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Michèle Asprey
Film Reviews
Sydney Film Festival
SFF Archive
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Michèle Asprey
Film Reviews
Sydney Film Festival
SFF Archive
Plain Language for Lawyers
Film Reviews
Sydney Film Festival
SFF Archive
Plain Language for Lawyers
Featured
The Brutalist

(2024, Brady Corbet)

Initially, The Brutalist impresses with its differences: it has a very different beginning, a different titles sequence (the start and, particularly, the end-titles) and the way it tells its story is different, initially impressionistically. Its length is also impressive: 3hrs, 36mins, which at the screening I attended necessitated an intermission at the 100 min mark.

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The Correspondent

(2024, Kriv Stenders)

Australian director Kriv Stenders is well-known for directing the Australian crowd-pleasing film Red Dog (2011). But he has also directed some challenging and hard-edged films, and he’s fully up to the task of tackling this story “based on true events” as the opening credits describe it. In fact, the intelligent screenplay by Peter Duncan is based on the memoir by Peter Greste, who was also closely involved in the film’s production.

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The Seed of the Sacred Fig

(2024, Mohammad Rasoulof)

At the very start of this film, we learn that the Sacred Fig is similar to what, in Australia, we call the “Strangler Fig.” That is, a fig tree whose seed, dropped by birds, flourishes in the crevices of other trees, and then grow to envelop their host tree, sometimes killing the host.

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Small Things Like These

(2024, Tim Mielants)

With a Belgian director and a Dutch cinematographer filming the cold and drizzly outskirts of New Ross, in County Wexford, this film’s palette is subdued, the framing is painterly, like a Vermeer. The subject is serious and the mood is somber, but there is much to relish here.

