Michael Haneke

Amour Review

Amour Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) One has to be prepared for the kind of cinematic masochism that comes with watching a Michael Haneke film before sitting down to his latest, the Best Picture-nominated Amour. But while brutal, this film is almost nothing like the Austrian auteur’s previous work. Everything that’s gruesome comes back to intense sorrow, not […]

The 2013 Oscar Nominees

The 2013 Oscar Nominees

It wasn’t Lincoln‘s field-topping twelve nominations nor Silver Linings Playbook‘s sudden ascension from “happy to be nominated” to “genuine Best Picture threat” that dominated headlines today. 

No, it was the genuinely stunning absence of Argo‘s Ben Affleck and Zero Dark Thirty‘s Kathryn Bigelow from the Academy’s eclectic Best Director lineup that rocked Oscar watchers’ world. […]

The White Ribbon Review

The White Ribbon Review

RATING: (3 STARS) “The White Ribbon” is the kind of film I wish filmmakers tried to do more often. I don’t care that it’s not perfect. I don’t even care (that much) that it moves at a snail’s pace. I don’t care because it’s artistic and it doesn’t pander. Director Michael Haneke tells his story […]