Author Jack Blackwell

This film was previously reviewed on 05/10/17 as part of London Film Festival. To call a movie set in two distinct time periods a "film of two halves" might seem overly trite, but unfortunately, it’s the...

Writing-directing debuts don’t come much more slick or polished than Cory Finley’s Thoroughbreds. A taut blast of a thriller, it announces a serious new filmmaking talent as well as further confirming the...

Whether they’re cute or scary, talkative or mute, animals always hold a particular power in cinema – there are even sites dedicated specifically to telling you whether or not any pets get hurt in any given...

This film was previously reviewed on 05/09/17 as part of the Venice Film Festival. A rare foray into more genre-style filmmaking for master of small family dramas Hirokazu Koreeda, The Third Murder is a...

With its lacklustre US box office and director Guillermo del Toro busy winning Oscars, a sequel to the wonderful monsters vs robots extravaganza Pacific Rim looked unlikely. Five years later, the sequel has...

When faithfully adapting a video game as cinematic as the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, you face inevitable accusations of pointlessness, however good the film ends up being. After all, what good is watching a...

This film was originally reviewed on 10/10/2017 as part of London Film Festival. In the first seconds of Warwick Thornton’s outback Western Sweet Country a screaming brawl happens off screen, the camera...

This film was previously reviewed on 27/09/17 as part of London Film Festival. A Fantastic Woman arrives with a lot of prestige behind it. Sebastian Lelio’s film won the Silver Lion at Berlin after rave...

A member of Radiohead and Paul Thomas Anderson’s go-to composer, Jonny Greenwood has long been a musical magician, but his film work in 2017 was a high-water mark even by his own lofty standards. Not only...

This film was previously reviewed on 15/10/17 as part of London Film Festival. Though Greta Gerwig has had plentiful scripting experience to complement her always exciting acting career, Lady Bird marks...

This film was previously reviewed on 31/08/17 as part of Venice Film Festival. Anticipation for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water has been sky high, thanks to its prestigious cast and a beautiful...

This film was previously reviewed on 21/09/17 as part of London Film Festival. Apocalypses loom large in the world of Loveless, from the impending implosion of a family that gives the film its story to its...

This film was previously reviewed on 07/10/17 as part of London Film Festival. In adapting a play to the screen, there’s a tough balance to strike. You have to retain the essence of the original...

Given his propensity for writing films revolving around driven, charismatic, and dangerously self-regarding men, one might be forgiven for thinking Paul Thomas Anderson, all-round auteur and probably the...

This film was previously reviewed on 30/08/17 as part of Venice Film Festival. Alexander Payne returns with a strange, ambitious, and often pummellingly downbeat story. After Norwegian scientists make the...