In Cosmos, the final film from director Andrzej Zulawski, failing law student Witold (Jonathan Genet) takes a vacation in a renter’s home. Disillusioned, he abandons his studies to pursue writing a novel that mirrors his time at the house. But his time in the house proves to be psychologically taxing.
Strange visual motifs dominate the film. Bugs crawl over food, hanged animals appear intermittently, one character is Continue reading Cosmos (2015) Movie Review
Tell Me Sweet Something follows young author Moratiwa (Nomzamo Mbatha) through the trials of artistry and romance.
Mbatha holds down the fort at the head of the film well. Her character the most well-rounded of the lot, she is given a lot more to work with. But, all the same, she embodies the character well.
Fulfilling the obligatory role of comedic relief male sidekick is Thomas Gumede as Gordon. Albeit a tired character, Continue reading Tell Me Sweet Something (2015) Movie Review
The Talk, from director Joe Otting, is a two-person short depicting a conversation between a father and his young daughter. This conversation begins with an innocent confession, one that every child needs to hear at some point in their life, but then it takes a nosedive into a frank, awkward realm.
The short features performances from John Hoogenakker and Isabella Crovetti-Cramp, who is most recognizable from her appearance in Continue reading The Talk (2015) Short Film Review
Jafar Panahi’s Taxi begins on an extended POV take of a taxi picking up passengers in Tehran. These passengers engage in a long debate over the ethics of execution as a deterrent of crime. It is a strangely humorous meditation in the poetic form of bickering.
Taxi is a series of vignettes told exclusively from Continue reading Taxi (2015) Movie Review
Over, the short film from director Jorn Threlfall, begins quietly. We get static long shots of a suburban street. At 11:45 pm. Then at 7:30 pm. The first two minutes are silence, save for ambient noise, as we see a couple park their car and cross the street, where they see a letter and a bouquet of flowers near the median. They speculate that someone has died there.
The story soon becomes clear. In reverse chronological order, we get to see Continue reading Over (2015) Short Film Review
It seems that the entire world is on his side. But is the Academy on his side?
Leonardo DiCaprio being “continuously” snubbed from an Oscar win at Best Actor has essentially become a meme at this point. And I’ll be the first to admit that Continue reading Will Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Win His Oscar?
Anomalisa begins on chatter over a black screen. This chatter is clearly multiple people, but the voices are distinctly similar to each other. This fades in on a lush cloudscape with an airplane emerging out of the grey. Inside the plane is Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a man famous for writing a book about good customer service.
Michael lives in a world of isolation. On a trip to give a self-help speech, he is completely Continue reading Anomalisa (2015) Movie Review
The Revenant has the viscera of a Braveheart or a Gangs of New York, with the now familiar touch of director Alejandro G. Inarritu. His style shows through with an even stronger flourish than that of his previous film Birdman, as it links itself more naturally with the thematic elements that are in play in the film.
The film centers on Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a hunter on a fur trading expedition who seeks vengeance after becoming severely wounded and left for dead in the 19th century wilderness.
The only true way to describe this film is to call it Continue reading The Revenant (2015) Movie Review
The Loft begins with distracting shots: intentional blurring and tightly framed, hyper-wide angles. These grotesque wide angles return frequently throughout the length of the film.
A groveling Karl Urban tepidly growls his lines as Vincent Stevens, a man being interrogated by police after a woman is found dead Continue reading The Loft (2015) Movie Review
Lists are always difficult. I find it nearly impossible to whittle down a large body of films into a list of ten. An honorable mention addendum would be longer than the top ten itself.
Additionally, I haven’t seen all the films I want/need to see from 2015. For example, as it stands now, The Revenant is in limited release, and won’t be widely available until after the New Year. It very likely could wind up being one of my top ten favorites of the year, but it can’t show up on this list.
Here are my top ten movies of 2015.
The gritty crime drama Sicario was completely Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2015
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