Holy water from a temple is found to be contaminated in this decent adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play, situated within Ray’s cultural milieu as this straightforwardly-told drama sees science and religion cross swords.
Almodovar’s Stockholm syndrome drama will probably be cancelled if made today, but while it isn’t a home run by his provocative standards, it features two impressionable performances by Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril.
One of Stone’s stronger works, this recreation of the 1960s American struggle for freedom amid the turmoil of the Vietnam War is at best fervent and emotional.
Spielberg’s strong morality tale against greed is as spectacular as it is funny – my favourite of the Indiana Jones films.
A solid, uncompromising theatrical debut by Haneke, one that would see the auteur continue to shock and challenge audiences in different ways for the next two decades.
A cultural touchstone in modern American cinema, Spike Lee’s breakthrough tell-it-as-it-is treatment of racism is even more sobering to view more than 30 years later.
An under-appreciated oddball of a film by Alain Resnais that dabbles with US-French cultural idiosyncrasies as well as the tension between popular culture and intellectual scholarship.
An essential early work of Jarmusch, this is a cinematic hymn to Memphis city’s rich musical history, filmed as a connecting triptych of oddball characters of various nationalities over the course of one day and night in this ‘ghost town’.
This is a top-tier ‘heroic bloodshed’ picture by John Woo—a masterclass in action filmmaking with that rare commitment to pathos.
Continue reading →This historical epic about post-WWII Taiwan is one of Hou’s most ambitious and encompassing works, and also his first true masterpiece.
Eternality Tan 