The Myrka’s Film Reviews

30 Films have been rated or reviewed by The Myrka.

Belle De Jour (Beauty of the Day) (1967): Repressed sexuality with a dash of Catholic guilt has rarely been so well presented on screen as it is in Buñuel's classic film. Catherine Deneuve is fantastically frosty in one of her iconic roles.
Twin Peaks (TV Series) (Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series, Twin Peaks: The Return) (2017): This is the greatest display of the cinematic art this century. There it is, I said it. Come at me.
Twin Peaks - Season 1 (TV Series) (1990): As perfect a season of television as you will ever find. You're drawn in by the mystery of Laura Palmer's death but stay for the inhabitants of the town of Twin Peaks. Along with one of the greatest TV characters ever, Special Agent Dale Cooper.
I Am Love (Io sono l'amore) (2009): A feast of visual decadence that you could almost eat off the screen. Tilda Swinton holds court in an incredible performance of subdued, then empancipated sensuality.
Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season 7 (TV Series) (2009): Don't condescend me with your little pear...I wasn't busy with any beans...I'm protesting math. Comedy gold from the master, and that's without the Seinfeld alumni thrown in to the mix. Sheer joy.
Shutter Island (2010): A brilliant pulp thriller, which perfectly evokes its period setting and keeps the viewer guessing to the very end. The casting is impeccable, starting with DiCaprio, through to great cameo roles from Patricia Clarkson and the great Max von Sydow.
White Ribbon, The (Das weisse Band) (2009): Haneke does it again with this knockabout comedy involving misunderstandings over a pet budgie, an hilarious family get–together and the origins of national socialism. What a hoot!
A Single Man (2009): The film moves through a day in the life of Firth's grieving English professor and you are drawn to his plight, with tension sustained by the knowledge that he is planning to end his own life. A beautiful film and one with a furiously beating heart.
8 Women (8 Femmes) (2001): If you see one French, musical murder mystery, this has to be it. Deranged yet delectable, this is a feast for the eyes – throw in Deneuve, Huppert, Beart and more and you've got a classic.
Antichrist (2009): Lars von Trier courts controversy in new movie – shock, horror. Despite some time having elapsed since seeing this, the images still bleed into my mind. Watch at your own peril.
Transformers - Revenge Of The Fallen (Transformers 2) (2009): Ugh!
Coraline (2009): Stunning 3D stop motion animation with a story that will give many a young child the shivers but does enough to keep the grown ups interested.
A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël) (2008): A rambling but never uninteresting film about family and the bonds that keep us tied. A very honest portrait of a family Christmas gathering and topped off by always luminous Catherine Deneuve as the family matriarch, this is a film to savour.
Inglourious Basterds (Inglorious Bastards) (2009): Tarantino gets some great performances, notably from Christoph Waltz and rising star Michael Fassbender but we don't see nearly enough of them and the overblown climax removes the viewer from the subtlety of their work, into a pointless bloodbath.; DVD ~~$19.95~~ $14.95
Sherlock Holmes (2009): Great, mindless fun. RDJ gives his usual good value as our titular hero and Jude Law is surprisingly not annoying.
Avatar (2009): It looks great but I'm not convinced by a film that feels recycled at best and at worst hammers home with all the subtlety of a brick the dangers of warmongering imperialism and man's destruction of the environment.
Nine (2009): The whole thing feels claustrophobic and shut in by it's stagey origins and, a far worse crime for a musical, the songs just aren't very memorable.
Five Obstructions, The (5 Obstructions) (2004): This film made me want to do several things, and unusually for a von Trier film, they didn't involve violence directed at the mad Dane. Jorgen Leth shows himself to be infinitely patient and brilliantly adept and taking anything von Trier throws at him.
Green Zone (2010): One helluva ride from start to finish, and while the style of the film makes you think this is Bourne in Iraq, there is a lot more intelligence going on, than in most action films.
Still Walking (2008): The humour as well as the conflicts of family relationships are magnificently offset with the traditions of Japanese culture and the tension between modern life and the "old ways". A classic!
Winter in Wartime (2008): As much a coming of age movie as a wartime resistance movie, this cracks with pace and tension throughout, while the beautiful snow–scape setting provides a visual counterpoint to the murky double dealings within.; DVD ~~$19.95~~ $14.95
Gentlemen Broncos (2009): Jennifer Coolidge, Sam Rockwell and Jemaine Clement do their best with some inspired and laugh out loud moments (the writing seminar is a particular highlight) but this is interspersed with too many longer WTF moments.
Sister Smile (2009): A workmanlike bio of the singing nun, who had a worldwide hit with the infuriating and annoyingly catchy tune, 'Dominique' and you won't be able to get that damn tune out of your head for days...
Hurt Locker, The (2008): The stress of war and the work of bomb disposal expert, play out like the diary of a drug addict, with adrenaline being his drug of choice. Kathryn Bigelow shows she can tap into the male testosterone–soaked psyche, making for tense and compelling drama.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (Coco & Igor) (2009): Neither of the title characters is at all sympathetic so as the audience, you are in no way concerned about their journey through the story. If you're a Chanelista who wants to know how Chanel No.5 came about, then by all means see it.
Endgame (2009): I was pleasantly surprised with this very effective and taut look at the lead–up to the end of apartheid. It doesn't hide behind the shortcomings of both sides of the divide and provides a sense of the dangers of life in South Africa during this time.
Iron Man 2 (2010): RDJ does his shtick and Mickey Rourke is an effective villain but the film doesn't aspire to anything more. The first movie came as a breath of fresh air after the broodiness of Batman, Superman and Spiderman, where this seems be coasting on past glory.
Boy (2010): Not just an exercise in Kiwi nostalgia, this is a brilliant little movie which may have sold itself in the trailer as an all out comedy but proves to be just as much a movie about family and how reality can never live up to our fantasies.
Last Station, The (2009): OK, so the story of Leo Tolstoy's final years is going to be a hard sell in the multiplex–dominated world of today. But it's worth investing time in this ostensibly little movie for an acting masterclass from Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren.
Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The (1964): Jacques Demy's masterpiece, making Deneuve a star. It will swell then break your heart, and yes, it does contain umbrellas.

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The Myrka’s Film Reviews