• Minding the Gap

    March 20, 2019 - By 

    For about a half hour, Minding the Gap lulls you into a false sense of security. The opening passages of the documentary introduce us to two Rockfort skaters, Zack and Keire; Zack is a young father struggling to support his family, while Keire is a timid teenager who becomes increasingly desperate to leave the city. The film intercuts stories of their troubled youths with incredible footage of them skating around the streets of Rockfort. While Keire and Zack still reel from the abuse their fathers inflicted upon them as children, they rhapsodize about the escapist nature of skateboarding. More importantly,…

  • The Kindergarten Teacher

    March 15, 2019 - By 

    For a film about a frustrated, unhappy child educator, The Kindergarten Teacher is surprisingly quiet. No chaotic scenes of brats in meltdowns and screaming teachers wilting with stress. In fact, New York teacher Lisa Spinelli (Maggie Gyllenhaal) seems to have lucked out. Her little ones are well-behaved and she seems to genuinely like them, navigating her classroom with that airy, benign, vaguely lupine air Gyllenhaal does so well. Her days tick along in well-observed routine: cleaning toilets, pouring fruit juice and washing dishes in tiny sink. But there is unfulfilment seeping out of her. In the downtime it is deafening. Sara Colangelo’s…

  • Isn’t It Romantic

    March 7, 2019 - By 

    A young girl named Natalie watches Pretty Woman in an early 1990s sitting room. Her mother pours a glass of wine and warns that they don’t make movies about girls like us. Except Hollywood does. Isn’t It Romantic is a romantic comedy disguised as a parody of the genre. The characters run through every convention of the sometimes unfairly maligned genre while proclaiming that they are not falling for its charms. You can guess what happens next. Adult Natalie (Rebel Wilson) is disenchanted with idea of love and a cynic about romantic comedies. After a mugging, she wakes up in…

  • The Man Who Felt No Pain

    March 7, 2019 - By 

    As high-concept premises go, The Man Who Feels No Pain (Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota) has an absolute humdinger. It’s an Indian martial arts film about Surya, a man with a rare disorder that prevents him from registering pain. With an irreverent tone and a theme song featuring the lyric “Break it! Shatter it! I am the man who feels no pain!” this should be martial arts movie for the ages. So why is it such a chore to watch? Well, the pacing for one thing. The Man Who Feels No Pain is a turgid 134 minutes long, inconceivable considering the…

  • The Aftermath

    March 6, 2019 - By 

    To imagine the level of destruction and ruthless vengeance that was wrought upon Germany in the later stages of WW2, as it was facing defeat, is a hard thing to do. But this is one thing that director James Kent (Testament Of Youth) achieves exceptionally well, with the help of Ridley Scott in the producer’s chair. And while the performances from the three leads are all impressive, in particular with Kiera Knightley and Alexander Skarsgård, The Aftermath comes across as a predictable, paper-thin adaptation of the Rhidian Brook novel of the same name. The Aftermath tells the story of a…

  • DIFF19: Rafiki

    March 5, 2019 - By 

    When you think of films set in the African continent, what subject matter comes to mind? Poverty? AIDS? Child soldiers? That isn’t to be disingenuous. Of course African countries face dire problems that need more attention. But how often do we see films that reflect the stunning culture and spirit that they have to offer? After all, that’s what made last year’s Black Panther so revelatory. To that end, the last few years have seen the emergence of an African art collective called AFROBUBBLEGUM (the capitalization is mandatory). Comprised of filmmakers, clothes designers, graphic designers, its mission is to create…

  • DIFF19: Ray & Liz

    March 5, 2019 - By 

    Writer/director Richard Billingham has said that Ray & Liz reflects his memories of his childhood, rather than the reality. After watching this blisteringly bleak film, I can’t tell if that’s cause for relief or great concern. The film serves as an adaptation of ‘Ray’s a Laugh’, a collection of portraits featuring Billingham’s alcoholic father. In the present day, Ray lies in his high-rise tenement flat in Birmingham, drinking homebrew made by his friend Sid. Ray’s welfare does just enough to cover his addiction and since Sid picks up his dole, he scarcely needs to move – except to pour booze…

  • “A Bit of A Weird Piece To Do”: Q&A With Brendan Gleeson

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    Brendan Gleeson is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed actors, having starred in films as varied as In Bruges, 28 Days Later, and Paddington 2. Now he’s trying his hand at directing with a short film called Psychic. The film follows the titular psychic, played by Gleeson, whose conniving sons bring him out of retirement to make a quick buck. It’s a family affair, co-starring his sons Domhnall and Brian, and written by their brother Rory. Following Psychic’s premiere in the Dublin International Film Festival, Jack O’Higgins spoke to Gleeson about his directorial debut, his recent collaboration with the Coen Brothers,…

  • DIFF19: Dear Son

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    For western society, ISIS is often depicted as a bogeyman hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike. Rarely do we have to contend with the possibility that our children could be seduced by its poisonous ideology. That is the ordeal faced by Liadh, a middle class Tunisian father in Mohammed Ben Attia’s Dear Son. Sadly the film is crippled by a myopia that prevents it from fully exploring its striking premise. The film’s solid first act at least takes the time to establish its protagonist. Played by the endearing Mohammed Dhrif, Liadh is your quintessential doddery dad. He fumbles for…

  • Capernaum

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    “My life is dogshit.” Zain El Hajj, the young protagonist of Nadine Labaki’s third feature Capernaum, which competed for the Foreign Language prize at last week’s Oscars, is not having such a good time of it. Twelve years old with an asterix (as a child to undocumented parents, there’s no birth certificate for confirmation), Zain endures a monotonous, shabby, profoundly unnourishing childhood in Beirut’s dilapidated urban sprawl. Played by Zain Al Rafeea, a Syrian refugee himself, the young lad lives with his large family in a rotting apartment owned by their cousin Assad, in whose shop some of the kids spend…