FILM REVIEW

RAYE & 070 Shake Bring ‘Escapism’ To The Loop

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Two fast-rising stars of progressive R´N´B, RAYE & 070 Shake, join forces in ‘Escapism,’ this week’s #1 in our loop. Indie icon Caroline Polachek and young Spanish electronic flamenco artist Ralphie Choo complete the Top 3.

On a week we had the devastating news of Mimi Parker of Low passing away, their contribution to the Sleater-Kinney covers album is the week’s highest entry, followed by the latest songs by Fever Ray; Floating Points; Ezra Collective feat. Kojey Radical; Sega Bodega; Phoenix; Niño de Elche feat. Yerai Cortés; SAULT; Fleet Foxes feat. Tim Bernardes; Alice Boman feat. Perfume Genius; DeJ Loaf; Cass McCombs and Weak Signal; Nacho Vegas; FINGERGAP feat. Fedor Yury… and a new collaboration between Dragonette feat. The Knocks. Check this week’s loop in full here.

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs & Perfume Genius #1 In The Loop

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The long awaited return of Yeah Yeah Yeahs feat. Perfume Genius, ‘Spitting Off the Edge of the World,’ is this week´s #1 in the loop, with two other interesting collaborations, SASAMI feat. J Mascis and a new session by Bizarrap & Villano Antillano completing the Top 3.

Highest new entry is the latest offering by Christine & The Queens, followed by new tracks by Mr. Tophat feat. Robyn & Simson; Sun’s Signature; Wilco; The Beths; Makaya McCraven; Rico Nasty; Safety Trance feat. Arca; Self Esteem; Kamaiyah feat. Sada Baby; Alex G; pinkpirate; MUNA; wewantwraiths; Erica Banks; Tim Bernardes… and the return of Beyoncé with the millionth track in the last few years that samples Robin S´iconic house pop classic ‘Show Me Love’. Check this week’s loop in full here.

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Best Films Of 2020

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NOMADLAND

2020 began its film business as usual among news of record box office attendance and the ongoing conversations about lack of diversity and inclusion in the industry; the male-female big divide; the increasing weight of digital platforms… Sundance gave way to the typical arguments about the state of US Indies; the Oscar frontrunners hinted at a Scorsese versus Tarantino battle; the Berlinale, flaunting a brand new director, Carlo Chatrian, announced new sections and a revamped line-up on its official competition, full of renowned auteurs.

Sundance’s slate proved to be a bit lacklustre -if anticipating at a quite strong year for documentaries and launching one of this year’s Oscars favourites in ‘Minari’; Korean director Bong Joon-Ho’s ‘Parasite’ took the Academy awards by surprise and swept the board; the Berlinale’s impressive line-up wasn´t all that the names included on its selection anticipated it would be, yet it delivered two of the year’s finest with the latest works by Kelly Reichardt and Tsai Ming-Liang. But fate had other plans and despite those minor surprises and upsets, we can only look at it all now invaded by the nostalgia of which feels like golden days long time gone. Shortly afterwards COVID happened, bringing the world to a halt with its lockdowns, social distancing, business shutting down or being put on hold and a change in everyday life for everyone, among the endless pain and suffering it has caused.

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The Rober Awards 2019 Film Poll

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The Rober Academy for the arts and sciences of entertainment cordially invites you to cast your vote in the 2019 Rober Awards Film Poll. Please find the ballot below. You can tick up to two choices in each of the categories. To help your choices, a Youtube playlist with the trailers from all nominated features is enclosed at the bottom.

And the nominees are:

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#LFF2019 Closes With Scorsese’s Impressive ‘The Irishman’

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The 63rd edition of the BFI London Film Festival went out with a bang. After twelve days of such standout works as Pedro Costa’s Locarno winner ‘Vitalina Varela’; Robert Eggers’ gothic nightmare ‘The Lighthouse;’ Céline Sciamma’s masterful ‘Portrait Of A Lady On Fire’ and many more; its closing gala wrapped it up on a high note with one of the most awaited films of the year, Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman.’

In the last few weeks, we had been reading about the many controversies surrounding its long and difficult gestation; the involvement of Netflix; the use of a new (and arguably revolutionary) technology to de-age its protagonists (Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci on top of their game); the current, changing state of cinema… But perhaps the biggest headline we can take out if it is that ‘The Irishman’ is vintage Scorsese, called to rank among his finest works. The director; his two stars (De Niro -who also came for one of the LFF’s screen talks- and Pacino) and the film’s producers, Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Jane Rosenthal, gave a crammed press conference to present the film.

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#LFF2019 Recommended: A Year of Notable British Debuts

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One of the conclusions one can get from this year’s LFF is that, judging by the large number of notable first features premiered, a new generation of British filmmakers is making its way into the industry. Such excellent works as ‘Saint Maud’ by Rose Glass, which we already reviewed and was selected for the official competition; Fizal Boulifa’s depiction of working class life in ‘Lynn + Lucy;’ the psychological thriller ‘Make Up’ by Claire Oakley; the violence among a family of Irish drug dealers as told in Nick Rowland’s ‘Calm With Horses’ and, not exactly a debut but equally accomplished, ‘Nocturnal,’ the first narrative feature by former documentarian Nathalie Biancheri, show no shortage of fresh talent in UK cinema.

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#LFF2019 An Impressive Lighthouse; A Rather Basic Instinct and The Sex Life of the Disabled.

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Our third festival chronicle features one of the best and most bizarre films of the year, ’The Lighthouse;’ A controversial; female gaze depiction of the boundaries between sexual desire and abuse, ‘Instinct,’ and a surprisingly enjoyable exploration of the sexual life of a young woman with cerebral palsy in the Japanese dramedy ’37 Seconds.’

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#LFF2019 The Story of Sound in Film; An Irish Drama; a US Indie Comedy and Mexican Social Realism.

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Our second day at the LFF screenings began with a blast or, more specifically, with tons of them as featured in Midge Costin’s superbly didactic documentary ‘Making Waves: The Art Of Cinematic Sound.’ It continued with the thought provoking Irish drama ‘Rose Plays Julie’ dealing with a young woman searching for their real parents; ‘The Climb,’ a deadpan US indie comedy about friendship and we finished the day with our favourite film of the festival, so far, a Mexican drama about the great wealth divide ‘Workforce.’ Here’s our chronicle:

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#LFF2019 Recommended: Two Discoveries and A Return To Form

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The first day of the London film festival finally arrived and I had almost forgotten, after a year abroad, the hardships of London Public Transport. A massive overcrowding in the Northern Line prevented me from being on time for the press screening of the opening gala , Armando Iannucci’s adapting Dickens in ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield,’ which I’ll try luck later on the week with one of its public screenings. Instead, I opted for an Indian film, Jallikattu, which turned out to be quite a unique experience not for the faint-hearted. Yesterday I also caught up with Rose Glass’ disturbing first feature, Saint Maud, and the latest and rather good work by Canadian (former) wunderkid Xavier Dolan, Matthias et Maxime. Here’s my chronicle of those films

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#LFF2019 Recommended: Three Remarkable Portraits Of Strong Women

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One day before Armando Iannucci revisiting Charles Dickens in ‘The Personal Story of David Copperfield’ kick-starts this year’s edition of the London Film Festival, here’s a few tips on films we have already seen and believe you should not miss. We begin with three portraits of strong women, fiercely fighting against the society’s conventions imposed on their lives, either by unwanted marriages; unaccepted LGBT relationships or an employment precariousness that comes in their way to a fulfilled existence.

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