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  • A 29
    • Dec 10, 2023 A Beautiful Mind
    • Dec 10, 2023 A Civil Action
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Act of Killing
    • Dec 10, 2023 A History of Violence
    • Dec 10, 2023 A Royal Affair
    • Dec 10, 2023 A Simple Plan
    • Dec 10, 2023 Absolute Power
    • Dec 10, 2023 Adaptation
    • Dec 10, 2023 Ain't in it for my Health
    • Dec 10, 2023 Albino Alligator
    • Dec 10, 2023 Alien Resurrection
    • Dec 10, 2023 All or Nothing
    • Dec 10, 2023 All That Heaven Allows
    • Dec 10, 2023 Amador
    • Dec 10, 2023 Amelie
    • Dec 10, 2023 American Beauty
    • Dec 10, 2023 American History X
    • Dec 10, 2023 Amour
    • Dec 10, 2023 And When Did You Last See Your Father?
    • Dec 10, 2023 Animal Kingdom
    • Dec 10, 2023 Animals Distract Me
    • Dec 10, 2023 Apt Pupil
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Aristocrats
    • Dec 10, 2023 Arrietty
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Assassination of Richard Nixon
    • Dec 10, 2023 Attenberg
    • Dec 10, 2023 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
    • Dec 10, 2023 Australia
    • Dec 10, 2023 Away From Her
  • B 33
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Baader Meinhof Complex
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Band's Visit
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Barbarian Invasions
    • Dec 10, 2023 Barney’s Version
    • Dec 10, 2023 Beasts of the Southern Wild
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Beaver
    • Dec 10, 2023 Beauty
    • Dec 10, 2023 Beginners
    • Dec 10, 2023 Being John Malkovich
    • Dec 10, 2023 Bella
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Big Sleep
    • Dec 10, 2023 Black and White
    • Dec 10, 2023 Black Cat White Cat
    • Dec 10, 2023 Black Hawk Down
    • Dec 10, 2023 Blessed
    • Dec 10, 2023 Bombon (El Perro)
    • Dec 10, 2023 Boogie Nights
    • Dec 10, 2023 Bowling for Columbine
    • Dec 10, 2023 Boy
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Boys
    • Dec 10, 2023 Bra Boys
    • Dec 10, 2023 Brassed Off
    • Dec 10, 2023 Breakfast on Pluto
    • Dec 10, 2023 Bright Young Things
    • Dec 10, 2023 Bringing Out the Dead
    • Dec 10, 2023 Broken Flowers
    • Dec 10, 2023 Broken Wings
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Brutalist
    • Dec 10, 2023 Brothers
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Buena Vista Social Club
    • Dec 10, 2023 Buffalo 66
    • Dec 10, 2023 Bulworth
    • Dec 10, 2023 Burke and Wills
  • C 24
    • Dec 10, 2023 Cairo 678
    • Dec 10, 2023 Cairo Time
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Captive
    • Dec 10, 2023 Capturing the Friedmans
    • Dec 10, 2023 Caramel (Sukkar Banat)
    • Dec 10, 2023 Cave of Forgotten Dreams
    • Dec 10, 2023 Cedar Rapids
    • Dec 10, 2023 Charlie Chan at the Olympics
    • Dec 10, 2023 Charlotte Gray
    • Dec 10, 2023 Chasing Amy
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Cider House Rules
    • Dec 10, 2023 Clerks
    • Dec 10, 2023 Con Air
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Conspirator
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Corporation
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Constant Gardener
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Conversation
    • Dec 10, 2023 Cop Land
    • Dec 10, 2023 Copying Beethoven
    • Dec 10, 2023 Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Correspondent
    • Dec 10, 2023 Cosmopolis
    • Dec 10, 2023 C.R.A.Z.Y.
    • Dec 10, 2023 Cube
  • D 14
    • Dec 10, 2023 Dark City
    • Dec 10, 2023 Dark Shadows
    • Dec 10, 2023 Death of a President
    • Dec 10, 2023 Deep Impact
