Norwegian Wood (2010)
★★★★☆
A stunningly cinematic adaptation of Murakami’s novel, Tran Anh Hung’s Norwegian Wood may be a cheerless picture of teen love, sex and death, but it is colourful.
★★★★
Howl (2010)
★★★★☆
With James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, Epstein and Friedmann’s Howl recreates the poetic timebomb in Fifties mores, exploding his anguished art into pieces.
Rabbit Hole (2010)
★★★★☆
A portrait of a couple coping with their son’s death, Rabbit Hole is a parallel universe of grief and self-censure. For John Cameron Mitchell it’s worlds away.
Black Swan (2010)
★★★★☆
With a mesmerising performance from Natalie Portman, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is entirely gripping in its pas de deux of black sensuality and white innocence.
Blue Valentine (2010)
★★★★☆
A dazzling, thought-provoking reflection on love found and love lost, Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine puts marriage on trial.
The King’s Speech (2010)
★★★★☆
From bumbling hesitancy to majestic articulacy, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech exuberantly charts the rise of the man who would be king.
127 Hours (2010)
★★★★☆
Audiences are bound to be divided over Danny Boyle’s flashy visuals, but James Franco goes all out on a limb to ground the supersonic 127 Hours with a bit of gravitas.
Des Hommes Et Des Dieux / Of Gods And Men (2010)
★★★★☆
A sublime look into the hearts and minds of tormented monks, Xavier Beauvois’ Of Gods And Men reveals the battle between humanity and divinity in all of us.
Leap Year / Año Bisiesto (2010)
★★★★☆
Minimalism on a microbudget, Michael Rowe’s Camera d’Or winning Mexican debut Leap Year is a masochist’s delight. With an Australian fascination for light.
Robinson In Ruins (2010)
★★★★☆
A symbiosis of fixed landscapes and illuminating narration, Patrick Keiller’s Robinson In Ruins is a bracing journey through the Oxfordshire countryside.
Mammoth / Mammut (2010)
★★★★☆
His first English language film, Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth is a global story of haves and have nots intertwined with complex family relationships.
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
★★★★☆
With pitch-perfect performances by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right is by no means playing it straight.
Police, Adjective / Politist, Adjectiv (2009)
★★★★☆
Cuffed and bound, a changing Romania is put in the dock in Corneliu Porumboiu’s Police, Adjective when a conscience-niggled policeman starts questioning the law.
Alamar / To The Sea (2009)
★★★★☆
Pedro González-Rubio’s Alamar is a touching tale of paternal love afloat upon the drifting Mexican sea.