Talking Pictures

Takashi Miike is one of the world's most prolific directors - having directed over one hundred theatrical, video and television productions since his debut in 1991. He is best known to Western audiences for the ultra-violent Itchi the Killer (2001), and cult horror Audition (1999), but is in slightly more offbeat fare such as this year's First Love ( Hatsukoi  in the original Japanese) where his talents truly shine. The film follows young amateur boxer Leo (played with brilliant understatement by Masataka Kubota) who through some brilliantly implausible twists of circumstance, crosses paths with reluctant escort Monica (Sakurako Konishi) - ultimately leading to a chain of events which will see the pair encounter the full force of the Yakuza, Tokyo Police, Chinese mafia and an assassin with a heart of gold over the course of one rollercoaster of a night. Playing out like True Romance crossed with Free Fire, with a liberal dusting of Tarintino-esque comedic violence, First...

Unbelievably, this year’s Oscars actually got a lot right this year - and ALMOST made up for voting for Green Book as Best Picture in 2019. Parasite was a groundbreaking and thoroughly deserving winner of the top prize, but now that the dust has settled on the ceremony, here’s my alternative list of winners for the other awards. All were eligible for inclusion, and made it onto the Academy’s longlist, but none of these picks were even nominated in their respective categories - clearly illustrating that the we still have a way to go before the Oscars truly represent the diversity of filmmaking around the world. Best Director  Greta Gerwig, Little Women Best Actress Lupita Nyong'o, Us Best Actor Zack Gottsagen, The Peanut Butter Falcon Best Supporting Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, Knives Out Best Supporting Actor Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse Best Film Editing Uncut Gems Best Original Song “I Punched Keanu Reeves” Randall Park & Dan the Automator from...

After his wholly original and deeply unsettling debut feature film The Witch (2015), those in the know have been waiting with bated breath to see what director Robert Eggers was going to come up with next. It’s safe to say that The Lighthouse will not leave them disappointed. Summarised by the filmmaker himself as “Nothing good happens when two men are left alone in a giant phallus”, The Lighthouse tells the story of a grizzled world weary lighthouse keeper (Willem Dafoe) who must induct relative newbie (Robert Pattinson) into the job, on a remote and desolate rock off the coast of Maine circa 1890. The pair immediately clash, and things rapidly descend as it becomes clear that an unexpected storm means they are trapped on the island for longer than anticipated. As their water runs out, and with only moonshine for hydration, time seems to become inconsequential in a haze of dehydration and desperation, with Willem Dafoe’s character asking of his second in command (and p...

How to write a review of the film that shall not be spoken about? Director Bong Joon Ho has made no secret of the fact that he believes the less you know about Parasite the better, a campaign which extended to one of the most well constructed and spoiler free trailers in recent memory. Suffice it to say here, that the film follows the story of the Kim family who we see living a relatively precarious existence in a semi basement flat in downtown Seoul. Their search for a way out of this world, leads them to cross paths with the Parks, a wealthy and glamorous family who live in a palatial residence across the city, designed by a renowned Korean architect. Events subsequently escalate, to at times an almost unbelievable extent, but the narrative is so intelligently structured that you are unquestionably carried along for the ride. The film has much to say on issues surrounding class relations and wealth inequality, and asks the fundamental question of the audience - who are th...

One of the most interesting and consistent indie writers and directors working today, Noah Baumbach’s career has seemingly reached its logical Oscar nominated conclusion with the release of Marriage Story (albeit on the arguably anti-indie Netflix). Featuring two of Hollywood’s hottest properties, Scarlett Johansson (nominated for TWO Oscars this year) and Adam Driver (excellent in everything he does, from mumblecore fare such as Paterson to Star Wars) Marriage Story does almost exactly what is says on the tin, telling as it does the tale of a wedded couple - though it is hopefully no spoiler to say that the focus here is on the deterioration of said relationship, rather than a more traditional happily ever after narrative. Charlie and Nicole are a New York power couple of sorts, as a successful theatre director and actor respectively (one can’t help but draw parallels with the director’s previous marriage to Jennifer Jason Leigh, as well as with current spouse Greta Ger...

As someone who spent the mid noughties hanging around skate parks, wearing baggy jeans and listening to hip-hop, you could say I’m pretty close to being the target audience for Mid 90s (2018) Jonah Hill’s directorial debut - which may also mean I’m slightly more forgiving of its flaws than others. The film follows the day to day life of 13 year old Stevie (played by newcomer Sunny Suljić, who we last saw in Yorgos Lamrathmos’s Killing of a Sacred Deer) as he discovers the LA skate scene, and the drinking, smoking and generally getting up to no good that come as part and parcel of picking up a skateboard in California. Continuing in the great skater movie tradition of (and clearly drawing inspiration from) films such as Larry Clark’s Kids, Hill’s film adopts a similar DIY tone and hits many of the same coming of age notes, without ever descending into the overtly gritty or problematic depths of Clark’s 1995 movie. However, it is precisely when the movie attempts t...