    • Dec 10, 2023 Deep Water
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Devil's Advocate
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Dictator
    • Dec 10, 2023 Dirty Deeds
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
    • Dec 10, 2023 Dodgeball
    • Dec 10, 2023 Dog Soldiers
    • Dec 10, 2023 Dogma
    • Dec 10, 2023 Double Jeopardy
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Dreamlife of Angels
  • E 14
    • Dec 10, 2023 Easy Virtue
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Edukators
    • Dec 10, 2023 EdTV
    • Dec 10, 2023 8MM
    • Dec 10, 2023 Elena
    • Dec 10, 2023 Elizabeth
    • Dec 10, 2023 The End of the Affair
    • Dec 10, 2023 Enemy of the State
    • Dec 10, 2023 Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
    • Dec 10, 2023 Erin Brockovich
    • Dec 10, 2023 Erskineville Kings
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Escapist
    • Dec 10, 2023 Exporting Raymond
    • Dec 10, 2023 Eyes Wide Shut
  • F 13
    • Dec 10, 2023 Face/Off
    • Dec 10, 2023 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
    • Dec 10, 2023 Feeling Sexy
    • Dec 10, 2023 Fight Club
    • Dec 10, 2023 5 x 2
    • Dec 10, 2023 42UP
    • Dec 10, 2023 49 Up
    • Dec 10, 2023 Four Lions
    • Dec 10, 2023 Friends with Money
    • Dec 10, 2023 Fracture
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Full Monty
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Funeral
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Future
  • G 13
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Game
    • Dec 10, 2023 GasLand
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Gatekeepers
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Girl Who Played with Fire
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Ghost Writer
    • Dec 10, 2023 Go
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Godfather
    • Dec 10, 2023 Gone in Sixty Seconds
    • Dec 10, 2023 Good Night, and Good Luck
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
    • Dec 10, 2023 Gosford Park
    • Dec 10, 2023 Guard, The
  • H 16
    • Dec 10, 2023 Hamlet
    • Dec 10, 2023 Hanna
    • Dec 10, 2023 Happiness
    • Dec 10, 2023 Happy-Go-Lucky
    • Dec 10, 2023 Happy Happy
    • Dec 10, 2023 Hard Candy
    • Dec 10, 2023 Henry Fool
    • Dec 10, 2023 Hephzibah
    • Dec 10, 2023 Hidden
    • Dec 10, 2023 High Art
    • Dec 10, 2023 Hilary and Jackie
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Home Song Stories
    • Dec 10, 2023 How I Ended This Summer
    • Dec 10, 2023 How to Die in Oregon
    • Dec 10, 2023 Hunger
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Hunt (Jagten)
  • I 16
    • Dec 10, 2023 Ice Storm, The
    • Dec 10, 2023 In and Out
    • Dec 10, 2023 In Bruges
    • Dec 10, 2023 Inception
    • Dec 10, 2023 Infamous
    • Dec 10, 2023 In Cold Blood
    • Dec 10, 2023 In Her Shoes
    • Dec 10, 2023 In the House (Dans la maison)
    • Dec 10, 2023 In Your Hands
    • Dec 10, 2023 An Inconvenient Truth
    • Dec 10, 2023 Inland Empire
    • Dec 10, 2023 Inside Deep Throat
    • Dec 10, 2023 Insider, The
    • Dec 10, 2023 Interstellar
    • Dec 10, 2023 In the Bedroom
    • Dec 10, 2023 Is Anybody There?
  • J 2
    • Dec 10, 2023 Jiro Dreams of Sushi
    • Dec 10, 2023 Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
  • K 6
    • Dec 10, 2023 Kanyini
    • Dec 10, 2023 Khodorovsky
    • Dec 10, 2023 Kids are All Right, The
    • Dec 10, 2023 King of Devil’s Island
    • Dec 10, 2023 Kiss or Kill
    • Dec 10, 2023 Kundun
  • L 16
    • Dec 10, 2023 LA Confidential
    • Dec 10, 2023 Lantana
    • Dec 10, 2023 Last Orders
    • Dec 10, 2023 Last Station, The
    • Dec 10, 2023 Laurel Canyon
