Archipelago (2010)

In the opening close-up shot of Joanna Hogg's magnificent second film Archipelago, a painter adds touches to a canvas full of striking colours. The shot reveals the canvas in full as well as the landscape that has inspired the painting behind it. Whereas the painting itself is vivid and abstract, the filmic image couldn't be any more austere or the soundtrack serene. The contradiction is wry and the message is clear: this is a film that observes and emphasises the colour not immediately apparent in the lives of a certain class of people in a certain daily context.

Submarine (2010)

Richard Ayoade's watchable directorial debut feature Submarine makes a virtue of a not particularly likeable protagonist and his even less likeable love interest, and as such, follows in the footsteps of another coming-of-age comedy from last year, Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

The White Meadows (2009)

Guest review: Srini S. is based in India

Mohammad Rasoulof’s The White Meadows is visual brilliance and urgent political dialogue weaved together artfully into a cinematic masterpiece. This film takes on an altogether higher significance in the light of his imprisonment in Iran for making such films. I urge you to visit the blog The Sheila Variations that has more to say on the imprisonment of filmmakers like Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi (also the editor of The White Meadows).

In with the OLD, in with the NEW: The 83rd Annual Academy Awards

Guest feature: Phil Hogan is based in Atlanta, GA

The 2010 Academy Awards continued with recent efforts to add a youthful approach to the ceremony, including two young hosts (James Franco and Anne Hathaway) and a broader selection of ten Best Picture nominees. Still, with The King’s Speech taking top honors in both Best Picture and Best Director, the Academy could not help but show its age favoring a film positively depicting British royalty in the first half of the twentieth century.

NEWS: Universal acquires distribution rights to 'Tinker Tailor'

Universal has fended off Summit Entertainment and The Weinstein Company to acquire the US distribution rights to Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Deadline reported Monday.