Letterboxd — Your life in film

It has taken Dustin Hoffman 75-years to step behind the camera - so why now? It is hard to know what has finally driven him to bring this beige (or should that be grey?) story to the screen. Perhaps he wanted a safe project to test his directorial mettle or maybe he just wanted to spend a few weeks with friends and get paid for the privilege, either way the results are bland and soporific.

Aimed at undemanding mums and…

Rob Cohen directing a film starring Tyler Perry and based on a James Patterson novel - this isn’t going to end well. Alex Cross is a prequel and potential franchise starter about the early years of the titular detective and forensic psychologist. The previous Cross films - Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls - were forgettable but competent genre fare yet this latest offering is brash, dumb and slapdash.

This time around Cross (Perry) is on the trail…

Another Oscar nominated animated short, this time from Ireland. Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty is a subversion of the classic Sleeping Beauty story as the titular Granny O’Grimm reads the perennial favourite to her granddaughter. However, the creaking shock-haired grandma changes the story to sympathise with the wicked fairy (here changed to an elderly fairy who looks remarkably like the storyteller) as she is not invited to the party due to her old age.

It’s supposed to be funny but the…

Shane Carruth’s belated follow-up to his befuddling debut, Primer, proves no less puzzling yet for markedly different reasons. Primer was intricately plotted yet, given the time and inclination, its multiple narratives could be untangled. Upstream Color is far more abstract and elusive and I suspect clarity will never be forthcoming no matter how many times you attempt to decipher its mysteries. It is also a far more emotionally engaging story compared to the sterile coldness of his time travel darling.…

Based on the celebrated stories by Belgian author, Gabrielle Vincent, Ernest & Celestine is a sweet and captivating animated film about the relationship between a bear and a mouse; two creatures who should never be friends. Adapted by the directors responsible for the wonderful, A Town Called Panic, this latest offering is very different but no less delightful.

Ernest is an irascible but kind-hearted bear who scrapes by as a busker. He’s constantly getting in trouble with the law whether it…

Teacher’s Pet is an animated feature film based on the TV-series of the same name. The Disney comedy show was a moderate success back in 2000 but this theatrical release, that acted as a finale, was considered a flop. The story follows Spot the dog who desperately wants to be a boy. Everyday he dresses up as a human and goes to school much to the annoyance of his owner who just wants a regular dog. In the film he…

Based on HG Wells’ novel of the same name, The History of Mr Polly is a comedy-drama about the titular Mr Polly: a quiet and stunted Victorian man who struggles to break free from his unsatisfying life and marriage. Spanning nearly twenty years the film documents his repeated dissatisfaction in life but thankfully always in a light and humorous way.

John Mills stars as Alfred Polly and he captures his timid and fanciful personality brilliantly. Although a very passive and…

The story centers on a young girl who gets lured into an enchanted toy store, drawn in by its beautiful collection of dolls, including one that looks just like her. She discovers only too late that the shop has nefarious plans for her. Rodrigo Blaas’ film is already being adapted into a feature length production by Dreamworks (with Blaas still directing) and it will be interesting to see how they can expand a perfectly formed short into a longer form…

Having never seen the TV-series I feel like I might be missing something with this follow-up film. For the uninitiated the film follows a group of reapers who go about helping the recently deceased pass on. Life After Death works reasonably well as a standalone film, introducing a new audience (e.g. me) to the world and characters that inhabit it. In many ways it feels too geared towards a new audience as it labours on details that surely most fans…

Rodney Ascher’s documentary is a fascinating and certifiable film about obsession. In the thirty odd years since the release of Kubrick’s seminal, The Shining, a small but committed group of film fans have poured over every frame of the movie looking for hidden meanings. Room 237 collects these delirious and diverging theories and presents them as a labyrinthine video-essay that borders on the farcical.

Room 237 is a compelling documentary that is brilliantly edited using a novel range of archival…

This Australian animated short exists in a noir-drenched world where jazz singing cats are taken by a mysterious force. The story is narrated by a cat poet (voiced by Nick Cave no less) as he recounts this mysterious and macabre story about missing felines and the horrifying cat piano.

With a bold art direction captured in inky blacks and blue, the world of The Cat Piano is brilliantly realised. From the back alleys and jazz inspired setting it is a…

Branded a traitor following a revealing magazine interview, Frank Morgan, a Vietnam vet, is forced to leave his home thanks to a bunch of redneck townsfolk. However, Frank has little time to sulk as he falls for an exotic woman and agrees to help rescue her father who is being held captive in the made up country of San Florian. The fim is neatly split into two halves - the first focused on his troubled visit back home and the…