162 articles

“Eat Sleep Die” (“Äta sova dö,” dir. Gabriela Pichler), treats a topic of central concern in this time of financial crisis: unemployment. Set in a village in Sweden, the film revolves around...
Oct 21, 2012 / Alison Frank
Audiences and critics alike seem to have a soft spot for nostalgia of late: witness the superlative praise lavished on “The Artist” (2011), which did little more than copy silent films of the past....
Oct 17, 2012 / Alison Frank
The BFI London Film Festival 2012 starts tomorrow, and if you haven’t bought tickets yet, it’s not too late. There are still tickets left for many films, including the ones reviewed here. While...
Oct 9, 2012 / Alison Frank
This documentary gives curious viewers a glimpse into the life of timeshare mogul David Siegel and his family. The titular ‘queen’ is Siegel’s wife Jacqueline, and Versailles is the monster home they...
Sep 24, 2012 / Alison Frank
As public ticket sales for the BFI London Film Festival open Monday (24 September), the time is ripe for a preview blog. Having attended a number international film festivals this year, I’ve already...
Sep 22, 2012 / Alison Frank
About the Film: Studio: Focus Features Starring: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Connie Britton, Adam Brody, Rob Corddry, Patton Oswalt Directed By: Lorene Scafaria Written By: Lorene Scafaria ( Nick...
Jun 18, 2012 / Eric M. Armstrong
It hits you from the washed-out pink opening credits with their muted soundtrack: Whit Stilman’s “Damsels in Distress” is like an 80s teen movie on tranquilizers. You feel concern for a director...
Jun 12, 2012 / Alison Frank
Over the weekend of the 9 th -10 th June, the BFI is honouring Shyam Benegal, one of India’s leading directors. Considered one of the founders of India’s ‘New Wave’, Benegal began his film career in...
Jun 5, 2012 / Alison Frank
Log Out When you think of cinema, Turin may not be the first city that comes to mind. While Paris, a city famed for its cinephilia, has its cinemathèque at Bercy, somewhat off the beaten path for...
May 13, 2012 / Alison Frank
As a freelance film critic looking to get involved with film festivals, I feared that talks at the International Film Festival Summit might be too specialised for me. True, I was one of only two film...
May 8, 2012 / Alison Frank
From April to May, the UK is being treated to a retrospective Jiří Trnka’s animation, through a collaboration by the Czech Centre London, the Czech National Film Archive and specialist cinemas in...
Apr 30, 2012 / Alison Frank
After the last two weeks’ blogs on highlights of Toulouse’s Cinélatino film festival, this week will conclude with a selection of films which, in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs. First of...
Apr 23, 2012 / Alison Frank
A Secret World ( Un mundo secreto , 2012) was among 14 films in the fiction feature competition at Cinélatino, Toulouse’s Latin American Film Festival. The film received a special mention from the...
Apr 7, 2012 / Alison Frank
Slow, meditative films that were thin on plot dominated the awards at the16th Sofia International Film Festival. Grand Prix winner Stories Which Only Exist When Remembered (dir. Julia Murat) centred...
Mar 25, 2012 / Alison Frank
Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist and Vittorio De Sica’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis were both released in 1970, both based on novels (by Alberto Moravia and Giorgio Bassani, respectively)...
Mar 6, 2012 / Alison Frank


