In a year saturated with Spider-Man and Marvel a film with conceivably the worst timing shows you that quality can and will trump all. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is one of those few films that […]
Category: Reviews
BODIED
This author has only ever seen one film twice during a single Festival run. That was Bodied. Bodied will very likely will be the standard-bearer and standard for its particular subgenre of satire and comedy that […]
WIDOWS
Widows is a film that takes itself very seriously. That’s fine; dramas, and heist thrillers at that, can take themselves as seriously as they want, provided there aren’t getaway car-sized holes in the plot. The […]
THE SINNER – SEASON 2
The Sinner is quickly becoming one of the best thrillers on US television – even if the second season isn’t quite a match for the first. Benefiting greatly from star Jessica Biel, here returning off-screen […]
CAM
Psychological thrillers are best when they’re relatable and (hopefully) original. ‘Cam’ ticks both boxes with camgirl Alice (Madeline Brewer from “The Handmaid’s Tale”) aka Lola facing the existential dread of being locked out of her […]
CREED II
For a movie that ticks all the boxes Creed II is a huge miscalculation. An engaging one if that, the sequel is something more akin to (while somewhat loathe to use this comparison) what The […]
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
For such a well known actress, Melissa McCarthy is strangely underrated. Flexing her considerable comic and dramatic chops as early as those first seasons of Gilmore Girls to later find broader fame with Bridesmaids and […]
ROMA
Roma deserves to be seen on the big screen – do yourself a favour and see it before it hits Netflix, and then see it again. The streaming platform have done well with this acquisition […]
ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE
A contender for one of the worst films of the year, look elsewhere than Anna and the Apocalypse. A small Welsh town, an encroaching Christmas; carols, families, seasons greetings and a horde of the undead. […]
THE COACH & RUSSIAN RESURRECTION DIRECTOR NICHOLAS MAKSYMOW ON THE FESTIVAL’S OPENING FILM
Films are rarely as ideally timed as The Coach. Fresh off the Russian team’s stellar rise to the upper echelons of the FIFA World Cup tally board to the thrill and against the expectations of […]
SGT. STUBBY: AN AMERICAN HERO
Australians will likely know the tale of Simpson and his donkey – staples of the World War who famously ferried injured soldiers to safety. Perhaps better known to American audiences is Sgt. Stubby, a terrier […]
JOURNEY’S END
War epics more often than not revolve around the key or decisive battles, the grand, sweeping calls to arms or the impact, whatever it may be, of victory and defeat. Not this one. Centred on […]
TRANSMILITARY
Documentaries can recount, expound or explain so much – but it’s always better when they’re right there. Chronicling the struggles and campaign by members of the transgender community who have enlisted in the US Armed […]
FIRST MAN
What is this movie about? It’s one of the first questions this author asks themselves whenever commencing a piece, though this one has me a little puzzled. Ostensibly it’s about Neil Armstrong and the years, […]
HALLOWEEN
It would have been so easy to rehash, remake, give us two hours of fan-service or just re-release the original and walk away with a tidy profit. It would also have been a non-event; instead, […]
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE
Bad Times at the El Royale indeed. The bare premise, one of the only threads laid bare in some very cagey promotion, is one of those ideas with the most abounding potential. A hotel, half […]
UFO
Speculative, notional sci-fi, usually the domain of more abstract offerings, aren’t often melded with kids flicks. Thankfully, there were a few gutsy earthlings willing to give it a go. For UFO is above all a […]
STAR
Have you ever noticed how many flicks have a passing, momentary or even not insignificant shot of the starry sky overlaid with dialogue, anticipation, or perhaps nothing at all? Have you taken those scenes for […]
A STAR IS BORN
Most movies are made by movie stars for people who are not movie stars. Most movies. Now the third American remake of a story with more than one iconic interpretation, characters in Bradley Cooper’s version, […]
A SIMPLE FAVOR
A Simple Favor is a lot of things. It’s a thriller, a mystery and a comedy but, importantly, it is not a parody. Watching this, and you really should stop reading this (spoiler-free) review (but […]
MANDY
Nicolas Cage: The Movie is here. That’s right, internet; you spoke, and the film Gods heard you. For this is not a film about a couple (Cage and Andrea Riseborough) and their quiet sojourn in […]
THE GREEN FOG
If you’re an Alfred Hitchcock fan, you’ve probably noticed that Vertigo has gone up in the public’s estimation. Jumping from #61 to #9 on the American Film Institute’s latest Top 100 list, the film is […]
