screen Trip - FILM REVIEWS AND CRITICISM

Q: Who does not love a good fairytale? Especially one that features pure, incorruptible love between an amiable prince and a pretty princess, who trapped by ruthless fate, experience a series of many cruel and unexpected turns of events and yet still manage, against all odds, to reach a happy ending...

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The Academy has not disappointed this year with its occasionally offbeat choices, political stands, the obligatory glitz and glamour and the singing and dancing Hugh. Best Motion Picture of the Year Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Cen Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy,...

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The Academy is known for its excessess and notorious unpredictability due to the political campaign tactics involved in the trophy race. Obviously not all deserving parties are awarded each year, however the worthwhile films are remembered long after - regardless of the actual results. I kind of wis...

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Director Sam Mendes burst into the scene in 1999 with his directorial feature debut American Beauty, an instant crossover success with viewers of various ages, nationalities, creeds and degrees of snobbism, the film won a best picture Oscar and (for once) deservedly so. It was a confrontational blac...

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The Paper Dolls are gay Filipino expats deemed half women half men. Marginal amongst societys margins, their complex lives are open-heartedly revealed to us. Working in Tel Aviv as caretakers for the elderly in Orthodox Jewish communities, their temporary visas expire the moment they lose their j...

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Abderrahmane Sissakos Bamako is one of those rare film-going experiences that educates, challenges preconceived notions and simultaneously manages to express the culture, the feelings and the plight of the people on whose behalf it speaks. Using the conventions of courtroom drama, we are presented ...

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The Cave Of The Yellow Dog is no longer as firmly entrenched in the realm of magical realism as its predecessor The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) was. If comparisons are unavoidable, Cave holds its own as a worthwhile film-going experience. It is a heartwarming and intimate portrayal of the Batc...

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What makes remakes potentially interesting is the possibility of building on top of existing material in order to update it and reflect the contemporary cultural climate, and the ensuing conversation with the preceding film and the audience. Perhaps that is why good and thought-provoking remakes a...

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Thinking of becoming a vegetarian? This film might just push you over the edge! Imagine Wolf Creek and Resident Evil minus the camp, double the gore, and with the gloom dial maxed. Six rather comely lasses venture on a caving trip, which slowly and relentlessly turns into a nightmare, not unlike Dan...

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A nostalgic trip into the realm of the cult, the trashy and the surreal, this documentary celebrates the unique cinema experiences offered by the midnight movie circuit of the 1970s. Director Stewart Samuels concentrates on 6 movies: Alejandro Jodorowskys Mexican spaghetti westernmystic acid trip...

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Lauded as a metaphor for the virtues of chastity (hardly, judging from the delighted and charged sighs of the audience), Twilight, along with most other vampire-themed flicks, sinks its teeth straight into the guilty pleasure territory. Vampire-lite compared to classics like Interview with the Va...

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Barcelona drenched in honey-hued sunlight, Gaudi architecture, sounds of Spanish guitar and delectable wine all make for an exciting and permissive romantic backdrop. If only the voiceover guy had a sexier or funnier voice Allens usual ad-libbing is sorely missed in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but ...

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The French are masters at capturing everyday drama - after all it was Stendhal who said that a novel is a mirror carried along a high road. Ive Loved You So Long, named after a line in a song, is just such a thought-provoking, closely observed and emotionally intense everyday drama, a debut featu...

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Baz Luhrmanns filmmaking aesthetic has its equally vocal followers and detractors, yet undeniably makes a lasting impression regardless of which camp one falls into. The sheer visual exhilaration, freshness of perspective, camp mixture of humour, pathos and splashes of colour, admirable performanc...

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Boasting an appealing cast of A-listers like Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy (recently seen in Atonement and The Last King of Scotland) assembled from opposite sides of the pond and topped by an exotic Russian director, Timur Bekmambetov, whose Night Watch (2004) was a breath of ...

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The Ice Storm hits American Beauty who takes Shortcuts, arriving at Happiness. Happy Endings, a comic take on themes familiar from the films mentioned above, is less of a crowd pleaser than the delightful The Opposite of Sex, although director Don Roos sensibility mix of postmodern cynicism, black...

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Clint Eastwood's war drama focuses on WWII battle of Iwo Jima and its aftermath for the few surviving participants of the iconic flag raising, famously photographed by Joe Rosenthal and used as American propaganda for the glory of war and bond-selling. The film is based on the book of the same tit...

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A modern fairytale masquerading as a thriller, Lady in the Water can be an enjoyable enough experience if you accept the initial fantasy premise, told through a series of child-like cartoons: a long time ago the human race was friends with a race of water people called narfs. They have a natural en...

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Ballets Russes is a charming documentary about the world of dance, capturing over half a century of the history of the most famous 20th century ballet company, The Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, and inspired by its 75th anniversary reunion celebrated in 2000. One does not need to know a thing abou...

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The problem with Linda Fiorentinos character in The Last Seduction (John Dahl 1994) is that she cannot simply be reduced to the familiar prying mantis clich, but neither is she a likeable, chocolate-munching and self-deprecating Bridget Jones type, although in an ironic twist of cinematic...

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