Milda Kulla
Milda Kulla
Recent Stories
‘Breaking up,’ thumbs up
I’m having trouble calling “Breaking Upwards” a “romantic comedy” despite the fact that it’s about a relationship and it’s certifiably quite funny. Part of my hesitation may be that it’s often slim-pickings when looking for good films in the genre, especially if one is, like me, unabashedly repulsed by star-powered glam productions. You know, the kind with the fuzzy-wuzzy lines, coincidence-heavy, ultimately predictable plots and characters who seem to have no real responsibilities besides wooing each other with exaggerated winks and wit. Come to think of it, though, maybe the courtship of Darryl (Darryl Wein) and Zoe (Zoe Lister-Jones) could also have slotted into such a formula, or at least its indie-version, perfect for us 20-something date-ables.
Discipline & Punish
A guy gets thrown in prison, we watch him struggle to deal, to adapt, to wise up and then, in the last scene, get released. Though ostensibly this basic, “Un prophète” (“A Prophet”) deserves the international praise it’s racking up — a rare quality, it makes us sympathize without simplifying. The film is a character piece if there ever was one; Malik El Djebena (an award deserving performance by Tahar Rahim) takes us with him on a sordid journey of survival and ironic personal growth, one whose progression only make us wince.
In ‘Dragon Tattoo,’ goth girl gone mild
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” isn’t so much about a girl as it is about a 24-year-old woman who is treated like one by everyone around her; with jet black hair, piercings, goth attire and edgy, defensive attitude to match, she doesn’t make it difficult for people to dismiss, or worse, abuse her.
‘Fish Tank’ fantastic
Your adolescence was nothing like Mia’s (Katie Jarvis), the fifteen year old protagonist of “Fish Tank.”
“White Ribbon” drifts obscure
Michael Haneke wants to disturb you — and every one of his films does this unquestionably. Without much visual flare and with a great economy of words, his works can fill you with immense dread and a lingering, muted sense that things are wrong under the surface of our daily lives.
Terror in the chase
A grim Korean police thriller, “The Chaser” is a brutal film. Or maybe it’s just that American audiences have forgotten what the mechanisms of good suspense feel like. Tension and terror in the days of Hitchcock were crafted to give a sense of the possible, while today, thrills seem dependent on attractive vampires, paranormal activities or the impending doom of mankind. But “The Chaser,” needn’t resort to this; despite being director Hong-jin Na’s debut feature, he masters old techniques of the sort where horror comes from horrifying acts — rather than filmic spectacles — of violence.
Single and suffering
Professor George Falconer wakes up miserable and, making no mystery of why today is not going to be like all the other days, puts a revolver in his briefcase. It’s a detail that lays out the central dilemma of Tom Ford’s directorial debut.
“Adrift,” Awry, Amiss
In Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyen’s new film, the cars navigating Hanoi’s flooded streets seem to float, unanchored and slow moving, giving the film its melancholy urban atmosphere and languid, restrained pacing. “Adrift,” the film’s English title, then, would seem fitting.
Friends, interrupted
On the American poster for Karin Albou’s new film, “Le chant des mariées,” the tag line reads something like “a friendship nothing could destroy” (or some- thing like that). It’s a clichéd line that sells short this thematically bold and visually striking second feature by the director of “Little Jerusalem.”
New York, I love you but you’re bringin’ me down
Declare love to your metropolis, one short at a time. Of course Paris was first, with “Paris Je t’aime.” Next stop — New York, but with fewer directors and even less love.