It is almost impossible to write about News of the World without using the word 'capable'. It really is the perfect word to summarise not only the filmmaking but a core philosophy that the film expresses. What this means is (on a craft level), as with most films from director Paul Greengrass, you are in … Continue reading News of the World (Review)
Greyhound (Review)
There is a cold competence to Greyhound that turns its all action promise into an all monotony result. This is a film full of bombast, explosions and climactic battles. Most moments are all out war at sea, with a focus on specific details and with solid sound design. If you want to see things go … Continue reading Greyhound (Review)
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Review)
Outside of an impressive central performance from Andra Day, this film has absolutely nothing going for it. The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a poorly constructed, shallow and misguided essay that at best simplifies an icon - and a vital figure in history - and at worst is a complete disservice. This film, with … Continue reading The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Review)
Pieces of a Woman (Review)
If you've heard anything about Pieces of a Woman, chances are it is about the twenty-plus minute continuous shot of a traumatic home birth. It is an exceptional sequence, with masterful filmmaking in which the obtrusive camera movements add to the swell of tension and anxiety, while the unbroken shot further compounds this. It is … Continue reading Pieces of a Woman (Review)
The Father (Review)
There is a pleasing intricacy to how the Father is constructed. The narrative bends in intelligent ways, ways that slowly reveal a larger intent. This structural dexterity, primarily enforced through dialogue, is used to invoke subjectivity. This is both subjectivity of meaning but also an internal subjective state as the film tries to align itself … Continue reading The Father (Review)
Love and Monsters (Review)
After a brief, but rather obnoxious, narrated introduction, Love and Monsters settles into being a well executed and very tropey apocalypse movie. It ticks all the YA and post-apocalyptic boxes you would expect, going every direction you think at will - with even later twists on the formula feeling inevitable. But, when a film gives … Continue reading Love and Monsters (Review)
My Octopus Teacher (Review)
This stunningly filmed Netflix documentary starts out somewhat offputtingly. It seems to have no purpose beyond showing off some incredible underwater cameras and to facilitate a man's desire to spend a year swimming in a beautiful location. Luckily, this all soon makes sense and is subverted - and legitimised - in a beautiful way. Throughout … Continue reading My Octopus Teacher (Review)
Hillbilly Elegy (Review)
J.D Vance's best selling, and deeply controversial, memoir uses his lived experience (as presented by him) as the springboard for a number of conclusions about society and politics. He sees himself as a microcosm and from this projected an assortment of views that many, myself included (though I have admittedly only read around the book) … Continue reading Hillbilly Elegy (Review)
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Review)
Aardman movies used to feel like events. Their unique visual language and attention to detail, that necessitated long production times, made each new film (or TV movie) special. Alas, with this, and with Early Man, we see how lengthy production can make things feel dated. Farmageddon is still a fun film peppered with creative visual … Continue reading A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Review)
One Night in Miami… (Review)
A lot of historically inspired films are, realistically, historical fan fiction. However, this does become a problem when they also feel like historical fan fiction - and this is the case with One Night in Miami. This adaptation of a stage play dramatises the night after Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) became the heavyweight champion … Continue reading One Night in Miami… (Review)
Assorted Opinions 