Tagged: biography

2019 / david bax / movies / reviews / Theatrical Review / tiff / tiff 2019

September 12, 2019

TIFF 2019: A Hidden Life, by David Bax

Terrence Malick’s transcendent A Hidden Life is informed and bolstered in every way by Christian philosophy and yet, despite including numerous men of cloth as characters, none of them has the fortitude to fulfill the purpose of their vocation. But...

alexander miller / criterion predictions / movies

September 12, 2019

Criterion Prediction #206: Birdman of Alcatraz, by Alexander Miller

Title: Birdman of Alcatraz Year: 1962 Director: John Frankenheimer Cast: Burt Lancaster, Thelma Ritter, Karl Malden Synopsis: Sentenced to a lifetime in solitary confinement, convicted murderer Robert Stroud (Lancaster) combats the seclusion and doldrums of isolation by caring for a...

2019 / david bax / movies / reviews / Theatrical Review / tiff / tiff 2019

September 5, 2019

TIFF 2019: Varda by Agnes, by David Bax

The opening titles of Agnès Varda’s final film, Varda by Agnès, are backdropped by stills from her films; there are beaches, gleaners, couples in the throes of happiness, etc. So, if you didn’t know beforehand, you’d realize pretty quickly that...

alexander miller / criterion predictions / movies

August 7, 2019

Criterion Prediction #203: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, by Alexander Miller

Title: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith Year: 1978 Director: Fred Schepisi Cast: Tommy Lewis, Angela Punch McGregor, Freddy Reynolds, Jack Thompsen, Steve Dodd Synopsis: After a lifetime of prejudice and mental and physical abuse, a young aboriginal man, Jimmie Blacksmith...

david bax / movies / reviews / Theatrical Review

July 3, 2019

The Return of Martin Guerre: Don’t Act a Fool, by David Bax

Daniel Vigne’s The Return of Martin Guerre, recently restored and returning to theaters, starts by introducing the viewer to a mystery. The film opens in media res (it’s from 1982, before every movie did that) with Bertrande (Nathalie Baye) being...

david bax / home video hovel / movies / reviews

May 23, 2019

Home Video Hovel: Farinelli, by David Bax

In Gérard Corbiau’s Farinelli, cups and pools of milky white liquid abound. They come in the form of creams and medicines and other things but their significance isn’t clear until nearly the end of the film, when a flashback delivers...

david bax / movies / reviews / Theatrical Review

May 16, 2019

Trial by Fire: There Has to Be a Better Way, by David Bax

Jack O’Connell spends most of Edward Zwick’s Trial by Fire wearing prison jumpsuits behind bars or glass. Those who saw him in David Mackenzie’s superior Starred Up from 2013 won’t be surprised to learn that his performance here is the...

david bax / movies / reviews / Theatrical Review

May 8, 2019

Tolkien: Middle-Brow, by David Bax

It doesn’t seem unreasonable to assume, if you’ve chosen to watch a movie called Tolkien about J.R.R. Tolkien, you’re probably forearmed with some awareness and appreciation of who the guy was. But director Dome Karukoski and screenwriters David Gleeson and...

david bax / movies / reviews / Theatrical Review

May 2, 2019

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile: Get’cha Head in the Game, by David Bax

This review originally ran as part of our Sundance 2019 coverage. Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile ultimately fails in its mission to provide the viewer with anything deeper or broader than an adaptation of what they’d uncover in a Google search. But...

david bax / movies / reviews / Theatrical Review

April 26, 2019

The White Crow: Wayfarer, by David Bax

Oleg Ivenko is a first-time actor who was cast by director Ralph Fiennes as famed Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev more for his ability to pull off the required dance moves than for his thespian skills. This is all plain...

Tagged: biography

TIFF 2019: A Hidden Life, by David Bax

Criterion Prediction #206: Birdman of Alcatraz, by Alexander Miller

TIFF 2019: Varda by Agnes, by David Bax

Criterion Prediction #203: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, by Alexander Miller

The Return of Martin Guerre: Don’t Act a Fool, by David Bax

Home Video Hovel: Farinelli, by David Bax

Trial by Fire: There Has to Be a Better Way, by David Bax

Tolkien: Middle-Brow, by David Bax

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile: Get’cha Head in the Game, by David Bax

The White Crow: Wayfarer, by David Bax

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