A spectacular miss can still be a hell of a swing. Nope is stuffed full of tantalising visual ideas. In fact, it is a bit of a technical showpiece, a filmmaking tour de force. Even the editing, pronounced though it is, has style and swagger. It is a confident picture, one which wears its biggest … Continue reading Nope (Review)
The Gray Man (Review)
In a perfunctory flashback that aims to give some grounding to this frictionless spy 'thriller', Ryan Gosling's protagonist (known by codename Sierra 6, or just 6) incorrectly explains the myth of Sisyphus. It is one of those portentous moments, where the story is only brought up as a thematic echo: 6 has Sisyphus' name (in … Continue reading The Gray Man (Review)
Shiver (2021) (Review)
Sound and vision, that's all you need. This transcendent film from Toshiaki Toyoda (9 Souls) captures the Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble 'Kodo' and Koshiro Hino, filmed on the beautiful Sado Island. it is 89 minutes of percussion performance, with the island backdrop being integral to the overall effect. This overall effect is one of the … Continue reading Shiver (2021) (Review)
Elvis
You can often judge the quality of a biopic by how effective its closing montage of real life footage is. First of all, using this implies the whole piece is rather formulaic; secondly, if this footage really hits home, it can highlight quite how much the movie has not worked. The moments of something real … Continue reading Elvis
Thor: Love and Thunder
CW: Discussion of the COVID-19 Pandemic A few years ago, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was going somewhere. There was clear direction where every disparate strand, to a fault, was part of a linear tapestry. This led to a state where you had to watch them, you had to watch them all. It is all marketing, … Continue reading Thor: Love and Thunder
Men (Review)
A horror film where the antagonist is the patriarchy is not necessarily a novel concept, at least as subtext, but the bluntness of Men is certainly very different. Our protagonist, Harper (Jessie Buckley) is a victim of abuse, specifically abuse by a male in a way that is facilitated by patriarchal dynamics. Her discomfort in … Continue reading Men (Review)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (Review)
Rarely has a title been more appropriate. This genre hopping, maximalist masterpiece truly does leave the viewer like they've just seen everything everywhere all at once. It is an overwhelming experience, both during and after, but a superlative one also. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll think and you'll feel. Truly, it is everything that you … Continue reading Everything Everywhere All at Once (Review)
The Lost City (Review)
At the beginning, The Lost City promises to be something different. Adventure films, proper ones of going after treasure hidden in temples and jungles, are not as common as they used to be (though, Uncharted and Jungle Cruise, along with this, have created a mild resurgence), but they are still very much a known quantity. … Continue reading The Lost City (Review)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Review)
There is a sequence in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 where Sonic (the hedgehog) is running at high speed through a trap ridden temple. He is bouncing off walls, narrowly missing spikes and blades and, well, just platforming. He is doing the thing that Sonic does in the Sonic games. It is cool to see in … Continue reading Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Review)
Attica (Review)
It is far too easy to criticise documentaries of conventionality, as if the language of documentary wasn't an established and effective way of prioritising the documented over the documentation. Attica is a conventional documentary, formally it holds no surprises or divergences. In doing so, though, it elevates the subject matter and lets the story take … Continue reading Attica (Review)
Assorted Opinions 