This French Chinese co-production is a beautiful and moving film, with a lot of heart and charm, and it has broad appeal. When her workaholic parents have to go on trips, young Ren Xing (Xin Yi Yang) is reluctantly left in the care of her estranged grandfather Zhu Zhigen (veteran Chinese actor Li Baotian, from…
Gerard Butler, as US Secret Service Agent Mike Banning, is clearly trying to outmuscle and outgun Bruce Willis, as NYDP police officer John McClane (Die Hard), if his latest high-octane thriller, London Has Fallen, is anything to go by. The intent is no let up in the action or in the suspense from go to…
Moby was making electronic dance music hits before we knew to call it EDM, when it was still called techno/dance pop, but his bold sonic experiments, often mixing musical genres with cinematic flair, have taken his music far beyond the dance floor. While he had an early breakout disco hit with “Go,” and was a…
In the vinyl era (Indeed, I experienced those days as well) you could purchase an extended version of a single; the so-called maxi-single. Sometimes you were surprised by the extended version of the single because not so bad sounding variations were added in an artistic way. However, in most cases it was just a miserable…
The future world looks fairly simplistic. Mankind has been transformed into a superficial society in which the truly kindhearted population has nestled in one or another oasis, while the riotous part indulges in looting and hanging out in a striptease/dance temple or drug centers. Also choosing names will be simpler in that period, as it…
Tragedies and reckonings during 2020 brought the issue of sexualised violence prominently into the headlines. So Emerald Fennell’s powerful contemplation on the topic, Promising Young Woman, couldn’t be better timed. Fennell is a British actor and writer (she worked on the hit UK shows The Crown and Killing Eve), and Promising Young Woman marks her…
Scream (2022-style) is a slasher movie that deals with other slasher movies and fans of slasher movies. Being familiar with the series that dates back to 1996 would undoubtedly aid understanding, but it’s not mandatory. I, for instance, hadn’t seen the four Scream films before this one and yet followed the story line. Ghostface is…
Doesn’t matter whether you’re a ballet aficionado or novice, when one of the world’s most acclaimed ballet companies deliver the strength, beauty and purity of the timeless Swan Lake. The touring members of The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre – founded in 1994 – are on pointe from the get-go and don’t let up. You should…
La Verónica centres on social media star and footballer’s wife Verónica (Mariana Di Girólamo). Her persistent efforts to procure a sponsorship deal could be derailed by re-surfaced murder charges concerning an infant. Director Leonardo Medel frames the entire film in medium close-up with Verónica’s face in the centre. This conceit hinges on the idea that…
Take a base of screwball comedy, add a dash of French New Wave, stir in some 1970s Woody Allen sensibility and top with a dollop of Clueless – now if you can wrap your head around all that, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what to expect from Mistress America. This is director Noah…
