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Halfway Mark: The Best Movies of 2014 (so far) Part 2

    15. Stranger by the Lake Directed by Alain Guiraudie Written by Alain Guiraudie France Though Stranger by the Lake premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival (and appeared on Sound On Sight’s best of 2013 list), it finally reached North American audiences in January of this year. Alain Guiraudie’s stunning noir-tinged thriller is …

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Halfway Mark: The Best Movies of 2014 (so far) Part 1

Picking the best movies that come out in any given year is no easy feat. For film fans, a quality feature can come out at any time, from any one, and discovering an enjoyable and well-crafted feature is truly a pleasure. As we reach the halfway point of the year, many excellent films have already …

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GFF 2014: ‘Ida’ explores 1960s Poland with elegance and genuine depth

UK-based filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski returns to the country of his birth with a film that explores the persistence of the war in 1960s Poland. Shot in Academy ratio and soft black and white, the cinematography by Ryszard Lenczewski and Lukasz Zal is beautiful, capturing the stark landscapes and emotional weight of the historical period. The setting and subject matter seem to give Pawlikowski renewed impetus at an important stage in his career and the result is a measured, sombre film that succeeds in evoking the intricate world of its central figures.

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‘The Woman in the Fifth’ is a fine exercise in mood and style

The Woman in the Fifth Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski Written by Pawel Pawlikowski France/Poland/U.K, 2011 The psychological thriller is a fun little genre for it allows, first, the screenwriter and director to get creative with their storytelling by exploring clever, unexpected and unnerving ways for their characters to behave under significant duress and, second, the …

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