As per tradition after the Oscars, I will give out imaginary awards to the films that I love most or hold in high regard from the preceding year.
Continue reading →
Author / Eternality Tan
Phoenix (2014)
Petzold’s unique treatment of the doppelganger story as a Hitchcockian exercise in exorcising the Jewish-German trauma of WWII boasts an extraordinary denouement of unparalleled execution.
Continue reading →
Jurassic Park (1993)
Gunda (2020)
Watching and listening to farm animals can be surprisingly cinematic in this immersive dialogue-free new documentary by Kossakovsky that seems to exist outside of time, even as it startlingly reminds us that these animals have fates they can’t control.
Continue reading →
Softie (2020)
This entertaining Kenyan documentary about a political activist-cum-family man running for election is tightly-constructed and highly-illuminating as it explores how politics is synonymous with corruption and violence, but also the desire for change.
Continue reading →
Last Crusade, The (1989)
Spielberg’s strong morality tale against greed is as spectacular as it is funny – my favourite of the Indiana Jones films.
Continue reading →
And Tomorrow the Entire World (2020)
The sum is lesser than its parts in this interesting but ultimately unconvincing Venice offering that deals with a group of anti-fascist youths who become increasingly violent in their moral fight against the rise of ultra-right ideologies in Germany.
Continue reading →
Barbara (2012)
Petzold’s strong command of his craft is evident here in this measured and nuanced Stasi anti-thriller featuring a wary female doctor in ‘80s East Germany who desires to defect.
Continue reading →
Wasps Are Here, The (1978)
This rarely-seen Sri Lankan work about a rural community relying on fishing for survival is ripe for rediscovery as it both lyrically and hard-hittingly deals with issues of gender, changing ways of life and chronic antagonism.
Continue reading →
Wall Street (1987)
Stone’s take on the greed and problematic ethics of Wall Street remains relevant though there is a sense of mechanical dullness to the proceedings – interesting but not particularly compelling.
Continue reading →
Eternality Tan 