Starting out as a beautiful presentation of a distinct culture and identity, and ending up as a brutal defence of those very same concepts, Bacurau is a very impressive - and very important - film. Its clear tonal shift from start to end - functioning like a vérité exploration of an isolated, rural community in Brazil … Continue reading Bacurau (Review)
Color Out of Space (Review)
The work of famous racist, H.P. Lovecraft, is no stranger to the big screen. This is in spite of the fact that much of his work deals with the unexplainable and the inexplicable: people harrassed by things that defy description and understanding. These ideas may be hard to put on screen but that difficulty has … Continue reading Color Out of Space (Review)
Dark Waters (Review)
There's a wonderful synchronicity to the narrative and the construction of Dark Waters. It tells the enthralling, and frequently shocking, true story of how a corporate defense attorney took on the DuPont corporation and exposed a lengthy history of the company knowingly polluting its customers (and, in places, the wider population). Why this feels so … Continue reading Dark Waters (Review)
The Invisible Man (2020) (Review)
The opening act of Blumhouse's Invisible Man reboot is excellent. It begins with a brilliant credits sequence and segues into a nail-bitingly tense escape scene in a clifftop house (an architectural marvel that lends an austere beauty to the film). For a third of the running time, the film's identity is very clear: it is … Continue reading The Invisible Man (2020) (Review)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Review)
I once visited a Jeff Koons exhibition in which reflective spheres had been placed in pieces of art - often classical art. The spheres reflected the art back at itself but also made it so that you could not look at the art without looking at yourself and your surroundings. It was an effective, if … Continue reading Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Review)
My Neighbour Totoro (Ghibli: The Netflix Batch)
With Netflix (in most territories) adding the entire Ghibli back catalogue (minus Grave of the Fireflies) over the next three months, it’s the perfect time to either revisit or visit the collection. If revisiting, why not write about them? Great idea. Welcome to ‘Ghibli: The Netflix Batch,’ a collection of essays inspired by each film. … Continue reading My Neighbour Totoro (Ghibli: The Netflix Batch)
First Love (Review)
Takashi Miike has made some of the most bizarre films of all time. Most famous for his frenetic, violent - and often surreal - Yakuza movies, First Love sees him perhaps returning to his first love: the aforementioned genre. From any other director, First Love is a really promising and super stylish action film full … Continue reading First Love (Review)
Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (Review)
After a slew of dull - and frequently terrible - films, Birds of Prey (as it was originally called) is just what the increasingly irrelevant DC universe needs. It is certainly not without flaws but it works as a decent template for what should follow and has a clear sense of fun and energy - … Continue reading Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (Review)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Review)
To be fair, it's hard to make a film out of a character whose only defining characteristic is: they go fast. This is however, more of a reason not to make the film than any kind of defence of this awful movie. Sonic the Hedgehog may have been a bad idea from the get go, … Continue reading Sonic the Hedgehog (Review)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Ghibli: The Netflix Batch)
With Netflix (in most territories) adding the entire Ghibli back catalogue (minus Grave of the Fireflies) over the next three months, it's the perfect time to either revisit or visit the collection. If revisiting, why not write about them? Great idea. Welcome to 'Ghibli: The Netflix Batch,' a collection of essays inspired by each film. … Continue reading Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Ghibli: The Netflix Batch)
Assorted Opinions 