Originating in ancient folktales, The Witch (2016) remains one of the most inspired adaptations of the written word to cinematic language. Crucially we only see glimpses of the titular demon – keeping alive the dreaded unknown that would have formed the basis of this traditional storytelling experience. What we are given instead is flashes of different impressions of what a witch looks like: an unseen spiritual entity, a seductive wanderer and an unremarkable seventeenth century Puritan, a technique that creates…
Favorite films
Recent activity
AllRecent reviews
More-
-
Lost in Translation 2003
Initially, this film seems a simple ode to feeling apart from the rest of the world, but its aesthetic also has a freshness and a stillness that seems to encapsulate the mood of an early Spring morning. Filming the hazy streets of Tokyo with distance, and even reservation, time seems to drift for much of Sofia Coppola’s film, its characters existing largely in the earliest and latest hours of the day, mostly in their corporate hotel. Just like the weeks…
Popular reviews
More-
The Favourite 2018
Lanthimos films have been an acquired taste for me. As much as I enjoy the Lobster and Sacred Deer, I more respect them than love them. However, this is his first absolute masterpiece and the first exception to that trend. This delightfully twisted, shockingly funny and strikingly original period piece is the best movie of the year I’ve seen so far.
While being reasonably grounded historically speaking, The Favourite still manages to be incredibly entertaining. While not that much of…
-
Vanity Fair 2018
As is the case with all my favourite books, Vanity Fair has proven largely unadaptable. That’s why this is the best adaptation so far of Makepiece’s (very dated, but still excellent) novel.
Vanity Fair started slowly. The first episode didn’t really work for me. I found it to be visually solid and enjoyed Olivia Cooke’s performance, but I found the put downs and jokes to be mostly uninspired and witless. However, as the show went on it picked up. It progressively…
