Michael Haneke

Code Unknown is itself about figuring out behavior, trying to deduce and comprehend the meaning behind individual actions and expressions, to solve a cryptic code of conduct and human interaction

On Halloween, the tradition is to indulge in films replete with monsters, zombies, and creatures that go bump in the night. But those types of films don’t always provide the psychological terror cineastes may be craving. International and alternative cinema has always been willing to tread where conventional genre cinema dares not be it in …

Back when Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos first clambered barefaced upon the international stage with his daring Dogtooth, quite a few hastened to mention its striking resemblance to Arturo Ripstein’s similarly self-contained The Castle of Purity, made some 35 years earlier. In the wake of his first English-language effort The Lobster, one might even go further and compare all that Lanthimos has done thus far to Ripstein’s film: the …

Unless you’re talking about Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters or Toy Story 3, it’s usually not a good sign to hear of a sequel to a long retired franchise, least of all from a new, upstart director (just ask Jurassic World). This week however a director started a project that might even be an improvement on the …

“You can’t understand until it happens to you.” Roya, played by Mahnaz Afshar, listens to this line left on her answering machine repeatedly. It is a part of her husband, Ali’s, confession to his infidelity with one of Roya’s piano students, with whom he’s run off. Ali sees himself as a victim of his passion, …

Now that we are nearing the big awards of the season, it is time to revisit the nominations and predictions for the 2013 BAFTAs.  Part 2 will cover the following categories: (see part one here) Best Film Best British Film Leading Actor Leading Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Director The EE BAFTA …

With awards season truly underway, it is time to dust off the gowns and practice the speeches (not to mention the he-deserved-it-more look) and make out predictions for the BAFTAs. Part 1 will cover the following categories: – Best Documentary – Best Animated Feature – Best Film not in the English Language – Best Adapted …

#10: The Cabin in the Woods (107 points) Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard Directed by Drew Goddard USA, 2012 Like Scream, it’s a self-aware slasher film, but where Scream was happy simply to turn the genre’s bloody glove inside out and examine the stitching, The Cabin in the Woods has more complicated ambitions. If Scream is …

  25: The Dark Knight Rises Directed by Christopher Nolan Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan 2012, USA The Dark Knight Rises feels as if it was made up of two equal halves, with the most critical moment of the film breaking the movie in half, almost literally. While the second half may have …

2012 wasn’t a bad year for movies. It was actually a great year. The problem is, the movies we were most anticipating, specifically the Hollywood blockbusters like Prometheus and The Hobbit, didn’t live up to our expectations. With that said I still managed to make a list of 50 films I loved. Maybe I just …

In Their Skin Director by Jeremy Power Regimbal Written by Joshua Close Canada, 2012 Following a still raw and recent family tragedy, Mark (Joshua Close), Mary (Selma Blair), and their nine-year-old son Brendon (Quinn Lord) take a therapeutic sylvan sabbatical to their family cottage. One morning, they are unceremoniously introduced to the Zakowski’s, an overly …

In Their Skin Director by Jeremy Power Regimbal Written by Joshua Close Canada, 2012 Following a still raw and recent family tragedy, Mark (Joshua Close), Mary (Selma Blair), and their nine-year-old son Brendon (Quinn Lord) take a therapeutic sylvan sabbatical to their family cottage. One morning, they are unceremoniously introduced to the Zakowski’s, an overly …

Amour Written by Michael Haneke Directed by Michael Haneke Germany, 2012 Rightful winner of the Palme d’Or award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Michael Haneke’s Amour not only flawlessly brings about a heartbreaking depiction of the somber facets that galvanizes life’s digression, but from a cinematic triumph, harks back onto screen the fundamental unities …

Amour Directed by Michael Haneke Written by Michael Haneke Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert Love is a many splendored thing, and never was the promise of ‘until death do us part’ more ruthlessly examined that in Amour, one of the most highly anticipated films of this years London Film Festival. Taking the prestigious Palme D’Or …

Amour Written by Michael Haneke Directed by Michael Haneke France, 2012 Amour is Michael Haneke’s much-awaited follow-up to 2009’s The White Ribbon. The film follows Georges and Anne, a happily married couple in their eighties. When Anne has a stroke that causes her health to dilapidate quickly, their marriage begins to change. In Amour, we …

Fall weather is in the air, university students dominate the Halifax streets and TIFF is nearly over. That can only mean one thing, it’s once again time for Halifax’s own Atlantic Film Festival. The festival is in it’s 32nd year this fall and is once again able to boast a pretty impressive line up. Traditionally, …

Amour Directed by Michael Haneke Written by Michael Haneke There was a time not so long ago when word surfaced that Michael Haneke’s newest film would be titled ‘Love.’ To say that this news was a shocker would be to exaggerate, but it somehow left the sensation that something had not quite gone down, like …

The best part about being a film fan in a big city is that you are exposed to so many films that you would have otherwise never heard of. Obscure arthouse releases, strange french films and more film festivals that you can shake a fist at, it’s rare that I am able to predict with …

Kathryn Bigelow has become the first woman to win the DGA award for Outstanding Direction of a Feature Film with The Hurt Locker, defeating James Cameron’s Avatar. This award makes her the frontrunner in the 2009 Oscar race. Louie Psihoyos also won Best Documentary for The Cove, his ourstanding film which in using state-of-the-art equipment …

Auteur Theory: Volume 2 Austria breeds weird filmmakers. They are a country lacking a large film industry, but one that encourages experimental filmmaking; they even put it on TV. If that happened in America, just flipping on the television to find some out of control flashing colors with droning voices on hand-processed super 8, I …