Parasite – Review Tom Bond February 7, 2020 Reviews Originally reviewed as part of our Cannes Film Festival coverage in May 2019. There’s a lesser version of this film full of simple, signposted twists, broad, caricatured performances, and crude, obvious...
Birds of Prey – Review Jack Blackwell February 5, 2020 Reviews With dull, failed reboots like Men in Black and Hellboy, and heinous franchise finales like Rise of Skywalker and Dark Phoenix, 2019 was a bad year for blockbusters. Thankfully, 2020 seems to be here to set it...
Talking About Trees – Review Calum Baker February 5, 2020 Reviews 69 years ago, the inaugural issue of Cahiers du cinéma featured as its cover star Sunset Blvd. Suhaib Gasmelbari opens his documentary Talking About Trees along the same lines, as its subjects – a gang of...
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Review Carmen Paddock February 2, 2020 Reviews Marielle Heller returns with another unconventional biopic that is more interested in the humanity of its relationships than in worshipful recreations of historical events. That said, the love and care poured...
The Lighthouse – Review Jack Blackwell February 1, 2020 Reviews At its best, cinema can approach being indescribable. ‘F.W. Murnau directs an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ doesn’t make any kind of coherent sense on paper, nor is it something you can...
Queen and Slim – Review Chris Edwards January 29, 2020 Reviews Fugitive road movies struggle to cover new territory, with fierce competition from genre defining giants. Queen and Slim takes well-known elements from different sources and creates an interesting compound,...
Bombshell – Review Tori Brazier January 17, 2020 Reviews “Blood coming out of her… wherever” was, regrettably, an instantly recognisable moment from Trump’s presidential campaign. Megyn Kelly, the Fox anchor he was describing, takes centre stage in...
1917 – Review Tori Brazier January 12, 2020 Reviews 1917’s spirit is about showing strength in the face of adversity – but how that message is delivered removes any triteness. The film puts a personal face, in two young lance corporals, to warfare. 1917...
Little Women – Review Ben Flanagan December 27, 2019 Reviews Walking out of Little Women, it's hard to think that a more perfect adaptation of an already perfect novel exists. Sense and Sensibility (1995) and The Age of Innocence (1993) perhaps come close, but neither...
Team Talk – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker David Brake December 24, 2019 Reviews We've finally reached the end of the latest Star Wars saga. It's a bit of a relief, really. The back-and-forth debates over the pros and cons of The Force Awakens vs. The Last Jedi will never be settled but...
Cats – Review Carmen Paddock December 22, 2019 Reviews Nothing quite like Cats has been attempted on the big screen – and one hopes nothing like it is attempted again. From the first trailer, Cats has been defined by the bafflement around its digital fur...
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Review David Brake December 20, 2019 Reviews There’s a famous restaurant in New York called Peter Luger Steak House. It was established in 1887, and boasts brass chandeliers, exposed wooden beams and aromas to excite your ancestors. The hiss of...
Charlie’s Angels – Review Carmen Paddock November 28, 2019 Reviews A pop feminist, blingy advert for girl power could have been a fun, if fluffy, night at the cinema, but unfortunately the new Charlie’s Angels is let down by a script that neither serves the predictable plot...
Frozen II – Review Phil W. Bayles November 26, 2019 Reviews Frozen II can’t quite recapture the lightning its predecessor managed to bottle, but it’s still an entertaining ride that goes to some interesting places.
Knives Out – Review Tom Bond November 25, 2019 Reviews Whodunnits are never just about who did it. They are about the dynamic between head and heart – how and why someone takes the ultimate decision to kill another. Writer-director Rian Johnson understands this...