Letterboxd — Your life in film

Frustrating and moving, though not in equal measure. In an attempt to juggle dense concerns - including conflict resources, (neo)colonial aftershocks, and the neutered efforts of Western actors - Blood Diamond ultimately centres white naval-gazing. Whether it's African-born nasties like Danny Archer or blinkered allies like Maddy Bowen, their identity crises become the core.

Which was maddening for me, personally, to navigate. Being a white South African, I understand contending with an internal labyrinth of conflicting forces and trying to…

As Elfman's galumphing opening track started, I worried this would be the silly film I barely remembered from my youth. Happy to say that, whilst frothingly silly, there's much more imagination and commitment to performance than I recalled.

Keaton and Ryder shine brightest, sure, but I was entranced watching Alec Baldwin so far removed from everything I know and expect about him. Though watching him now is coloured by recent events, there is something intriguing in seeing him so buttoned…

By no means a "bad" film, but something of a hollow one. Villeneuve is now the director you call for colossal sci-fi spectacle, and he delivers that with gusto. The texture of each planet, every stitch of every outfit - these have been designed with Kubrickian attention to detail. And there's a detailed approach to character too, with much of the cast turning in nuanced performances.

Of course, Zimmer's divine score is a topic we could go on about at…

“Listen patiently.”

Those words open Jóhann Jóhannsson’s first and, sadly, only film. A simple request from Tilda Swinton that acted like an incantation: locking my gaze and dissolving the world around me.

Last and First Men is a soft but urgent plea to consider our place as a species – who we are in relation to one another, to future generations, and to the universe as a whole. A lot to accomplish in 70 minutes and yet there is not…

Besides making me feel horribly homesick, Barakat also managed to portray a community of whom I am ashamed to be so ignorant. It's a tender, moving film that celebrates the beautiful aspects of Islamic culture and community in Cape Town.

Though predictably plotted and unevenly acted, this is a slice of South African cinema that delivers what our industry so desperately needs. It wants to crack a door open, showing SA and the world at large what permutations a religion…

A bewildering, stampeding film that certainly lived up to the hype. Though a game-changing work of animation, I'm surprised that no one mentioned its incredible score and soundtrack to me. As landscapes shift and violence is meted out unsparingly, the sound makes you feel the full weight of those events - indenting your mind and stopping your heart.

Its influences are quite clear (Blade Runner, in particular), as are its descendants (Chronicle, again in particular). Of course, it is also…

100 Years of Cinema: 1995

An unexpected amount of humour in the film - though that seems to dislodge it from any kind of categorisation. I'm trying to remember whether Do the Right Thing - a film to which Kassovitz is indebted - draws laughter with similar frequency. That doesn't mean that La Haine is a walk in the park, though. When it needs to double-down on brutality and make us uncomfortable, it certainly succeeds.

This 4k restoration emerges during…

100 Years of Cinema: 1978

Despite being only 85 minutes long, it’s difficult to choose where to start with Gates of Heaven - a peculiarly beautiful insight into the world of pet cemeteries, by seminal documentarian Errol Morris.

This isn’t a case of a formally bland documentary enlivened by strange and intriguing subject matter, but a film that is fascinating right down to its grammar. Morris makes heavy use of talking heads – the oft-derided staple of documentaries, notorious for…

The Squid and the Whale is interesting on the level of craft and not so much when it comes to the story itself. Populated with intolerable people, Noah Baumbach’s first rumination on divorce and its fallout lacks an empathetic anchor. There is no question that the script is sharply written, with biting lines and wry moments concerning self-delusion. None of that impresses me, though, when I cannot care enough about any of these characters to feel invested in their plights…