There is a very good argument to be made that I, a white middle-aged Australian man, am not qualified to critique Black is King. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s self-described ‘visual album’ premiered earlier this year on streaming service Disney+. This 85-minute film acts … Continue reading REVIEW: Black is King (2020)
Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress trapped in the industry cycle of waitressing by day and failing auditions by night. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is an ambitious jazz pianist trapped playing Christmas music at a restaurant while dreaming of setting … Continue reading REVIEW: La La Land (2016)
Yamakawa (Frankie Sakai) and Nakai (Tadao Takashima) are salesmen working for Tokyo firm Towa Tours, which is seeking to secure lucrative American travel contracts over rival Kyokuto Tours. When the president’s daughter Yoko (Izumi Yukimura) takes over their department, she … Continue reading REVIEW: You Can Succeed, Too! (1964)
Homeless thief Aladdin (Mena Massoud) lives on the streets of Agrabah, until a chance encounter with Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) throws him into a fantastical adventure involving an evil vizier (Marwan Kenzari), a magical cave, a flying carpet, and an … Continue reading REVIEW: Aladdin (2019)
1951: Ro Ki-soo (Do Kyung-soo) is a rebellious young North Korean prisoner in an American POW camp. He is a troublemaker in the camp and given minor celebrity status by his comrades thanks to his war hero brother. When the … Continue reading REVIEW: Swing Kids (2018)
With England in an economic depression, bank teller Michael Banks (Ben Wishaw) struggles to keep his household in order following the recent death of his wife. When the bank threatens to foreclose on his loan, taking away his house in … Continue reading REVIEW: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Let me tell you about 19th century entrepreneur and entertainment giant P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman). He grows up poor and mocked by the upper classes, despite falling in love with a wealthy heiress (Michelle Williams). As an adult, when the … Continue reading REVIEW: The Greatest Showman (2017)
A Missouri family go about their day-to-day lives in the 12 months leading up to the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair. That is the one-sentence summary of Vincente Minnelli’s musical film Meet Me in St Louis. On a superficial level … Continue reading “Right here where we live” | Meet Me in St Louis (1944)
Sometimes you can’t go home again. In 1952 movie-goers around the world fell in love with Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s vibrant, toe-tapping musical Singin’ in the Rain. They embraced it with such enthusiasm that it remains one of … Continue reading “I shouldn’t have come” | It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)
An audio version of this essay is available for download here. ‘There are no auteurs in musical pictures,’ said actor/director Gene Kelly. ‘It’s impossible. You have to have music and arrangements, a choreographer, a director and so forth.’[i] It would … Continue reading “Well of course we talk, don’t everybody?” | Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
