The new divisive film from M. Night Shyamalan is divisive purely because it is an M. Night Shymalan movie. Few other filmmakers have the arguable gift to force viewers to find positives in their films, especially as evidence to the contrary keeps accruing. This film is very Shyamalan to the extent it could not come … Continue reading Old (Review)
Tag: thriller
Nobody (Review)
This new entry in the John-Wick-as-a-genre canon is built upon a power fantasy, and general fantasy, that I have no interest in. This is a middle-aged dude impotence-film, in which an act of sensibility (not murdering the people who are so desperate that they take advantage of you leaving your garage door slightly open and … Continue reading Nobody (Review)
No Sudden Move (Review)
When watching Steven Soderbergh's latest, the first thing that stands out is how it is shot. The whole film has a distorted look. Things aberrate at the edges of the screen and there is an almost fish-eye effect; though, it's more like watching on an old non-flat screen TV. This is produced by period appropriate … Continue reading No Sudden Move (Review)
Pig (Review)
The rug pull of Pig is now widely known, but how it does it is still so compelling. After several years of a whole lot of 'it is John Wick but...' films, known goofy-action-icon Nicholas Cage taking on the 'John Wick but..' mantle, this time trying to get back his Pig, seems like an enjoyably … Continue reading Pig (Review)
Nimic (Review)
Legendarily odd filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, The Lobster and Dogtooth) delivers a characteristically bizarre short. Feeling like a direct descendant of Possession, this atonal and abstract tale of doppelgängers and replacement is a twisted delight. Matt Dillon (one of the very few good things about The House that Jack Built) stars as a passive … Continue reading Nimic (Review)
Tenet (Review)
Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster comes with the promise of saving cinema: an unparalleled, thought provoking spectacle that will bring back the masses (safely, of course). Few films could bear this burden and, unfortunately, to repurpose a cliché actually used in Tenet (more on the clunky dialogue later) the film arrives not with a bang but … Continue reading Tenet (Review)
Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Review)
Off-putting name aside, Dogs Don't Wear Pants (DDWP) is a really impressive movie full of excellent decisions. It is a film of real style - and of some substance - that manages to cleverly negotiate disparate tones while always feeling cohesive. From the beginning, DDWP involves a number of tropes that are often off-putting, or … Continue reading Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Review)
Vivarium (Review)
Naming a film about domestic life, in which a young couple 'move in' (more on that later) to a new home, after an observed enclosure gives you a strong indication of the ideas the film is going to push. Vivarium is a film that, ultimately, hides a very predictable and drawn out narrative behind a … Continue reading Vivarium (Review)
Monos (Review)
As a sensory experience, Monos is exceptional; in fact, it is rare to see a debut feature (Alejandro Landes) that is this assured, bold and visually spellbinding. This Lord of the Flies inflected story of child soldiers left alone with a hostage and a cow on a remote mountaintop (in an unspecified South American location, … Continue reading Monos (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)
Assorted Opinions 