See cinema differently
Director: Joel Coen Stars: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins One might argue that the cinema needs another adaptation of Macbeth as much as it needs a retelling of the Batman origin story, but Joel Coen's effort serves its director as much as it's audience, and might be taken as a palette cleanser as he flexes …
The top ten The Matrix ResurrectionsTitaneZolaPurple SeaMalmkrogCensorPetite MamanMalignantNotturnoShiva Baby Film of the YearThe Matrix Resurrections Lana Wachowski's belated capper to the hugely influential trilogy made stylish again a form of cinematic spectacle deadened over the last decade of Marvel reign. This phenomenally beautiful sci-fi fantasy piece gleefully leaps down the rabbit-hole with abandon, pushing the …
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal Stars: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson We're all flawed people, and often it's those malformed, knotty or unkempt portions of ourselves that define our individuality, for better and for worse. Maggie Gyllenhaal has made a 20 year career out of portraying a variety of knotty, unkempt, fallible women, with career highlights …
Director: Adam McKay Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ariana Grande Having made a few well-loved and very silly comedy movies, Adam McKay threw what seemed like a curveball in 2015 with his serious-ish financial crash exposé The Big Short. Six years and one disastrous biopic later, McKay shows no sign of reverting to type. Rather …
Director: Lana Wachowski Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick Any story, novel, play or film with genuine longevity is in some way changed by its own legacy. When the idea, its symbols and values add up to something larger than that initial kernel, that initial nugget. When a lived-in experience has been added by …
Director: Valdimar Jóhannsson Stars: Noomi Rapace, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Hilmir Snær Guðnason There's precious little chitchat between isolated Icelandic sheep-farming couple María (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), which makes one particular breakfast conversation stand out. While reading the paper, Ingvar observes that time travel may now be theoretically possible, and ponders visiting the …
Director: Paolo Sorrentino Stars: Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Luisa Ranieri The Hand of God can plainly be cited as Paolo Sorrentino's "autobiographical one", but when you're an auteur on the world cinema stage with the kind of craft that marks each effort with your distinct signature, aren't they all "autobiographical ones"? Perhaps the answer is …
Director: Camille Griffin Stars: Keira Knightly, Annabelle Wallis, Lily-Rose Depp For those hankering a modern take on some yuletide spirit, the prospect of a festive knees-up in the company of Brit cinema stalwart Keira Knightly might well seem like an attractive proposition. But one would do well to calibrate expectations before embarking on this particular …
Director: Johannes Roberts Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Avan Jogia Play pretty much any video game nowadays and there'll be a selection of optional 'trophies'; pre-set goals to complete to improve your overall ranking and measure how thoroughly you've bested it. A fairly commonplace one - and one present on the recent Resident Evil II …
Continue reading "Review: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City"
Director: Jane Campion Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Benedict Cumberbatch Though she's hardly been inactive, the return of Jane Campion to feature filmmaking is serious news, and her new western has already caused much hubbub after debuting on the festival circuit. Now nestled among the detritus on Netflix, can it make a mark amid so …
Director: Ridley Scott Stars: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Salma Hayek Ladies and gentlemen, the charcuterie is open. Though octogenarian Ridders has vocally blamed millennial apathy on the poor performance of The Last Duel just last month (shit, this year feels long), I'd wager the real culprit was the blink-and-you'll-miss-it promotional campaign and non-existent theatrical run …
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi Stars: Hideotoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima Yûsuke (Hideotoshi Nishijima) and Oto (Reika Kirishima) are a married couple in contemporary Japan who both work in the arts. He as an actor, she as a writer of alluring fiction, both short stories and screenplays for television. They are a couple connected by - …
Director: Andreas Fontana Stars: Fabrizio Rongione, Stéphanie Cléau, Carmen Iriondo There are few films in recent years that have felt as slippery and evasive as Azor. Considering I have a somewhat high tolerance threshold for obtuse and mysterious cinema, you can take that as your first warning. However, if these are qualities that tend to …
Director: Mike Mills Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Woody Norman, Gaby Hoffman America is uncertain. Between the omnipresent ills of climate change, class disparity and race relations, it is a nation that seems strung-out, worried, over-caffeinated and quick to anger. Mike Mills' latest film acts in the main like a small and personal human drama, which it …
Director: Robert Greene An anonymous double-garage with its wide door closed. Slowly it opens, sliding up to reveal... boxes. Boxes atop boxes. As high as the ceiling, as deep as the garage goes, so it seems. These are case files. Sexual abuse case files. The Catholic church's unending connection to pedophiliac horror stories isn't funny …
The Lost Highway Hotel 