Director: Kirsten Johnson This year has seen a lot of people lose elderly relatives to the ongoing global pandemic and most families have been unable to say a traditional goodbye through funeral ceremonies. Reduced gatherings, social distancing... these things and more have been barriers at times, stopping us from communing when we most feel the … Continue reading Review: Dick Johnson is Dead
Director: Sarah Gavron Stars: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, Shaneigha-Monik Greyson Sarah Gavron first came to my attention with her quirky, singular documentary on life in a remote Greenland hamlet, Village at the End of the World. That film prominently featured a young man often dissatisfied and at odds with his environment. Gavron's latest - a narrative … Continue reading Review: Rocks
Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples Stars: Nicole Beharie, Alexis Chikaeze, Kendrick Sampson The bond between a mother and daughter is at the centre of Channing Godfrey People's gently pleasing Miss Juneteenth; a film which uses the American tradition of pageantry to advance a subtle probe into what it means to be African American in the Southern States. … Continue reading Review: Miss Juneteenth
Director: Rose Glass Stars: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lisa Frazer How does one quantify faith? What is the yardstick or barometer? Placing metrics on the quintessentially unquantifiable has been the cause of frustration and burden for as long as there have been organised doctrines to follow. As in film criticism, objectivity is scarce, possibly futile. … Continue reading Review: Saint Maud
Director: Harry Bradbeer Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Helena Bonham Carter, Susan Wokoma Few if any fictional characters have been brought to both the large and small screens as exhaustively as Sherlock Holmes. Truth be told, this ubiquity has led to a certain weariness, on my part. Being confronted with yet another iteration? Fine, okay. Here, … Continue reading Review: Enola Holmes
Year: 2010 Director: Alexandre Aja Stars: Jerry O'Connell, Elisabeth Shue, Kelly Brook The so-called 'B-movie' (the original concept itself long abandoned by cinemas) spins in and out of the modern mainstream with some regularity, usually dependent on some aberration or other hitting it big or creating meme-worthy content. From killer sharks to killer crocs to … Continue reading Why I Love… #119: Piranha 3D
Year: 2009 Director: Jim Jarmusch Stars: Isaach de Bankolé, Alex Descas, Paz de la Huerta Earlier this year during our (first) lockdown - and suddenly unemployed - I used my free time, somewhat unsurprisingly, to catch up on some movies from my ever-growing watchlist. Part of this included checking off the Jim Jarmusch titles that … Continue reading Why I Love… #118: The Limits of Control
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