    • Dec 10, 2023 Lennon NYC
    • Dec 10, 2023 Letter to Elia, A
    • Dec 10, 2023 L’Homme du Train
    • Dec 10, 2023 Life is Beautiful
    • Dec 10, 2023 Little Miss Sunshine
    • Dec 10, 2023 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
    • Dec 10, 2023 Lolita
    • Dec 10, 2023 Lore
    • Dec 10, 2023 Lost in La Mancha
    • Dec 10, 2023 Love & Death on Long Island
    • Dec 10, 2023 Love Crime (Crime d’Amour)
  • M 26
    • Dec 10, 2023 Macbeth
    • Dec 10, 2023 Mad Bastards
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Magdalene Sisters
    • Dec 10, 2023 Magnolia
    • Dec 10, 2023 Mansfield Park
    • Dec 10, 2023 Margin Call
    • Dec 10, 2023 Maria Full of Grace
    • Dec 10, 2023 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
    • Dec 10, 2023 Match Point
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Matrix
    • Dec 10, 2023 Me & You & Everyone We Know
    • Dec 10, 2023 Men in Black
    • Dec 10, 2023 Men in Black 2
    • Dec 10, 2023 Minority Report
    • Dec 10, 2023 Mongol
    • Dec 10, 2023 Monsoon Wedding
    • Dec 10, 2023 Moolaadé
    • Dec 10, 2023 Mouse Hunt
    • Dec 10, 2023 Mrs Henderson Presents
    • Dec 10, 2023 Mulholland Drive
    • Dec 10, 2023 My Architect: A Son’s Journey
    • Dec 10, 2023 My Best Friend's Wedding
    • Dec 10, 2023 My Life Without Me
    • Dec 10, 2023 My Name is Joe
    • Dec 10, 2023 Mystery Road
    • Dec 10, 2023 My Summer of Love
  • N 7
    • Dec 10, 2023 Nicholas Nickleby
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Night of the Hunter
    • Dec 10, 2023 Nil By Mouth
    • Dec 10, 2023 Nocturne
    • Dec 10, 2023 Norwegian Wood
    • Dec 10, 2023 Notting Hill
    • Dec 10, 2023 Nowhere Boy
  • O 9
    • Dec 10, 2023 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
    • Dec 10, 2023 100 Bloody Acres
    • Dec 10, 2023 127 hours
    • Dec 10, 2023 On the Road
    • Dec 10, 2023 The Opposite of Sex
    • Dec 10, 2023 Oranges and Sunshine
    • Dec 10, 2023 Oscar and Lucinda
    • Dec 10, 2023 Out of Sight
    • Dec 10, 2023 Overcoming
  • P 17
    • Dec 3, 2023 Paparazzi
    • Dec 3, 2023 Panic Room
    • Dec 3, 2023 Paradise Now
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Passenger
    • Dec 3, 2023 Passion
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Patriot
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Perfect Storm
    • Dec 3, 2023 Persepolis
    • Dec 3, 2023 Pleasantville
    • Dec 3, 2023 Please Give
    • Dec 3, 2023 Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
    • Dec 3, 2023 Post Mortem
    • Dec 3, 2023 Praise
    • Dec 3, 2023 Project Nim
    • Dec 3, 2023 PS
    • Dec 3, 2023 A Praire Home Companion
    • Dec 3, 2023 Pushing Tin
  • Q 2
    • Dec 10, 2023 Le Quattro Volte
    • Dec 10, 2023 Quiet Please, Murder
  • R 20
    • Dec 3, 2023 Rabbit-Proof Fence
    • Dec 3, 2023 Radiance
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Railway Man
    • Dec 3, 2023 Raising Victor Vargas
    • Dec 3, 2023 Random Hearts
    • Dec 3, 2023 Reality
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Red Violin
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Reluctant Infidel
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Road to Guantanamo
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Road to Nhill
    • Dec 3, 2023 RocknRolla
    • Dec 3, 2023 Rock the Casbah
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Rolling Stones on Imax
    • Dec 3, 2023 Romance
    • Dec 3, 2023 Romantics Anonymous (Les émotifs anonymes)
    • Dec 3, 2023 Romulus, My Father
    • Dec 3, 2023 Rough Justice: Tales from the Bar
    • Dec 3, 2023 The Royal Tenenbaums
    • Dec 3, 2023 Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)
    • Nov 1, 2023 Rust and Bone (De rouille et d’os)
