Sarah's New Ideas

Tag: reviews

  • Cannes Film Festival 2024 roundup

    Now that I am so fancy I have been to Cannes twice, I am delighted to report that it is even better the second time around. I knew where things were (mostly), I ate so many pizzas from the same place the owner apologised to me for closing for cataract surgery a few days before…

  • Glasgow Film Festival 2024 roundup

    It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Glasgow and I was delighted to have the opportunity to go back. Viggo Mortensen was very complimentary about the main hall in the Glasgow Film Theatre and he said what I was thinking (and isn’t that kind of celebrity serendipity delightful). However its closing gala, Janey,…

  • Berlinale 2024 roundup

    This has not been a great year to associate oneself with the Berlinale. The festival got off to a bad start when it invited two right-wing-extremist politicians to the opening ceremonies, a choice which goes against the festival’s own explicit anti-fascist ethos. I have to sign an anti-fascist pledge to be granted my press pass,…

  • Sundance 2024 roundup

    Once again I’d like to thank the festival for allowing critics to participate remotely. I saw twenty films (three of which earlier in the year) and noticed some pleasing trends: a serious commitment to own-voice storytelling, a full understanding of the ramifications of violence combined with a refusal to let any perpetrators off the hook,…

  • 2023 in movies

    As ever, my review archive is here. In 2023 I attended seven film festivals, only possible because Sundance and Tribeca continue to allow critics to work remotely, as do the London trifecta (Flare, LFF and Raindance) to a limited extent. I also reviewed 127 movies for publication, which is an average of one every three days,…

  • London Film Festival 2023 roundup

    The festival that made me a critic has definitely altered since it started holding competitions, but I didn’t attend enough public screenings this year to get a sense of whether the vibe has permanently changed. I saw fourteen films this time, the strangest (though not the newest) being The Stranger and the Fog, the creepy…

  • The Burnt City (Punchdrunk, 2022-2023)

    The Burnt City is the immersive theatre show, loosely about the fall of Troy, that theatrical innovators Punchdrunk are running in Woolwich, south-east London. I have been about twenty times and it’s taken me that long to understand the experience well enough I feel comfortable describing it for you (and posterity, given that it’s closing in…

  • The Easy Rawlins series by Walter Mosley

    I recently had a hankering to read the series, which I had managed to collect over the years. So I read them in order and have a few thoughts, about the series specifically and crime fiction generally.  Mr Mosley nearly killed off Easy in one of the books – drunkenly driving him off a cliff…

  • Tribeca 2023 roundup

    Once again I begin by thanking the festival for allowing people to participate remotely. It’s so nice to be able to participate in a faraway film festival from the comfort of my own laptop. It was a mixed bag, the ones I saw. Melody of Love had a completely fresh setting (Addis Ababa; fresh to…