Insignificant Things - Movie Poster

Insignificant Things

4.0 Anne Murphy

Esmeralda is a teenager who collects little objects she finds, creating a box of insignificant treasures.

The movie unfolds through four vignettes tenderly woven together with the shared threads of lives that intersect. "Insignificant Things" explores important relationships that are undervalued and it does so with a deft touch. This is a finely tuned and detailed piece that is incisive and affecting without becoming despairing. A film so well crafted that it mesmerises is a very significant thing indeed.


In the Loop - Movie Poster

In the Loop

3.5 Anne Murphy

The US President and UK Prime Minister fancy a war. But not everyone agrees war is a good thing.

Incisive political satire at its best, filmed with a sense of authenticity. The realism is almost mock-umentary in style from a fly-on-the-wall perspective. The story is horrifyingly familiar, being inspired by recent political machinations. The characters are variously bumbling, vain, despicable, and witty as they form convenient alliances in the corridors and bathrooms of power. Depictions of the political forces of darkness are cynical, inspired, outrageous and hilarious. Loop the loop and laugh.


Imagine That - Movie Poster

Imagine That

2.0 Anne Murphy

A financial executive who can't stop his career downspiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await.

"Imagine That" is a confused family offering, where on one hand the setting is an industry probably incomprehensible to children, and on the other is humour that is juvenile, unlikely to amuse older audience members. Mediocre on many fronts, yet incredible too, as no special effects are used in a film where an imaginary world is a major plot feature. Some movies made for the big screen go straight to a DVD release, imagine that.


I'm Still Here - Movie Poster

I'm Still Here

3.5 Anne Murphy

A documentary on Joaquin Phoenix's transition from the acting world to a career as an aspiring rapper.

A documentary that gives the both the subject and the director writing credits, is perhaps not a documentary. "I'm Still Here" is as audacious as it is reckless, or perhaps a better description for the film and its star is wrecked. We see an actor seemingly discard his script and don his vulnerability, wearing it on the outside, unkempt and tormented. The Hollywood industry laughs and so does the public, at a stumbling mumbling freak. The point, no doubt, is to see who has the last laugh.


I Love You Too - Movie Poster

I Love You Too

2.0 Anne Murphy

All that is standing between them is four little words.

This movie plays as a series of barely funny comedy sketches staged atop an underdeveloped script. Situations set up to amuse fail to elicit a even a guffaw. "I Love You Too" struggles to establish credibility in the characters, painting them as shallow stereotypical caricatures. Without on-screen chemistry between the romantic leads, any rom com is a labour of love to endure; add sexism, age-ism, a fat joke and it’s all a bit icky. It's hard to imagine an audience unsophisticated enough to appreciate the crass tone, many will not love this.


I Love You Phillip Morris - Movie Poster

I Love You Phillip Morris

2.5 Anne Murphy

Steven Russell is happily married to Debbie, a member of the local police force, when a car accident provokes a dramatic reassessment of his life.

"I Love You Phillip Morris" contains some squirmingly uncomfortable stereotyping of various characters, and a flawed portrayal of gay men played for laughs by straight men. It's as unfunny as it is shallow, particularly disappointing is that the central romance is underdeveloped. The story, with its furious pace, covers a lot of events, mostly prison escapes, and unfortunately that's at the expense of real insight or depth. You might love Phillip Morris but probably not Steven Russell.


I Am Love - Movie Poster

I Am Love

3.5 Anne Murphy

A tragic love story set at the turn of the millennium in Milan.

The screen images are aesthetically composed and structured with an eye for the pleasing in this most stylish of movies. Sadly, the hand-held camera swirls to a point of disorientation at times. Fortunately the movie is grounded by the compelling performances of the cast. "I Am Love" throbs with tempestuous passion that becomes overwrought. Lust runs amok, building to a frantic conclusion as the film is lifted to its climax by the operatic score; and the viewer left exhausted by the experience. Love it.


Howl - Movie Poster

Howl

3.5 Anne Murphy

It's San Francisco in 1957, and an American masterpiece, Allen Ginsberg's Howl, is put on trial.

Real transcripts of an interview with the poet, his epic poem, and his publishers obscenity trial are all threaded together and linked with clever CGI to create "Howl". Censorship and freedom of speech are perennially rich themes but aren't allowed to become pretentious as the work is dissected by lawyers and academics. This is an intellectual and engrossing look at the voice of a discontent generation, and the movie perfectly captures the mood of the time with howls of rage, passion and despair. Uninhibited baying with delight.


