“Frank” **1/2 (Ireland) Director Lenny Abrahamson, who brought us the brilliant psychological drama What Richard Did, may not seem like the most likely candidate to make a comedy, but Frank” is a deftly handled, bizarre and charming comedy. Michael Fassbender plays the eponymous Frank, a talented musician whose main quirk is that he walks around […]
Film Festivals
What to expect at the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF)
The 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) runs from April 24 to May 8, and it is already shaping up to be a must-attend event for cinephiles. The festival will screen 168 films, including 29 documentary features, from 56 different countries, and in 40 different languages. The festival expects 200 filmmakers and industry […]
Sundance Film Review: Frank — getting inside his (gigantic cartoon paper mâché) head
Lenny Abrahamson’s charming, offbeat comedy film, Frank, tackles loneliness and mental health with wit and features great work by Domhnall Gleeson and Michael Fassbender. Listen to our podcast on Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did. Listen to our podcast on Lenny Abrahamson’s series Normal People. Irish director Lenny Abrahamson’s latest film, the charming, offbeat comedy, Frank, is about […]
Sundance Review: Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon charm in The Trip to Italy
Looking over the skulls at the Fontanelle Cemetery in Naples in The Trip to Italy, Steve Coogan begins to quote Hamlet to his companion in travel and comedy, Rob Brydon: “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow/ of infinite jest…Where be your gibes now? your/gambols? your songs?’”. This famous speech could be the thesis […]
Sundance Review: Hong Khaou’s film Lilting explores grief with Ben Whishaw
Hong Khaou’s feature film debut, Lilting, is an exploration of grief, family, and the trauma of immigration. The film premiered at Sundance. Is there anything Ben Whishaw can’t do? He played Hamlet in the West End at twenty-three, Keats in Bright Star, Q in Skyfall, a timid but potentially dangerous young man in Criminal Justice, and […]
Sundance Review: Boyhood, or how to grow a masterpiece
By far the best film I saw at Sundance this year was “Boyhood”, the second consecutive masterpiece from writer-director Richard Linklater (“Before Midnight”). Shot in 3-4 day periods over twelve years, it captures the growth of Mason (Ellar Coltrane), from boy to teenager to young adult, in real time. Although the title suggests this is […]