Category: Film Reviews
Film reviews ranging from the latest blockbusters, to the smallest Indies, to the all the late in the year Oscar bait.
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January Review Roundup- Reviews including A Real Pain, Nickel Boys, We Live in Time and Better Man.
Reviews for January releases and December holdovers including A Real Pain, Nickel Boys, We Live in Time and Better Man. Read more
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Nosferatu Review- Me Thinks Robert Eggers Doth Portent Too Much!
This remake is loaded with gorgeous gothic imagery and a few squeamish delights, but its attempt to flesh out the narrative leads to some dreary results. Read more
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Queer Review- Daniel Craig Is Magnetic in a Film Too Pretty for its Own Good
Luca Guadagnino delivers a film dripping in style but so carefully designed it lacks the raw human spark that its story deserves. Read more
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NIGHTBITCH Review- Amy Adams is Having Oodles of Fun in a Canine Satire on the Metamorphosis of Motherhood Sorely Lacking in Bite.
Marielle Heller’s early directorial career has certainly been eclectic. She debuted with the biting dark comedy Can You Ever Forgive Me? and followed things up with a big warm hug of a film in A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood. Now, with the fabulously titled Nightbitch, she makes another left turn with a magical realist satire examining the metamorphosis… Read more
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Conclave Review- Dan Brown’s Got Nothing on These Scheming Pontiffs.
One could be forgiven for thinking the election of a new Pope wouldn’t make for the most interesting film. After all, the last time it happened over a decade ago the world was subjected to unrelenting footage of one God-forsaken chimney. Even on the inside, a bunch of largely old, largely white men furtively writing… Read more
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Gladiator II Review- Roman Epic now with added Sharks, Rhinos, and Monkeys makes for a Supersized but Serviceable Sequel.
When rewatching Gladiator in preparation for its long-awaited sequel, I was surprised at how melodramatic it was. I had remembered the film only for its epic scope, quotable monologues, and sweaty brawls. I had forgotten its moments of deep emotion found not just in Maximus (Russell Crowe) mourning his murdered family but also in the… Read more
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Emilia Pérez Review- Jacques Audiard’s Daring Venture into the World of Musicals leaves a Lacklustre Aftertaste.
There is no doubting the audacity of Jaques Audiard’s new film in terms of form and content. Emilia Pérez follows a disillusioned lawyer, Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña), as she is kidnapped and then recruited by Mexican drug lord Manitas Del Monte to assist with their gender confirmation surgery. Rita is tasked with finding a… Read more
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Dahomey Review- Debate on looted colonial artefacts brought to life in lyrical new documentary.
Dahomey, which won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale, is an experimental new documentary that follows the return of colonial artefacts taken from the former Kingdom of Dahomey to Paris back to their home in modern-day Benin. In total 26 artefacts were returned in 2021, but director Mati Diop focuses on three statues of… Read more
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Memoir of a Snail Review- A Beautifully Twisted Journey through the Doldrums of Human Despair and Out the Other Side.
Memoir of a Snail, the winner of the official competition at this year’s London Film Festival, is a stop-motion animation set in its writer-director Adam Elliot’s native Australia. However, this is not the Australia of sun-dappled coastlines and beach-ready bodies, as Elliot blends Aardman-style animation with a Burtonesque aesthetic in a tale of tragedy, comedy… Read more
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Blitz Review- Steve McQueen’s new WWII drama makes for truly epic British filmmaking.
Blitz, Steve McQueen’s latest directorial venture set during the height of German bombing raids over London, is a visceral and never-shattering cinematic experience. The film perfectly blends McQueen’s early career as a visual artist- who has created commissioned works on the Iraq War– into the popular framework of a mainstream movie. It opens with searing… Read more