On The Silver Globe – 1988

2024/04/14

Ukrainian-born whirlwind director Andrzej Zulawski’s On The Silver Globe is that rarest of things: a doomed cinematic train-wreck that, even in its incomplete form, is completely spellbinding. It is a cross-over between experimental science-fiction and horror cinema, all shot with a frenzied camera sporting often extremely wide-angled lenses, resulting in the kind of wild kinetic madness only otherwise hinted at in the most extreme parts of Terry Gilliam’s oeuvre. Oh, what might have been…

This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection – 2019

2024/03/14

Narrowly missing out on a nomination for best foreign language film, this gem from Lesotho reminds us that there are few landscapes more fascinating than the human face. An old widow prepares her own funeral amid the impending displacement of her people. We see the changing of the land and the passing of an era, not just through her eyes, but reflected in them and etched into her often impassive and resilient features. It’s a masterclass in framing, lighting and portraiture that marks filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese as a talent to watch.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – 1992

2024/02/14

It’s always worth re-exploring the work of liminal master David Lynch. His unique way of presenting life in a slightly off-kilter manner is the closest cinema gets to recreating the logic of nightmares, and Fire Walk with Me is one of his most emblematic works. It’s a prequel/spinoff to his influential TV series: one that managed to antagonize many show adherents and, in true Lynch fashion, preferred to ask a bunch of new questions rather than answer existing ones. It takes that most American of tropes – the small-town murder mystery – and takes turns it every which way but right-side up. You’re in for a treat.

The Blob – 1988

2024/01/14

80s horror is a treasure-trove of inventiveness and genre-blending. Mix cute christmas-story with monster mayhem and you get Gremlins. Mix paranoid survival feature with alien menace and you get The Thing. remake another 50s horror flick – this time featuring homicidal exponentially expanding goo instead of a shapeshifting assassin – with teen comedy, of sorts, and you get this. On the face of it, there wouldn’t be much to recommend 95 minutes of pink goo murdering a C-grade cast of teens played by actors who are clearly in their mid to late twenties… Especially since at the helm instead of a genre master like Joe Dante or John Carpenter, you have Chuck Russel (of Nightmare on Elm Street 3 fame). What saves this is that the filmmaker clearly shares every inkling of our contempt for his characters, and makes up for it in spades with some inspired moments of cruelty. This one’s a bonafide cult classic!

Happy 2024!!!

2023/12/31

That’s a wrap! 2023 saw us make new friends and reunite with old ones: Artmyn, whose start-up proof of concept video we shot in 2016, matured into an established much-sought technology to support the arts, and we depicted the museum experience they offer on film (in anamorphic, no less!). Schloss Elmau greeted us again, this time with much warmer weather, for us to tell the story of what goes on behind the scenes. IATA took us on a dizzying, contactless trip across Europe… It’s been a blast. We hope to see everyone again in 2024, but for now, we wish you and your loved ones a wonderful close to this year, and an auspicious beginning to the year ahead!

Killers of the Flower Moon – 2023

2023/12/14

5 decades of classics behind him and Martin Scorsese gives no sign of slowing down. Instead, leveraging the power of streaming giants, he makes ever grander films, the scopes of which would have been to much for film distributors of yesteryear. Killers of the Flower Moon stands astride several decades of filmmaking: its timeless aesthetic makes its expertise appear deceptively effortless, its literate scripts nods to history and matters of topical urgency, and its cast shows off career-best performances from several generations of acting greats. As a would-be benefactor in this grand tale of land theft, treachery and murder, De Niro hasn’t been this magnetic in years, alternating between disarming charm and blood-curling evil. Di Caprio reminds us what was so special about him in the first place with a complicated portrayal of a useful idiot. The share of the acting plaudits have gone to Lilly Gladstone as doomed heiress Molly Burkhart of the Osage people, and she is indeed an embodiment of Scorsese’s approach as a whole: conveying worlds of meaning with the most fleeting look or gesture, carrying the whole film on her shoulders. It’s a magnificent blend of old-school know-how and cutting edge technique, established star power and newcomers, that make this, without a doubt, one of the very best films of 2023!

Time and Tide – 2000

2023/11/14

The time has come to discuss Tsui Hark. Therein lies a huge problem. Those who know, know. Those who do not, cannot begin to comprehend until they have witnessed his work. Tsui Hark is one of the – perhaps THE – emblematic action directors to dominate Hong Kong in the 90s. His cinema borderlines on the surreal, his action choreography has a fluidity of motion and inventive cheekiness that you could only find respectively within the worlds of ballet and stage magic. A synopsis of Time and Tide would barely make sense. We’re not too sure what we saw ourselves. All we can tell you is that our jaws hit the floor within minutes of the opening credits and stayed there until the ending.

The Pirates! – 2012

2023/10/14

Or, to give it it’s full title, « The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! ». Aardman’s unique caper follows Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) and his motley crew on their quest to win the elusive title of « Pirate of the Year ». A homicidal Queen Victoria, Charles Darwin, a devious monkey man-servant and countless implausible shenanigans lie in their path. Unjustly overshadowed by its sister-films Chicken Run and the Wallace and Gromit feature, Pirates has all the hallmarks of what makes Aardman great: an unrivaled comic instinct, a collection of dazzling sight-gags and a sense of minutia and care that no other medium can quite convey in the same way. Did we mention it features pirates? Don’t deny yourself the pleasure!

Robin and Marian – 1974

2023/09/14

Does the story of Robin Hood really require a sequel? Not really… But then if you absolutely must, why not get Lion in Winter scribe James Goldman to conjure one up, and cast Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn as your leads. Throw in Robert Shaw as your sherif of Nottingham, and maybe include the likes of Richard Harris, Ian Holm and Denholm Elliot to see what happens. Before this film existed, there was no need for it to. Now that it does, it ranks among those niche, invaluable treasures of its medium.

Babylon – 2022

2023/08/14

Wunderkind of the moment Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash, First Man) overextends himself to the point of recklessness in this wild tale of the end of silent Hollywood. Ingenues fight for the spotlight, old legends cling to past glories, newcomers climb the ladder of power, and elephants spray-diarrhea in private parties… It’s got something for everyone. It comes very close to capsizing under its own weight in a closing « ode to cinema » montage, but everything else on display here is ramped up to 11 with such glee, such force and such commitment that you have to admire it for it. Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie have rarely been better, Diego Calva charms the pants of the camera whenever it turns his way, and if you have superhero or franchise-fatigue, this will more than restore your faith in humanity.