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)
Tag: sci-fi
Dune (Review)
Let's get this out of the way first: Denis Villeneuve's Dune is actually Dune Part One. This is the first chapter in a story that is reliant on a conclusion, a fact that makes this film more difficult to independently evaluate. As a teaser for later Dune, this film is a huge success. I left … Continue reading Dune (Review)
The Midnight Sky (Review)
While so much sci-fi explores unknown and uncharted territory, The Midnight Sky decides to boldly go where every other film has been before. And boldly is charitable. This George Clooney directed, and starring, feature is an awkward mess of science fiction tropes and faint echoes of better films. The bizarre thing is, at points it … Continue reading The Midnight Sky (Review)
Possessor (Review)
There is a new name in body horror, and it is Cronenberg. However, it is not David Cronenberg; it is Brandon Cronenberg. As, in his second feature, Possessor, Brandon steps beyond his father's shadow to make one of the most interesting - and just one of the best - films of the year. Though it … Continue reading Possessor (Review)
Akira (4K Remaster) (Review)
One of the most - if not the most - iconic and influential anime feature films of all time is back in cinemas. Akira being briefly available to watch at IMAX theatres means that there has never been a better time - or better way - to watch the 1988 classic. Any fears that time … Continue reading Akira (4K Remaster) (Review)
Last and First Men (Review)
Composer Jóhann Jóhannsson's debut - and sadly final - film is a fascinating thing. It exists on the installation art side of cinema and is composed of beautiful (primarily) black and white shots of abstract architecture (and other landscapes) that are accompanied by narration from Tilda Swinton. The footage is of real things but the … Continue reading Last and First Men (Review)
The Colonialist ‘Utopia’ of Star Trek (Video Essay)
The Platform (Review)
A great premise can get you very far. However, it is what you do with it that ultimately matters. The Platform has a great premise and, to an extent, executes this premise well. But, with a film as overtly political and allegorical as this one, you need to provide a cogent thesis or clearly illustrate … Continue reading The Platform (Review)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Review)
This is the way Star Wars ends, not with a bang but with a whimper. J. J. Abrams' conclusion to the trilogy is a sparingly charming - but often incoherent - mess of a film. There are high points - Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron and Anthony Daniels' C-3PO consistently deliver and facilitate some lovely moments, … Continue reading Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Review)
High Life (Review)
Claire Denis' High Life is a brutal, haunting and provocative film about mankind pushed to its limits. It's a film about the very core of identity and what happens when our social contracts fall apart. It's an uncompromising look into the abyss that is punctuated by moments of pure hope, a quality that guides it … Continue reading High Life (Review)
Assorted Opinions 