Films I loved in February 2020

Waad Al-Kateab in For Sama

For Sama is an extraordinary documentary, consisting of footage taken by filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab while raising her infant daughter in Aleppo during the appalling violence and chaos of the Syrian Civil War. It delivers a unique perspective that is confronting, but also profoundly humane.
Released in Australian cinemas 6 February 2020

Willem Dafoe as Thomas Wake and Robert Pattinson as Ephraim Winslow in The Lighthouse

Hallucinogenic, claustrophobic and often surprisingly funny, The Lighthouse is a beautifully textured odd-couple film that mutates into psychological horror as two lighthouse keepers in the 1890s lose their minds; questioning what and who is or isn’t real. It’s intense and a lot of fun.
Released in Australian cinemas 6 February 2020

Daisy Axon as Candice Phee and Wesley Patten as Douglas Benson in H Is for Happiness

The warm and charming Australian coming-of-age film H Is for Happiness deftly balances humour and its protagonist’s hyper-cheery outlook on the world with much darker themes connected to loss and grief. It’s sweet, stylised and off-kilter while remaining grounded and sincere.
Released in Australian cinemas 6 February 2020

Anya Taylor-Joy as Emma Woodhouse and Johnny Flynn as George Knightley in Emma

The new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is both faithful to the book and refreshingly cinematic, using suitable visual flourishes to enhance the novel’s biting social critique and intriguing characters. It’s funny and romantic for the most part, but with key moments of poignancy.
Released in Australian cinemas 13 February 2020

Sam Rockwell as Watson Bryant and Paul Walter Hauser as Richard Jewell in Richard Jewell

In Richard Jewell Clint Eastwood further explores the plight of everyday people thrust into the spotlight, in the story of the security guard who discovered the bomb at the 1996 Olympics to then become the main suspect. It’s compelling drama about the dangers of confirmation bias.
Released in Australian cinemas 13 February 2020

Noah Jupe as Otis Lort and Shia LaBeouf as James Lort in Honey Boy

Based on childhood experiences with his abusive and negligent father, Honey Boy co-stars and is written by Shia LaBeouf. Director Alma Har’el delivers a beautifully dreamlike vision of the harrowing story, to convey the relationship between damaged adults and their traumatic pasts.
Released in Australian cinemas 27 February 2020

Elisabeth Moss as Cecilia Kass in The Invisible Man

The new film incarnation of The Invisible Man takes the perspective of the woman being harassed and the science-fiction concept expresses all-too real acts of violence. The results work as a tense and chilling horror film, and as a commentary on the nature of psychological abuse
Released in Australian cinemas 27 February 2020

Thomas Caldwell, 2020

CINEMA AUTOPSY https://ift.tt/2x02Pvn February 29, 2020 at 03:27AM