CarolineStafford
Madame Web Review
What started with a unique premise and intricate storyline, Madame Web quickly became more tangled up than, well, a fly in a spider’s web. In an effort to tap into the Spider-Man hype, (delicately without ever mentioning everyone’s favourite web-slinger overtly), director S.J. Clarkson took a former side character from the comic pages and gave her the full-fledged superhero movie treatment, which ...
How to Have Sex Review
How to Have Sex is definitely not the how-to guide that its title suggests – instead it’s a haunting coming of age story that is all too familiar for many women. Directed by Molly Manning Walker, How to Have Sex premiered at Cannes and won Un Certain Regard, and went on to tour more festivals across New Zealand, Australia and Canada, all to high acclaim. The story traces the dream party hol...
Mean Girls Review
It’s not just déjà vu with fabulous musical flair – Mean Girls is back, but maybe not with as much of a vengeance as its predecessor. Directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr have brought the broadway show based on the cult classic back to the silver screen once again. While it does retain much of the campy and fun hallmarks of the original, perhaps with the latest iteration we have foun...
Anyone But You Review
If you, when sitting down to view Anyone But You, were also dreading another shaky Shakespere inspired rom-com, you might find yourself in for an unexpected surprise. Not exactly known for his romantic comedies, Will Gluck (director of Peter Rabbit) delivers a crowd-pleasing rom-com that harks back to the hey-day of the genre. Starring the both very hot right now Sydney Sweeney (best known for E...
Bottoms Review
Have you ever been sitting in a cinema when you get the feeling that you’re watching a cult film in the making? Welcome to Bottoms, from director Emma Seligman and co-writer Rachel Sennott. Look, it’s not going to be for everyone, the vibe is kind of … absurdist gay Mean Girls meets slasher fic? And is firmly rooted in Gen Z comedy. However, don’t be quick to judge this bloody high school romp ...
The Old Oak Review
Set in a small north-eastern English town still living in the shadows of the UK miners’ strike, a new form of solidarity and brotherhood emerges as Ken Loach weaves a heart-warming story of a group of Syrian refugees trying to make a new life for themselves – but who is in more strife – the refugees or the forgotten townspeople? This unassuming film begins with a poignant metaphor as ...
Circus of the Scars Review
Hasn’t everyone dreamt of running away to the circus at one point in their lives? Well, if you’re headed to Circus of the Scars it might turn into a nightmare, but at least it’ll be fun. Circus of The Scars is a documentary following the unique phenomenon of 1990s grunge rock circus sideshow acts from the Pacific Northwest, chiefly the Jim Rose Circus. Primarily comprised of rough-cut archival fo...
Polite Society Review
Part coming of age teen drama and part action thriller, Polite Society, the debut film from writer-director Nida Manzoor, is a must-see this year. Rich in allusions to cult classics like Kill Bill, Get Out, The Matrix and Scott Pilgrim vs the World, it’s packed full of relatable family drama, witty one-liners, dynamic cinematography and well-oiled fight scenes. With such a packed dance card of gen...
Infinity Pool Review
Infinity Pool, the most recent film from Brandon Cronenberg, is a twisted extended metaphor for the trappings of luxury and inner darkness we all harbour, with some graphic and artfully kaleidoscopic sex scenes thrown in for good measure. It is set on a fictional island that seems to be a pastiche of various locations around the globe that have been exploited by the super rich as they construct hy...
Air Review
All too often star-studded casts in keenly anticipated films have disappointed us and many worried that Air would fall into this disappointing trend but it seems director Ben Affleck can do no wrong! This historic drama recounts the story of Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) as he puts his career on the line to create a line of shoes based on a young, up-and-coming basketball player Michael Jordan (Dami...
Champions Review
Champions is yet another ‘inspirational’ film where a washed up, onerous, able bodied white man (played by Woody Harrelson) is taught to to appreciate his lot in life because he is forced by circumstance (and in this case a judge) to tutor/coach/motivate a group of people with disabilities to success in their relative arena, and thus win the girl/dream job. Heard it before? Well we all have. The o...
Spoiler Alert Review
Spoiler Alert: stories of good men dying young will always make you cry, but sometimes they can leave audiences looking for more. It feels oddly harsh to critique Michael Showalter’s Spoiler Alert as it is based on a true story of the same name, written by Michael Ausiello. It tells the story of how he lost his husband to cancer, and follows their relationship from its inception, through their gro...