⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ There was one conspicuous accuracy however that deserves a mention for its bluntness and also for being so damn poignant. At the end of the day, even in this fictitious version of the show that takes place in an alternative 2020 - the Crazy, Anything’s Possible Year - no one gave Malta any love. Our fate at this festival is now irrevocably damned by a Will Ferrell comedy.
This was a really wonderful film from Carlos Reygadas. The casting couldn’t have been more inspired. The situations are glaringly realistic however their translation to screen is poetic, and in a way, even romantic. This is a bite of Mexican cinema which is sure to leave you with a bittersweet aftertaste for many weeks later. (NSFW REVIEW)
A 35c review of Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio (2019)
The Shuttered Room (also released as Blood Island) is your typical late 60s Hammer Gothic-Horror flick – in Technicolor! The story follows Susannah (by Carol Lynley – performance so wooden it screams Pinocchio) and her (old enough to be her father) Mike (if you could believe it, even more dispassionately played by Gig Young), as a newly married... Continue Reading →
Hailed as the first entirely Maltese gore horror movie, Breeder (2014) takes its main plot line from Patrick Vella’s previous short film, The Breeder (2013), a project which has been internationally recognised in quite a number of horror film festivals, garnering several awards in the process. In the 2013 short, the title character, played by Vella who also... Continue Reading →
Saving Mr.Banks (2013) is, in essence, the story of what went on behind the scenes while Walt Disney was trying to secure the film rights for Mary Poppins (1964). Stylistically, it may remind one of The Godfather: Part II (1974), where we have a squeaky clean, sober looking (in a Back To The Future kind of way) present day (1960s) story riddled... Continue Reading →
I was lucky to be able to catch Io Sono Li in (what’s left of) our Royal Opera House in Valletta. It was screened as part of the Pjazza Kino Festival last Friday 25th. In the same festival, two other nautical-themed films were shown Kon-Tiki (2012) and The Deep, (2012). The festival was curated by Rebecca Cremona, who also directed and co-wrote... Continue Reading →
OUR FASCINATION WITH CINEMATIC SEX MIKIEL REVIEWS LARS VON TRIER’S SEX EPIC NYMPHOMANIAC, CURRENTLY SHOWING AS ONE OF THE SIDE STREET FILMS AT EDEN CINEMAS, AND ASKS WHETHER THE FINAL CHAPTER IN HIS DEPRESSION TRILOGY DELIVERS. I’ve no doubt that right now you’re most probably indignantly frowning at your screen damning my sick, insolent mind... Continue Reading →
Captain Phillips’ (2013) formula is a tired one – we have a seemingly ordinary bloke up against odds that seem impossible to beat. We’re supposed to kid ourselves into wondering who’s going to emerge victorious when we know the answer to that all along. The film was partly shot in Malta and stars Tom Hanks.... Continue Reading →
I specifically started watching Take This Waltz (2011) because of Seth Rogen’s involvement. I wouldn’t say I’m his biggest fan, rather I was intrigued by the idea of Rogen starring in a serious film about relationships, their fragility, and life-changing decisions which are ours to take. What I thought was going to be a romantic dramedy on... Continue Reading →
35c 