Cameron Pattison

Broken Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson  Despite its downbeat title, this likeable film is more humanist than miserablist. It studies the tensions between three middle-class  families living in a suburban cul-de-sac. Skunk (Eloise Laurence) is a normal 11-year-old girl who’s knocking around with her older brother in her last summer break before she starts … Read more

Tabu Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson  God, this is awful. Pilar is a middle-aged woman, plain but with expressive eyes. She believes in God, is bothered by the attentions of a mediocre painter and worries about the people around her – including Aurora, the batty old neighbour in her Lisbon apartment block. Then Aurora … Read more

The Place Beyond the Pines Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson Wall-of-death motorcycle stunt rider Luke returns to the town of Schenectady, NY, with his carnival and meets a woman he knocked up on a previous visit. He decides to stay on to play daddy, but money’s short. So he teams up with a local … Read more

Spring Breakers  Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson  I love the idea of da kids deciding to watch this based on its title and expecting a gross-out comedy. True, it has its music-video segments of bouncing boobs and binge drinking, but then it gets a bit surreal and dark. Three blonde college chicks (don’t ask … Read more