Director: Dean Parisot Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Samara Weaving There are certain projects that have ran through the rumour mill or development hell for so long that none of us really thought they'd come to fruition. That belated Twins sequel where Eddie Murphy crops up as the long-lost triplet. The original cut of Hellraiser: … Continue reading Review: Bill & Ted Face The Music
Director: Antonio Campos Stars: Robert Pattinson, Riley Keough, Tom Holland The Southern States and the lineage of the American Gothic continue to attract creatives. Often the stories set among the forests of the Appalachian hills cleave close to the mythos of the American outlaw and also the roiling temperament of Man, and that nub of … Continue reading Review: The Devil All The Time
Director: Maïmouna Doucouré Stars: Fathia Youssouf Abdillahi, Médina El Aidi-Azouni, Esther Gohourou Thanks to a significantly damaging and thoughtless marketing snafu, the reputation of Maïmouna Doucouré's Mignonnes (Cuties to English-speaking countries) has been contorted beyond her control. One overtly sexualised poster of it's child stars later and the film has courted the kind of blind ire so … Continue reading Review: Cuties / Mignonnes
Director: McG Stars: Bella Thorne, Emily Alyn Lind, Jenna Ortega Three years on from his apparent career-restart and McG hasn't gotten very far maturing. 2017's The Babysitter had gusto going for it, but not a lot else. Like Steve Buscemi asking how his fellow kids are, it came off as trying a little too hard, rocking … Continue reading Review: The Babysitter: Killer Queen
Director: Johannes Nyholm Stars: Ylva Gallon, Leif Edlund, Peter Belli We use fairy tales to relate the seeds of dark ideas not spoken in front of children. Complex issues are masked behind wonderful and terrifying adventures. This act of burial and subterfuge is fascinating in itself; as much a window into human tendencies as the … Continue reading Review: Koko-Di Koko-Da
Director: Kantemir Balagov Stars: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilia Perelygina, Andrey Bykov A pretty young woman, Masha (Vasilia Perelygina), is fitted for a green dress with a floral pattern. She is giddy with excitement over the prospect of the thing, and in a moment of unbridled delight asks, "Can I twirl in it?" This might've been the … Continue reading Review: Beanpole
Director: Charlie Kaufman Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis I get anxious when I have to go home to see family. It's only a 10 mile trip, thereabouts, but it takes a lot to go and I feel bad that that's the case. Seeing family makes me feel infantilised in ways that frustrate and … Continue reading Review: I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Director: Josh Boone Stars: Blu Hunt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams Given that the combined efforts of the MCU and DCEU (is that right?) have bludgeoned virtually all enthusiasm to watch superhero movies from my shambling body, my very visit to see The New Mutants is as much a surprise to me as anyone. Especially given how … Continue reading Review: The New Mutants
Director: Christopher Nolan Stars: Elizabeth Debicki, John David Washington, Robert Pattinson One can only imagine the frustration felt by Christopher Nolan as a juggernaut larger than his own tentpole film took over its release. The feted director's fixation with controlling time must've never seemed so far from his reach as when Covid overtook him. Oh cruel … Continue reading Review: Tenet
Director: Jayro Bustamante Stars: María Mercedes Coroy, Julio Diaz, Sabrina De La Hoz Horror cinema has long reached hard for ways and means of isolating characters within a specific, claustrophobic space, be it through hazardous weather, clapped-out cell phone reception or even - in the case of Babak Anvari's excellent 2016 film Under the Shadow … Continue reading Review: La Llorona
Director: Amy Seimetz Stars: Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Michelle Rodriguez One of the ultimate truisms and taboos in our society is that we're all going to die. It's a natural event; one of the few guaranteed experiences we will all encounter; yet bringing it up in conversation - as evidenced here in Amy Seimetz's … Continue reading Review: She Dies Tomorrow
Director: Rebecca Zlotowski Stars: Zahia Dehar, Mina Farid, Benoît Magimel The low-stakes French film about a summer of love and sexual awakening is, at this point, a subgenre all of it's own. Comfortable, nostalgic movies that feel like mini holidays all by themselves. Beautiful countryside, beautiful beaches and beautiful people. Male directors incuding Éric Rohmer, … Continue reading Review: An Easy Girl
Director: Shannon Murphy Stars: Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Essie Davis Ten years ago, going to the movies got strangely uncomfortable. Following the smash hit Avatar, 3D became the new fad, with all the big studios (and a handful of curious auteurs) jumping on the bandwagon. This repackaging of an old gimmick had its moment of novelty … Continue reading Review: Babyteeth
Director: Karen Maine Stars: Natalia Dyer, Susan Blackwell, Francesca Reale A/S/L? You either blanked at the above or it threw you back to a very specific era of dial-up, MSN and Snake 2. Before social media, before memes... If we're now in the internet's melodramatic adolescence, Karen Maine's new comedy Yes, God, Yes is set in … Continue reading Review: Yes, God, Yes
Director: Rob Savage Stars: Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb Horror filmmaking has long been at the forefront of social commentary and trends (sometimes even leading the charge), so it seems perfectly legitimate that the first high profile film of the lockdown age comes from the more ghoulish end of the cinematic spectrum. New … Continue reading Review: Host
