REVIEW: Tenet (2020)
Christopher Nolan, no matter what one’s personal opinion of his films is, has firmly established himself as an individual brand in cinema. Like a rare echelon of famous directors before him, he is a filmmaker as famous as a Hollywood … Continue reading REVIEW: Tenet (2020)
REVIEW: The Third Murder (2017)
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda appears to be getting more famous internationally with each passing film: from Nobody Knows to Like Father, Like Son, and I Wish to Shoplifters, English language audiences are growing increasingly fond of his particular blend of emotional resonance, behavioural insight, and intimate … Continue reading REVIEW: The Third Murder (2017)
REVIEW: Bliss (2019)
Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder. So, I argue, is the value that one ascribes to extreme cinema. Whether filled with frank or graphic sexual imagery, or packed with gory violence and bloodshed, or even … Continue reading REVIEW: Bliss (2019)
REVIEW: The Lodge (2019)
In Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s The Lodge, a father leaves his two grieving children alone in a winter cabin with his new girlfriend while they mourn their mother’s death. If nothing else, The Lodge may be 2020’s winner for “Worst Father of … Continue reading REVIEW: The Lodge (2019)
REVIEW: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Coming in at the end of 2020, Patty Jenkins’ widely anticipated sequel Wonder Woman 1984 has been framed as the last great hope for this year’s Hollywood box office. While almost all other blockbusters have been rescheduled for 2021 or beyond, Warner … Continue reading REVIEW: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
REVIEW: Sweetheart (2019)
Blumhouse Productions continues to have a remarkable effect on American screen horror, making an ongoing array of well-produced features ranging from the rock-solid to the exceptional. While obviously some films have been better than others, the general quality has been … Continue reading REVIEW: Sweetheart (2019)
REVIEW: Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
Jim Henson died in May 1990, on the verge of selling his famous Muppet characters to the Walt Disney Company. No one was quite sure what was going to happen next, although the Disney deal fell through without Henson as … Continue reading REVIEW: Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
REVIEW: The New Mutants (2020)
Some films emerge into cinemas so tainted by stories and gossip about their tortured production that they simply never stand a chance. The New Mutants is a prime example: set up as a horror-themed spin-off of 20th Century Fox’s lucrative X-Men franchise, it was … Continue reading REVIEW: The New Mutants (2020)
REVIEW: Lux Æterna (2019)
French cinema’s enfant terrible Gaspar Noé has returned. In typical Noé fashion, he comes on the back of a playful subversion of expectations; not necessarily ours – I suspect all of his fans and foes anticipate the sensory assaults to which … Continue reading REVIEW: Lux Æterna (2019)
REVIEW: Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
What is the purpose of a sequel? There is an easy commercial answer, of course: to make money. On a creative level, what is its ultimate purpose? To say it is to revisit popular characters and settings does not quite … Continue reading REVIEW: Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
