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The Virgin Suicides 1999
Absorbing drama about adolescent secrecy and curiosity, and the things that keep us awake at night. Helped immensely by a great score and a script that finds the perfect balance between subtle humour and heartfelt truths.
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The Vanishing 1988
A terrifying film with an unforgettable, sadistic payoff. Eerily poetic and always immersive. It's the idea that evil could be living next door to you that is most frightening.
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After Hours 1985
The premise wears thin pretty quickly, but this light Scorsese film has enough laughs to make it worthwhile.
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Stories We Tell 2013
"If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance."
~ George Bernard Shaw
In Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley exhumes those skeletons from her family's closet, and they dance in the most beautiful way. Alternatively, her family secrets are not so much skeletons but embalmed corpses—you don't want them in your presence, but there's a twisted beauty about them. The film is a cathartic work that taps into the innately human desire…
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Bug 2006
It's about fear and delusion. A poisonous folie à deux plays out in this flawed though frightening film. The performances from Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd are two of the most convincing I have seen in any film. I would have liked it even more if the execution was less stagy. I realise the film is based on a play, but this shows too much.
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The Piano Teacher 2001
Haneke strips sex of its intimacy, depicting it as a series of cold power plays. It's a meditation on expectation versus reality, and how we fall in love with the idea of a person. The film is slow and I found myself getting restless at times, but the characters are so multi-faceted that I couldn't help but be entranced.
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The Loved Ones 2009
As someone who is tired of seeing the same themes and tropes recycled in Australian cinema, THE LOVED ONES loomed as something refreshing. However, this desire to break free from the conventions of Australian cinema is what ultimately sullies the film. I can't remember the last time I saw a film that was so desperate for the validation of its audience. It seemed to be crying, "LOOK HOW SUBVERSIVE I AM!"
The atmosphere just never feels right. The film is…
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The Red Shoes 1948
A gorgeous film that captures the fervour of artistic impulse and the dizzying intoxication of the impassioned soul. It has aged magnificently.
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City of God 2002
Too many characters. Too much movement. All acceleration and no braking. I wanted to like it but it's sensory carnage.
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The Black Balloon 2008
An affecting story about the innate strength of family ties. There are no easy roles in this film, and everyone handles their part with aplomb. The cinematography is rather striking—we see Sydney in all its suburban splendour.
