The Painted Bird first published by VODzilla.co Some way into Václav Marhoul’s The Painted Bird, the young Boy (Petr Kotlár) who is its main character watches the old birdcatcher Lekh (Lech Dyblik) applying paint to the wings of a captured bird, and releasing it into the air. The bird flies up to join its flock…
In Order of Disappearance first published by Film4 Synopsis: Hans Petter Moland sets Stellan Skarsgård’s unlikely but effective migrant avenger between two very different drug gangs, with darkly comic results. Review: “I’m just a guy who keeps a strip of civilisation open for people in the wilderness.” So says Nils (Stellan Skarsgård), snow plough operator in…
Review first published (in slightly shorter version) by Film4. Synopsis: Controversial Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier rounds off his ‘Trilogy of Depression’ with a tale (in two parts) of sexual liberation, oppression and exploitation. Review: “Fill all my holes, please.” It is perhaps not as catchy as the line “Chaos reigns” from Lars von Trier’s Antichrist…
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo first published in S&S Feb 2012 Review: “You can’t try anyone for what they did 35 years ago.” So complains journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) towards the end of David Fincher’s long-awaited The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, summarising the sense of helpless belatedness that pervades not only the…