Articles By: Keith Beard

The Girl On The Train (La Fille du RER) (2009)

The Girl On The Train (La Fille du RER) (2009)
The girl of the title is sensitive young woman Jeanne (Emillie Dequenne) and the train is the setting for a reported anti-semitic assault from a group of youths.  However the alleged incident and the fallout seems to play second fiddle to a slow burning character study of youth and French politics....
July 6th, 2010 | Film Reviews | Read More

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call – New Orleans (2010)

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call – New Orleans (2010)
The big surprise coming out of Werner Herzog’s slight remix of Abel Ferrara’s 1992 cult film, is that its leading man Nicholas Cage who actually stamps his mark on proceedings, and in doing so out shines the German mad man and now Hollywood prankster.  Set in New Orleans the black comedy, with a...
July 5th, 2010 | Feature, Film Reviews | Read More

Greenberg (2010)

Greenberg (2010)
Noah Baumbach’s films can be summed up by the screenplays for each.  2006’s debut The Squid and the Whale was a viciously spun tale, with sharp lines, an understated groove with painfully real dramatic pauses, 2008’s follow up Margot at The Wedding was a far more sub conscious and stuffy affair,...
June 30th, 2010 | Feature, Film Reviews | Read More

The Duchovny Files

The Duchovny Files
When recently viewing Derrick Bortes limp satire The Joneses a strong uncertainty came over me concerning the qualities which David Duchovny bring to this and his other films.  I had a similar anxiety a few years back after seeing him in rom-com Trust the Man.  My impression of both performances was...
June 17th, 2010 | Feature, Spotlight | Read More

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Describing a film as an indie gem may be a cliché, if so in this case its one I am happy to embrace.  Just like in 2001’s Donnie Darko where you hear Echo and The Bunnymen’s cult classic The Killing Moon playing during the opening sequence, in this case when you hear references to Sid [...]
June 17th, 2010 | Film Reviews | Read More

No Distance Left to Run: A film about Blur (2010)

No Distance Left to Run: A film about Blur (2010)
One thing that becomes clear having watched this account of brit pop band Blur’s career is that contrary to what people might think they have had much more of a rollercoaster ride of emotions, ups and downs, and dramas than their famous mid-nineties rivals Oasis ever had.  You can question the strange...
June 17th, 2010 | Film Reviews | Read More

Dogtooth aka Kynodontas (2010)

Dogtooth aka Kynodontas (2010)
This festival favourite makes for one of the strangest and most unexpected treats of the year.  While strong links between the domestic satire and the work of Michael Haneke have understandably been made, for me this only shares in the cruelty and is an all together breed altogether.  The story centres...
June 17th, 2010 | Feature, Film Reviews | Read More
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