How to Die in Oregon - Movie Poster

How to Die in Oregon

4.5 Anne Murphy

In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

"How to Die in Oregon" is not an easy documentary to watch, and that is good reason to watch it. Death with dignity is a complex ethical concept to bring to the screen, and this film is an intimate exploration of life and planned death. The film maker is respectful and unobtrusive. The sensitivity is appreciated... he doesn't add his own narrative, the subjects do all the talking. No other voice is needed - their stories are incredibly moving. Choice allows us to die well.


Hotel Lux - Movie Poster

Hotel Lux

3.5 Anne Murphy

Hans Zeisig, an apolitical comedian, impersonator and cabaret actor, flees with a Russian passport from Nazi-Berlin, and finds himself in Moscow staying in the legendary Hotel Lux.

Valuing humour over politics, this a comedic romp in a wartime setting. Elements of the story are grounded in fact, and the political caricatures are obviously drawn from fiction, but work well as parody. "Hotel Lux" is interesting because it centres on a part of WWII not often seen on the big screen, the relationship between Hitler and Stalin. Employing comic antics of another era, this is irreverent and entertaining... make a reservation.


Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil - Movie Poster

Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil

3.0 Anne Murphy

Red Riding Hood is training in the group of Sister Hoods, when she and the Wolf are called to examine the mysterious sudden disappearance of Hansel and Gretel.

Red is a girl who stands up for herself and knocks her opponents out, delivering action before comedy. Still, the snappy dialogue and cracking one-liners are welcome in movies aimed at younger audiences, providing enjoyment for the grown-ups. Annoyingly, there's some not so subtle stereotyping, and you can't help noticing the baddies are all chubby and the goodies fit and trim. Wink, wink, as all in all, it's more good than evil.


Hollywood je t'aime - Movie Poster

Hollywood je t'aime

3.0 Anne Murphy

A gay Parisian shows up in Hollywood at Christmas time, ready for his close-up.

A not so classic take on the Hollywood experience where every actor is a waiter and vice-versa. While the central Frenchman starts out as a "Dorothy" type of tourist transported to a strange land, he soon links up with a colourful band of supporters. Los Angeles is shown as unglamorous and seedy, yet in this movie the city is loved only for the diversity of the big-hearted characters encountered while trekking its yellow brick road. Je t'aime adventures in Hollywood, where prudes will need to stay home.


Heartbreaker - Movie Poster

Heartbreaker

4.0 Anne Murphy

Alex and his sister run a business designed to break up relationships.

"Heartbreaker" is a sparkling rom-com that delights as it delivers everything you hope for from the genre. The movie is even a little tongue-in-cheeky, as it pokes fun at some of the romantic clichés we endure on the screen from lesser offerings. The ingredients are perfect - the lead characters being likeable rogues, a stylish Monaco setting, some knock your socks-off romantic wooing, and a satisfying conclusion that is not teased out for feel good purposes, but still manages to feel good. All in all, a charming heart warmer.


Heartbeats - Movie Poster

Heartbeats

4.0 Anne Murphy

The story of two close friends who are unintentionally drawn into a love-triangle.

Love lives in the hearts and minds of stylish twenty-something's, as friends vie for the attention of the same Adonis. "Heartbeats" is a sophisticated examination of desire brought to the screen by an assured director. The almost excruciating clumsiness of inexperienced lovers and the intimacy of their relationships is depicted without a physical consummation of the same. Obsession overtakes sanity, friendship is sacrificed for love, and the audience can relate to the qualms and dreams of the protagonists. L'amour, l'amour…


Harvest - Movie Poster

Harvest

3.5 Anne Murphy

Follows the relationship between two apprentices working on an agricultural complex south of Berlin.

A real farm setting and improvised dialogue provides "Harvest" with an almost documentary, naturalistic tone. The story is about two young men finding themselves and each other. Central to the film is a carefully observed and tentative romance in a potentially homophobic setting. The emotional tension and subsequent attraction between the two unfolds slowly. This movie enthrals its poetic depiction of emotional confusion and its surprisingly chaste approach to the developing relationship. Watch it and reap.