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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Megalopolis Review- Francis Ford Coppola’s swan song is one of the worst films I have ever seen.
In the stuffy mists of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, our protagonist and architect Caesar Catalina (Adam Driver) asks his soon-to-be love interest Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel) why she came to see him if not for laughs. Watching, I couldn’t help but ask myself the same thing. Had I come to see the film out of… Read more
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Lee Review- Kate Winslet dazzles as war photographer Lee Miller in a more complex biopic than first meets the eye.
Kate Winslet once again dazzles as the model turned war photographer Lee Miller in a far subtler film than first meets the eye. It feels almost perfunctory to praise a Kate Winslet performance at this point. Like Meryl Streep or Daniel Day-Lewis, she has entered a rarefied pantheon of acting genius for which only the… Read more
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Review- Tim Burton returns to the sandbox he was born to play in.
I had never seen the original Beetlejuice until preparing for this double-sized sequel, but it is an absolute blast. The story is refreshingly simplistic about a recently deceased couple Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis) haunting their old house to get rid of its new occupants with the help of the unhinged demonic… Read more
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Fly Review (IMAX Documentary)- New wing suiting documentary never manages to take flight.
Fly marks another documentary from National Geographic in what can best be described as the maniacs performing death-defying stunts in globetrotting locations genre. The documentary follows base-jumpers and wing-suiters who travel the world leaping off buildings, bridges, and mountains to soar through the air on their way to Earth. Of course, to paraphrase Toy Story,… Read more
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Sing Sing Review- Prison Drama is a Triumphant Celebration of the Power of Art and Community.
Colman Domingo is drawing much-deserved acclaim for his subtle yet powerful performance in Greg Kwedar’s new prison-based drama Sing Sing, but the film itself is a triumph whose brilliance transcends any single element. The film is set within the real-life Sing Sing correctional facility in New York State and follows its groundbreaking rehabilitation theatre programme… Read more
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Thelma Review- June Squibb is wonderful in this action film, donning a snug-knitted cardigan.
Thelma is a film which wears its cinematic influences on its sleeve, as early on we see our protagonist Thelma (June Squibb) watching Mission Impossible: Fallout with her grandson Daniel (Fred Hechinger) on an old fat backed television. Much like Cruise’s alter-ego Ethan hunt, Thelma is about to be faced with her own impossible mission… Read more
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The Substance Review- Let the ‘Demissance’ Begin In a Bonkers New Body Horror Which Ironically Lacks Substance.
Producing a great satire is a true highwire act. It needs to be somehow both bold, direct, and meaningful but without feeling obvious, smug, or preachy. At the same time, it still needs to be enjoyable on its own terms and prove genuinely entertaining. It’s a delicate balance which is incredibly difficult to pull off. On… Read more
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Unicorns Review
Unicorns feels like the perfect title for the new film from James Floyd and Sally El Hossaini (this is the former’s directorial debut and the latter’s follow up to the Bafta winning The Swimmers ) as they have reared a rare mythical beast of a film. They have created a love story which feels truly unweighted by prejudice,… Read more
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The Apprentice Review
Sebastian Stan plants his flag in the race for the Oscar in an audaciously understated film about how one of the world’s most powerful men crafted his image. There is no doubt that The Apprentice will prove a divisive film, and I’m sure prompt a whirlwind of headlines and thought pieces upon its release. The… Read more
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Anora Review
I’m beginning my Cannes reviews with my favourite film from the festival, and the Palme D’or winner, Sean Baker’s wonderfully raucous and fantastically sweary Anora. The film marks another arrow in Baker’s mission to destigmatize sex work, and it continues his trend of breathing vibrancy and colour into subject matter so often treated as seedy,… Read more