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Desist Film

Desist Film is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Tara Judah.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
The Wind (2018) Tara Judah The Wind is a western, but it's not about a man. It's also a folkloric, supernatural horror but it's not exactly about monsters, either. The Wind is a film about a woman, and the domestic space she tends and defends.
Posted Mar 06, 2019  Edit critic review
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) Tara Judah Amirpour's debut is a truly arresting work of art.
Posted Mar 04, 2019  Edit critic review
Under the Wire (2018) Tara Judah Martin relies too heavily on direct to camera interviews for information and, though the truly enigmatic Paul Conroy is the subject of these interviews, the formal set up and emotive score mean contrivance outweighs his earnestness.
Posted Mar 04, 2019  Edit critic review
Distant Constellation (2017) Tara Judah The juxtaposition of the old and the new, told through breath, laughter and sighs of exhaustion, is as grounded and otherworldly as cinema can ever hope to be.
Posted Mar 04, 2019  Edit critic review
The Forbidden Room (2015) Tara Judah Searching for that now giant key needed to unlock the door to return to reality, Maddin must take hostages. We join him, in cinephilia, in its celebration, in keeping it alive.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Taxi (2015) Tara Judah Panahi's taxi-cam is a sort of consciousness, unable to stop searching, capturing and presenting the truth.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
A Quiet Passion (2016) Tara Judah One or two not entirely convincing performances of Dickinson's fits notwithstanding, A Quiet Passion is a fine, reverent film.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Lily Lane (2016) Tara Judah Lily Lane is a dark, haunting journey over well-trodden, grim ground.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Eldorado XXI (2016) Tara Judah The intensity of its duration offers a glimpse into the cycles of poverty; pain, hope, disappointment, loss, endurance, persistence.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Panamerican Machinery (2016) Tara Judah The result is a bawdy satire about the problems of industry and democracy.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio (Mogura no uta: sennyû sôsakan Reiji 2) (2017) Tara Judah Takashi doesn't like to stand squarely on either side of the problematic and deeply disturbing fence he has spent his career building. Instead, he likes to make everyone who is watching feel like they are the seedy yellow colour palette...
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Manifesto (2015) Tara Judah Rosefeldt explores cerebral engagement by going for the gut.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Super Dark Times (2017) Tara Judah The film is unthinkable and yet it is resonant and relevant.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Bright Nights (Helle nächte) (2017) Tara Judah Dramatic tension doesn't build in this utterly boring father-son drama.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
On Body and Soul (2017) Tara Judah I'm filing it under Amelie in my fantasy rolodex of overrated and ultimately empty films. I choose to remember the delicious cheese sandwich I ate immediately after, instead.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Spoor (2017) Tara Judah Beautifully photographed and aurally matched by a magnificent score, Spoor is let down by its far-fetched premise.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
The Party (2017) Tara Judah Patricia Clarkson gives a killer performance...
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Johnny Guitar (1954) Tara Judah While I won't say that I loved the film (it retains enough of its genre's tropes to not quite work for me), I was surprised by how glorious the sets and landscapes looked.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
The Dinner (2017) Tara Judah The adaptation of Hermann Koch's brilliant biting satire, The Dinner, was a huge disappointment to me.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
The Human Surge (2016) Tara Judah The Human Surge was difficult to engage with; the handheld camera work is shaky and unfocused, the POV ventures into naturally (read poorly) lit spaces and Williams completely refuses to construct seamless linear progression...
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Ulysses in the Subway (2017) Tara Judah I can say with certainty that something happened. Something exciting, and a little frightening and definitely provocative.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Young Frankenstein (1974) Tara Judah The ability of corny and literal gags to land on internationally diverse ears was infectious and heart-warming. It is also one of the most stunning black and white digital restorations I have seen.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Wise Blood (1979) Tara Judah Wise Blood is an unsettling account of post-war machismo and mental illness wrapped up in small town values and big ideas.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Broken Highway (1993) Tara Judah Broken Highway is an extraordinary film. It is identifiably Australian, in both its sound and for its themes.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016) Tara Judah So much more than just a lesson in Dawson City's own history, and extending further still than the bounds of film history, Morrison's approach to archive film offers us an experience of the past that is unwaveringly contemporary.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Australia Day (2017) Tara Judah Taking one of the most loaded terms in Australian history as its titular provocation, Australia Day asks us to think about what one might be running towards - and whether ineffective systemic management of inbred injustice can amount to anything more...
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Bitter Money (2016) Tara Judah Courtisane presents art on its own terms, not only for what it is not.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Western (2017) Tara Judah Western knows there is a hierarchy in remembered violence.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
The End of Fear (2018) Tara Judah Inventive in its approach, Visser's autopsy of the art world is full of wry humour, painful honesty and is sure to provoke.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
Weapon of Choice (2018) Tara Judah A strange and astounding ride at times, Weapon of Choice is a deftly handled, illustrated history of the white European born global ecology that sustains rising gun crime in America and armed terrorists in the Middle East.
Posted Jan 24, 2019  Edit critic review
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