Director: Jia Zhang-ke Actor: Zhao Tao, Liao Fan, Xu Zheng For as long as there have been gangster pictures there has been the trope of the gangster's moll; the beautiful dame as trophy appendage with smart retorts but virtually no agency of her own. The latest film from Chinese auteur Jia Zhang-ke inspects this trope, … Continue reading Review: Ash Is Purest White
I’ve tried to make this as spoiler-free as possible. One paragraph talks – in the vaguest of terms – about non-specific character fates. I’ve placed the offending sentences within [ ] if you’d rather not take your chances. Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Stars: Karen Gillen, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans Problem #1. You've made a 21-part … Continue reading Review: Avengers: Endgame
Director: S Craig Zahler Stars: Mel Gibson, Tory Kittles, Vince Vaughn Following brutal western Bone Tomahawk and the equally punishing exploitation flick Brawl In Cell Block 99, S Craig Zahler cements his position as poster-boy for America's most violent impulses with this evocatively titled crime drama. This time the buddy cop movie is Zahler's playground. … Continue reading Review: Dragged Across Concrete
Director: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter "I wanted every person who has ever been dismissed because of the way they look to feel like they were on that stage, killing 'em, killing 'em." This quote from Beyoncé, which floats through the first of Homecoming's intervals, should serve to quiet dismissals that this film is merely a concert film. It is … Continue reading Review: Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé
Director: Jafar Panahi Stars: Behnaz Jafari, Jafar Panahi, Marziyeh Rezaei Its indicative of the splendid humour of Jafar Panahi's 3 Faces that, come the final shot of the film, the titular visages could be those of three cows riding in a procession of trucks, snaking through the dirt roads of northwest Iran. Something so delightful, so … Continue reading Review: 3 Faces
Director: Jacques Audiard Stars: John C Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) and Eli (John C Reilly) are hired hands. The year is 1851. These brothers - the Sisters brothers - are in the employ of The Commodore (Rutger Hauer), and do his bidding for tidy reward. At the beginning of the picture … Continue reading Review: The Sisters Brothers
Director: Jonah Hill Stars: Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Na-Kel Smith With his Danny Torrance-esque mop of hair, Sunny Suljic added another level of Kubrickian shade to Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing Of A Sacred Deer a couple of years back. Now he takes the lead role in Jonah Hill's directorial debut; a coming-of-age comedy of skateboarding … Continue reading Review: Mid90s
Director: Bo Burnham Stars: Elsie Fisher, Emily Robinson, Josh Hamilton "What're you doing here, honey?" Danny DeVito's Dr Hornicker asks sagely to young Cecilia Lisbon in Sofia Coppola's sun-dappled adaptation of The Virgin Suicides, "You're not even old enough to know how bad life gets." To which the world-weary teen retorts, "Obviously, doctor, you've never … Continue reading Review: Eighth Grade
Director: Brie Larson Stars: Brie Larson, Mamoudou Athie, Bradley Whitford Arriving in the wake of Captain Marvel, but shot back in 2017, Brie Larson's directorial debut lands this week on Netflix at arguably her commercial peak thus far (turns out leading a Marvel flick tops winning Best Actress at the Oscars (sigh)). Spending two years in … Continue reading Review: Unicorn Store
Directors: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer Stars: John Lithgow, Amy Seimetz, Jason Clarke A few years back Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer set the horror scene temporarily ablaze with their dark and beautiful debut Starry Eyes, a lo-fi body horror transformation of the American Dream into the Hollywood Nightmare. How unfortunately prescient Starry Eyes now seems, as the filmmaking duo … Continue reading Review: Pet Sematary (2019)
