Drama
Titane Review
Below is my review of this year’s Palme d’Or-winning film Titane – the sophomore feature from one of the most exciting directors in the infancy of her career, Julia Ducournau. It is impossible to review this film without spoiling it, so if you want to go in blind then it’s probably best to stop here. In 2017 Ducournau directed her first feature-length film Raw, a coming-of-age story about a ...
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Review
I learned two very important things from Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, the provocative new film from Romanian director Radu Jude: 1) that people of a certain age are both shamefully interested in and incredibly uncomfortable with seeing sex on-screen and 2) that Romanians are aresholes. The latter may require more research, but seeing this film with a rather undiversified demographic on a Saturd...
Last Night in Soho Review
Edgar Wright’s love for vintage music has been more apparent than ever from his last few films, more recently in his documentary The Sparks Brothers and prior to that, the thumpingly cool caper Baby Driver. But music is also put to expert use in his earlier comedies. I’m sure many (like myself) still associate Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” with Shaun of the Dead and his new film, Last Night In Soho,...
The Many Saints of Newark Review
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” – Silvio Dante (in his beloved Michael Corleone bit) accurately describing what all Sopranos fans were thinking upon seeing the trailer for The Many Saints of Newark, the new film from Alan Taylor (director of the original series.) After many Covid-related reschedules it’s finally here and refreshingly, in theatres. Sopranos creator...
Riders of Justice Review
As someone who’s turned a Mads Mikkelsen obsession into a personality trait I am contractually obliged to wax lyrical about everything he does. But I don’t think it’s bias talking when I say that Riders of Justice, from Anders Thomas Jensen, is a wholly successful absurdist action comedy for (almost) the entire family. Its ultraviolence fits nicely in the John Wick/Nobody era of frustrated male wi...
Nitram Review
NITRAM is a tough film to watch. It’s excellent. Possibly too excellent. I think if I wasn’t Australian, if I didn’t remember the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre, it would be just a brilliant true-crime film. But I do, and so there’s an element of misery I bring into the cinema with me. The Port Arthur Massacre ended with 35 people dead, and 23 people injured. It led to a complete overhaul of Australia’...
Pig Review
Whoever said ‘You catch more flies with honey than vinegar’ (a honey salesman, probably) was surely referring to Nicolas Cage’s arc in Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut Pig. Marketed (wrongly, or perhaps sneakily) as a swiney John Wick, this is a film that shows its subject as much tenderness and care as Cage’s character shows every ingredient he uses in its grand finale. For those expect...
Annette Review
“So may we start?” sing Sparks and the cast at the beginning of Annette, a film that asks its audience’s permission before proceeding with surely one of the most unique cinematic experiences they’ll have this year. It is the English language debut from bizarro French auteur Leos Carax (Holy Motors) that Wikipedia describes as a ‘musical romantic drama film’ but that IMDb classifies as a documentar...
Nine Days Review
A man sits at an antique desk with a clipboard and poses you this scenario: you’re a prisoner of war and your son just tried to escape, and all that stands between him and a hanging is a chair. If you do not kick the chair out from under him, your son, you, and all the other prisoners will be killed. Do you kick the chair? It’s the heaviest question I’ve ever heard in a job interview, but we are d...
In The Heights Review
I just love IN THE HEIGHTS. Right from the beginning, I was hooked! That opening number, ‘In the Heights’? It’s a whirlwind of a song. We meet Usnavi (our hero, played by Anthony Ramos), most of the people in the neighbourhood, and of course, Washington Heights itself. The real star of IN THE HEIGHTS is Washington Heights. It’s a Latino American neighbourhood in New York City. And always under thr...
A Quiet Place Part II Review
I don’t appreciate jump scares, Mr Krasinski. I expected as much from A Quiet Place: Part II, but there is still much to like about this sequel to the very successful 2018 monster feature that created a silence in the cinema I hadn’t experienced since seeing The Strangers by myself. Would this new installment garner the same shut-the-hell-upness among its audience? Mostly yes. Part II opens ...
Two of Us Review
TWO OF US is a French film about true love, never giving up, and deciding, ‘to hell with what my children think’… Nina and Madeleine have a love story for the ages. Together for decades, they now live on the top floor of an apartment block. Different apartments, for appearances’ sake, but the doors are never locked. For all intents and purposes, they live and love together. But their ...