The Last Station (2009)

DVD: The Last StationBlu-ray: The Last Station Vague, Passionate and Erratic: The Last Station by Binoy Kampmark “Tomorrow, I’ll go to the station and lie down on the track. Tolstoy’s wife becomes Anna Karenina herself. See how the papers will like that!” Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren) to Leon Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), The Last Station (2009) [...]

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

DVD: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Blu-ray: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Review: The Bad Lieutenant by Binoy Kampmark The Very Bad Lieutenant When asked at a press conference in Rome in June last year on what he thought about Werner Herzog’s The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Abel [...]

District 9 & Sci-Fi Politics

DVD: District 9 (Two-Disc Edition) Blu-ray: District 9 See also: District 9 (2009) District 9 (2009) – Sci Fi Action With Brains and Soul District 9 (2009) – Science Fiction of the Now District 9 & Sci-Fi Politics Binoy Kampmark A sci-fi B-Film that punches above its weight. So argued Anthony Quinn of The Independent [...]

The White Ribbon (2009)

DVD: The White Ribbon The Vicious Countryside: Haneke’s The White Ribbon by Binoy Kampmark Arthur Conan Doyle found the English countryside seething with potential criminality. His sleuth creation of Sherlock Holmes was never deceived by the tranquil image of the country retreat and escape from the industrialized centre. London, with its bustle, filth and squalor, [...]

Sacred Memories: Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces

Sacred Memories: Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces by Binoy Kampmark Pedro Almodóvar is a treasure of the screen, supremely sensitive to surfaces, characters, and the workings of the cinema itself. His devotion to the craft is unmistakable, demonstrated by constant hints, persistent allusions to past greats, and the mechanics of filmmaking.

On Invictus (2009)

Invictus: Dreams and Realities Column: Binoy Kampmark I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul William Ernest Henley, ‘Invictus’ (1875) When the Springboks, South Africa’s famed rugby team, returned to the international fold after decades of isolation, suggestions were made to change the name. Drop the label and jersey, [...]

The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009)

When men do stare at goats by Binoy Kampmark Your wives are back at home having sex with Bart Simpson and Burt Reynolds.” -Iraqi Propaganda leaflet, to American soldiers in the 1991 Gulf War. There is a line at the start of Grant Heslov’s The Men Who Stare at Goats: ‘More of this is true [...]