TIFF09 REVIEW: Das weiße Band [The White Ribbon] [2009]

“I gave God a chance to kill me” Hailed by the TIFF moderator as Michael Haneke’s masterpiece, I found myself expecting something very specific from Das weiße Band [The White Ribbon]. Thinking about the uncomfortable feeling he leaves the audience with during both Funny Games and Caché, I readied myself for a dark and disturbing look into an Austrian town before the First World War. The film is just under two and half hours long, somber in its execution and quietly powerful in its subject matter. At every second I…

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REVIEW: Caché [2005]

“I wanted you to be present” I’m still not quite certain what to think a day after watching Michael Haneke’s acclaimed film Caché. It is at the same time unnerving, confusing, and unabashedly honest. A story about guilt and how we as people cope with it, accept it, or disregard it. We may tell ourselves that we feel nothing, the tragedies in life were not our fault, however, our psyches and emotions can and will get the better of us. If you truly don’t feel responsible, why then, when confronted,…

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REVIEW: Funny Games [1997]

“You’re on their side, so who will you bet with?” I’ve been meaning to write a review for Michael Haneke’s Funny Games since rewatching it Halloween night. I had seen it for the first time around 3-4 years ago on IFC and was blown away by its inventiveness. It definitely holds up today as a sharp thriller and satire for our culture of wanting to see pain and torture on screen. With movies like Saw coming to theatres now, it may be even more relevant than it was in 1997.…

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Top 25 Films of 2005

(short and sweet and to the point; culled from watching 93 releases. constantly updated as i catch up to those i missed. click poster for review if applicable) #25: Hauru no ugoku shiro[Howl’s Moving Castle] directed by Hayao Miyazaki #24: Good Night,and Good Luck directed by George Clooney #23: Joyeux Noël[Merry Christmas] directed by Christian Carion #22: The Descent directed by Neil Marshall #21: Kingdom of Heaven directed by Ridley Scott #20: 13 Tzameti directed by Géla Babluani #19: Batman Begins directed byChristopher Nolan #18: The Girl in the Café…

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