It’s dinner time. Villain Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), flaunting his disarming lisp, confesses his love of good old-fashioned spy movies to debonair secret agent Henry Hart (Colin Firth). At the same time, he somewhat paradoxically reassures Hart that this isn’t one of them, coming within inches of breaking the fourth wall. This odd contradiction wonderfully summarises the action packed, […]
Magic in the Moonlight
Amidst his sardonic ramblings, protagonist Stanley (Colin Firth) proudly exclaims, “When the heart rules the head, disaster follows.” What an apt description of Magic in the Moonlight. Woody Allen’s latest is a study in inauthenticity. Stanley is a white man whose job it is to convince audiences he is an Asian mystic. In his spare time, he travels the […]
On Hooper, Refn, and Cinematography
This conversation got started when I, a long-time critic of director Tom Hooper, posted a link that lambasted the cinematography of Hooper’s films. Søren didn’t see the issue, and defended Hooper. The debate touched on director Nicolas Winding Refn, whom Søren found much more visually irritating than Hooper, as well as whether or not interesting […]
Austenland
Austenland is sort of the latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I say “sort of” because it’s actually based on Shannon Hale’s novel Austenland, which was inspired by the 1995 film version of Pride and Prejudice, which was itself adapted from Austen’s actual novel. After being dragged through a book, a movie, another book, […]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tomas Alfredson is an incredible director whose other internationally-acclaimed film, Let the Right One In, was easily one of the best movies of the last decade. Well, now he’s back and I am very pleased to say that his latest effort, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, easily matches up to his impressive debut. First and foremost comes […]