  • S 33
    • Dec 1, 2023 Safe
    • Nov 30, 2023 Sagan
    • Nov 29, 2023 Saving Private Ryan
    • Nov 28, 2023 Secrets of the Jury Room
    • Nov 28, 2023 The Seed of the Sacred Fig
    • Nov 27, 2023 Senna
    • Nov 26, 2023 A Seperation
    • Nov 25, 2023 Set me Free (Emporte-moi)
    • Nov 24, 2023 Shakespeare in Love
    • Nov 23, 2023 Shame
    • Nov 22, 2023 Shattered Glass
    • Nov 21, 2023 Silent Souls
    • Nov 20, 2023 The Sixth Sense
    • Nov 19, 2023 Sleeping Beauty
    • Nov 18, 2023 Sleeping Sickness
    • Nov 17, 2023 Sliding Doors
    • Nov 16, 2023 Sling Blade
    • Nov 16, 2023 Small Things Like These
    • Nov 15, 2023 Snake Eyes
    • Nov 14, 2023 Solo
    • Nov 13, 2023 The Spanish Prisoner
    • Nov 12, 2023 Spellbound
    • Nov 11, 2023 The Spiral Staircase
    • Nov 10, 2023 Springtime in a Small Town
    • Nov 9, 2023 The Square
    • Nov 8, 2023 Standing in the Shadows of Motown
    • Nov 7, 2023 Starship Troopers
    • Nov 6, 2023 Still Crazy
    • Nov 5, 2023 The Straight Story
    • Nov 4, 2023 Suburban Mayhem
    • Nov 3, 2023 Summer Hours (L’heure d’été)
    • Nov 2, 2023 Swingers
    • Nov 1, 2023 Syriana
  • T 37
    • Dec 7, 2023 Tabloid
    • Dec 6, 2023 Take Shelter
    • Dec 5, 2023 The Talented Mr Ripley
    • Dec 4, 2023 The Tall Man
    • Dec 3, 2023 Tape
    • Dec 2, 2023 Target
    • Dec 1, 2023 Tarnation
    • Nov 30, 2023 Tea with Mussolini
    • Nov 29, 2023 Tell Them Who You Are
    • Nov 28, 2023 Ten Canoes
    • Nov 27, 2023 Tenderness
    • Nov 26, 2023 Ten Empty
    • Nov 25, 2023 Thank You for Smoking
    • Nov 24, 2023 Then She Found Me
    • Nov 23, 2023 There’s Always Tomorrow
    • Nov 22, 2023 There's Something About Mary
    • Nov 21, 2023 The Thin Red Line
    • Nov 20, 2023 36 Quai des Orfèvres
    • Nov 19, 2023 Three Kings
    • Nov 18, 2023 Titanic
    • Nov 17, 2023 Together
    • Nov 16, 2023 Toomelah
    • Nov 15, 2023 Top Floor, Left Wing
    • Nov 14, 2023 Topless Women Talk About their Lives
    • Nov 13, 2023 To Rome with Love
    • Nov 12, 2023 Touching the Void
    • Nov 11, 2023 The Tracker
    • Nov 10, 2023 The Tree of Life
    • Nov 9, 2023 The Trip
    • Nov 8, 2023 The Truman Show
    • Nov 7, 2023 2 Days in Paris
    • Nov 6, 2023 2001: A Space Odyssey
    • Nov 5, 2023 20 Feet from Stardom
    • Nov 4, 2023 Two Day, One Night
    • Nov 3, 2023 Two Girls and a Guy
    • Nov 2, 2023 Two Hands
    • Nov 1, 2023 Tyrannosaur
  • U 3
    • Nov 3, 2023 Unfinished Sky
    • Nov 2, 2023 Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst
    • Nov 1, 2023 Ushpizin
  • V 3
    • Dec 3, 2023 Venus
    • Nov 2, 2023 Vertigo
    • Nov 1, 2023 Vicki Cristina Barcelona
  • W 21
    • Dec 3, 2023 The 56th  Sydney Film Festival3-14 June 2009
    • Nov 22, 2023 Wadjda
    • Nov 21, 2023 Wah-Wah
    • Nov 20, 2023 The Waiting City
    • Nov 19, 2023 Waiting for Guffman
    • Nov 18, 2023 Walk the Line
    • Nov 17, 2023 Wall - E
    • Nov 16, 2023 The War Zone
    • Nov 15, 2023 Welcome to the Sticks (Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis)
    • Nov 14, 2023 The Well
    • Nov 13, 2023 What Maisie Knew
    • Nov 12, 2023 Whiplash
    • Nov 11, 2023 The White Ribbon
    • Nov 10, 2023 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
    • Nov 8, 2023 The Wings of the Dove
    • Nov 7, 2023 The Women
    • Nov 6, 2023 The Woodsman
    • Nov 5, 2023 Wonder Boys
    • Nov 4, 2023 Wonderland
    • Nov 3, 2023 Wondrous Oblivion
    • Nov 2, 2023 The World’s Fastest Indian
  • Y 1
    • Nov 2, 2023 Yesterday
  • Z 1
    • Nov 1, 2023 Zodiac
  • w 1
    • Dec 3, 2023 We have a Pope (Habemus Papam)
Luke Stevenson 12/10/23 Luke Stevenson 12/10/23

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