Ali’s Wedding (2017)

Loud, verbose, and extremely over the top; Ali’s Wedding is almost an action movie rather than a rom-com, but what really sets it apart is that the story it’s based on is true….

My Life as a Zucchini (2016)

In order to appreciate what My Life as a Zucchini is, it’s important to understand what it isn’t. Namely, this sophisticated wee stop motion is many things, but a kids movie it is not.

This Beautiful Fantastic (2016)

With a competent cast, gorgeous scenery, and solid story line, This Beautiful Fantastic manages to defy all odds and turn out a dud.

David Lynch: The Art Life (2016)

I had heard only good things about Jon Nguyen’s exposé of David Lynch’s formative years, but all in all David Lynch: The Art Life left me feeling no closer to the man who is as enigmatic as the cowboy from Mulholland Drive. 

Aftermath (2017)

Despite my better judgement, I really love the Governator, but even his performance fails to get Elliot Lester’s aeronautical disaster film off the ground.

Einsatzgruppen – The Nazi Death Squads (2009)

In June 1941 the armies of Nazi Germany invaded the USSR. What is less well known is that in their wake were the Einsatzgruppen, mobile death squads, who in the course of little over two years shot almost 2 million Jews.

Destination Flavour: Singapore (2016)

MasterChef winner, Adam Liaw takes us on what should be his most promising journey yet visiting his ancestral home of Singapore, unfortunately Destination Flavour: Singapore serves up more misses than hits.

Paterson (2016)

Festival darling Jim Jarmusch’s latest offering, Paterson, wont win him any new fans, but it also wouldn’t disappoint his loyal following.

A loose ode to William Carlos Williams’ epic poem about the city of Patterson, which has spawned so many of America’s poetic greats, Paterson is visual poetry that tends to suffer from the mental drift of slow cinema.

The film follows Patterson native Paterson (Adam Driver), a bus driver whose mind is constantly absorbing the details of his surrounds and putting them into words in his poetry journal. His Partner Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) is living poetry; a human symphony of pattern and rhythm with the self imposed constraint of living in black and white.

A special mention must be made of the glorious Nellie, a rescued English bulldog who won the Palm Dog for her performance as Marvin. I would say that my affection for dogs sways me, but it’s clear that I am not her only fan. Her trainers spoke of her sense of humour, something all dog lovers will attest to, and which she clearly has in spades.

Jarmusch is clever as always, deftly weaving in motifs that are fitting and witty, and the film tends towards a very softly sweet human aspect, generously warm and funny without being too obvious about it. But slow cinema will never be everyone’s cup of tea, and Paterson could have done with some nips and tucks even in this loose forum. Still worth a watch on a rainy day, and fans of Jarmusch’s previous works will find much to love here.

 

Ed.

 

Before the Flood (2016)

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last decade, or have willfully tuned out of the news Before the Flood probably wont advance your understanding of climate change and the issues which underpin it in modern times.

Truman (2015)

Cesc Gay produces a likable film that never quite works well enough to be as great as it should have been in Truman. Starring the delicious and ever wonderful Argentine, Ricardo Darin, and supported by the equally capable Javier Cámara and Dolores Fonzi; Truman had all the makings of a touching end-of-life film that seem to be so effortless for European cinema makers.