It seems fitting that Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick was delayed by a bewildering three years since it completed shooting. It finally reaches cinemas around the world this week, set back first by an extended post-production and then by the … Continue reading REVIEW: Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
“Strange New Worlds” I really do not like prequels. Anyone that has followed my film writing over the past decade or two will no doubt be aware of this, but it bears repeating. Nothing of dramatic worth comes from a … Continue reading TV REVIEW: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1.01
That’s Entertainment! is a rather strange movie franchise: one that prefigured audience demand slightly ahead of time, and then prefigured newer demands all over again almost two decades later. The original 1974 film comprised a series of MGM musical numbers, all … Continue reading REVIEW: That’s Entertainment! III (1994)
“Gods and Monsters” Against all odds, Moon Knight’s finale managed to pull together all of its flailing disparate story threads into some form of conclusion. I honestly had my doubts, given just how wildly anarchic the preceding five episodes have … Continue reading TV REVIEW: Moon Knight 1.06
I’m going to go out on a limb here, and suggest that – if one was to ponder what follow-up project might emerge from Game of Thrones writer and executive producer D.B. Weiss – a heavy metal-themed teen comedy would not … Continue reading REVIEW: Metal Lords (2022)
A new anime feature provides some excellent design work and colour, but is saddled with an overly familiar story and an extended climax which both consign it to the pile of disposable entertainment. It is enjoyable enough to watch, but … Continue reading REVIEW: Bubble (2022)
“Asylum” In Moon Knight’s fifth and penultimate episode, Marc and Steven’s adventures through a mental institution-shaped underworld provide a canny excuse for a whole lot of back story. It is emotionally fulfilling stuff, and the really impressive achievement is just … Continue reading TV REVIEW: Moon Knight 1.05
Only a few weeks ago I used a review of Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home to make the argument that their broad interconnected franchise of superhero films represented a major shift from traditional film narrative, and deserved – indeed, needed – … Continue reading REVIEW: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Clea DuVall’s Happiest Season is the best comedy I have watched in some time. It seems to effortlessly do what the best films of its genre do: keep the laughs flowing while backing them up with well-developed characters, an engaging storyline, and … Continue reading REVIEW: Happiest Season (2020)
Lowell Sherman’s pre-Code drama Born to be Bad is a distinctive and unusual film. While in many ways it seems critically compromised, it also reveals a remarkable boldness and originality in its storyline and characters. I have written in the past about … Continue reading REVIEW: Born to be Bad (1934)
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