Upstream Color

Shane Carruthers’ (Primer) second feature is an oblique and elusive parable about reinvention, reincarnation and the interconnectedness of things which is compelling and infuriating in equal measures. Kris (Amy Siegwitz) lives in Dallas and works in computer graphics. She is targeted by a thief (Tiago Delfoent) who forces her to inhale an insect lava which…

The Kings of Summer

The real star of this engaging and amusing take on teenagers finding their feet in the adult world was Chris Galletta – the writer. His screenplay was a constant delight as the characters delivered rich, baroque and profound dialogue which was both hilarious and vaguely unsettling in equal measure. Joe (Nick Robinson) and Patrick (Gabriel…

Girl Most Likely

This covered much the same ground as the recent Frances Ha. Single girl coping with rejection and alienation whilst the rest of New York goes about its glamorous business in the background – oblivious to her increasingly desperate loneliness and underachievement. But where FH had poignancy, a wonderfully nuanced performance from Greta Gershon, coherent script,…

The Lone Ranger

A bit of a mess really but not without some charm, intrigue and amusement. The good things included: a) magnificent scenery beautifully photographed in glorious unmuted colours. b) an abundance of cine literate references to classic westerns including “Once upon a Time in the West”,”Little Big Man”, “The General” and just about everything by John…

About Time

You know how nature and evolution have conspired to make babies cute, so that no matter how smelly, irritating or obnoxious – adults are hard wired to find them adorable and consequently unharmable. It’s a survival thing and it applies in spades to this film. It would be easy to lambast for its smugness or…

Frances Ha

The life and times of a 27 year old would be dancer in contemporary New York is not a strap line designed to appeal to me, but after an initial period where Greta Gerwig’s titular Frances was mildly irritating I did find myself warming to her and sympathising with her predicament. It’s refreshing to see…