Drama
The Northman Review
In a one-two punch of New England folklore and carelessly spilled beans, Robert Eggers established himself as a modern auteur to watch. I remember seeing The Witch on a weekday afternoon in a huge, empty cinema – factors that only added to the feeling of isolation and unease. I left with a massive appreciation for the role that sound plays in horror and a newfound goat phobia. Watching The L...
The Duke Review
Jim Broadbent is an idealistic (and wholly unsuccessful) poet who doesn’t think he should have to pay to watch telly in The Duke, the latest (and final) film from dear departed British director Roger Michell. Michell directed Hugh Grant at his floppiest-haired and most charmingly befuddled, and had the good sense to pull out of helming that second Craig-era Bond film that no one likes nor remember...
Goliath Review
GOLIATH opens with a disclaimer. ‘Although based on real events, the characters and situations portrayed in this film are fictional. Nevertheless, resemblance to actual persons or events is no coincidence’. The following film definitely portrays some polarising characters, and situations. I can see why they needed to make that legal disclaimer. It protects them from prosecution, but it also makes...
The Batman Review
Much as when Spider-Man finally turned up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Matt Reeves’ The Batman smartly eschews retreading the caped crusader’s origin story, assuming correctly that after 80 years, almost everyone turning up for a Batman movie understands the lay of the land. We know who Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) is, and why he dresses up as a bat to fight crime in the oppressive urban he...
Cyrano Review
Little did he know that when he made his 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, Joe Wright would be cementing his place in my bubble bath cinema of joy. Having rewatched his version countless times from the warm, sudsy confines of someone else’s bathtub, I feel the same sense of calm and contentment each time that only a two-hour massage or beta blockers bring. With his new film Cyrano (an adap...
Infrared Review
Abandoned camera film, recently discovered. No sign of the people it belongs to. I love a found-footage horror film, and INFRARED definitely commits to the bit. It’s decidedly dedicated to it. There’s no opening credits, no music. The title card tells us we’re about to watch footage from a tv pilot. It’s a ghost hunting show called INFRARED. The host is Wes, played by Jesse Janzen. He’s hal...
Belfast Review
In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Belfast Boy Kenneth Branagh speaks on the origins of his new, uncreatively-named film – an autobiographical account of his own childhood in the capital of Northern Ireland during The Troubles. His was a time of great change when the village he resided in was thrown into violence and turmoil in 1969 from fighting between Protestants and Catholics (or Unio...
Spencer Review
It is the Christmas Season of 1991. On the 24th of December, the British Royal Family assemble at the Queen’s Sandringham estate. The only person not to have arrived on time is Diana Spencer (Kristen Stewart), now better known to the world as Princess Diana (although yes, technically she was not a princess, royalty fans, we know). Despite having been to Sandringham many times before, she has becom...
Licorice Pizza Review
Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, prodigal son of the late Philip Seymour) is a 15 year old student and part time actor with dreams of entrepreneurship. When he notices ’22’ (25) year old Alana Kane (Alana Haim of the eponymous family band) assisting with high school yearbook photos of his peers, he falls rather hard. We follow the saga of their not-quite relationship as they try to get ...
Swan Song Review
The first time I remember seeing Udo Kier, he was wearing a beautiful lime green jacket and info-dumping a great deal (in a dubbed American accent) on a dance student named Susie Bannion. Little did I know the magnetic charm that this German character actor had on some of the most unique filmmakers of our time; Kier counts among his frequent collaborators the likes of Werner Herzog, Lars Von Trier...
Don’t Look Up Review
Two obscure astronomers, grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and her supervisor, Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) detect a comet heading straight for Earth. The numbers are incontrovertible; it’s a planet killer, destined to wipe out humanity. They take the info to the authorities, only to smack up against indifference, disbelief, and political self-interest, chiefly from President ...
Dune Review
Twenty-thousand years in the future, humans have travelled widely through space and live on numerous worlds. Society has returned to a feudal model of royalty and empire, except these now stretch across star systems. Royal families run corporations and fight amongst themselves for favours from the Emperor, who is the greatest of all powers. He rules the Intergalactic Imperium. Duke Leto (Oscar I...