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...
Don’t Be a Dick About It – Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019 Review Jack King June 10, 2019 Reviews A documentary doesn't always have to be didactic in order to teach. As is true for real life, it's often through passive observation that we learn much not only about the subject at hand, but also of...
Fahrenheit 11/9 – LFF 2018 review Rhys Handley October 15, 2018 Reviews “How the fuck did we get here?” asks Michael Moore at the start of his new documentary-cum-raging leftist polemic Fahrenheit 11/9, reflecting on the night Donald Trump was named 45th President of the...
Rushmore and How the Teen Movie Grew Up Rhys Handley October 8, 2018 Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia Rushmore is 20 years old. Even with a two-decade legacy that reaches into cinema’s hallowed history to map out its future, Wes Anderson’s singular screwball tale of love, betrayal and extracurricular...
Short of the Week – Describe What You Heard Tom Bond February 19, 2018 Features, Independent, Short of the Week https://vimeo.com/256122016 What is a joke? At its simplest it’s when something unexpected disrupts established logic. When the words or behaviour we come across are slightly out of kilter with the rest...
Fences – Review Tom Bond February 9, 2017 Reviews A great play has a certain kind of self-made intensity, as if its players are conjuring up a story from thin air and keeping that plate spinning around the single stage. It leaves you dizzy. Directing...
O.J.: Made in America – Review Christopher Preston February 3, 2017 Reviews Between black and white are over 500 shades of grey. This is the argument of Ezra Edelman’s exhaustive cinematic thesis on O.J. Simpson; a comprehensive documentary that shows that in order to understand...
Live By Night – Review Christopher Preston January 12, 2017 Reviews What makes a “bad film”? Does the whole shebang have to be rotten? Or is it just aspects - the director, the cast, the story, the idea? It might be these questions, and probably a few more, that will...
Hillary’s Hollywood Concession Speech Stephen O'Nion November 9, 2016 Analysis, Features, One Off As I write this, Hillary Clinton is giving her concession speech. It’s gracious, well-meaning, self-effacing and hits the same old marks we hear every four years from the only person who can order 40,000...
American Honey: Andrea Arnold in America Stephanie Watts October 17, 2016 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Andrea Arnold is a filmmaker who stands out for a number of reasons, but her focus on social realism as a subject and style is one that stands out more than others. Before American Honey, her first American...
McFarland, USA – Review Stephen O'Nion September 26, 2015 Reviews Like its lead, McFarland USA has a simple, easygoing charm - and in director Niki Caro’s hands (the film, not Costner) what seems so 'route one' plays out at a significantly more enjoyable pace than its...
A Love Letter To… Cloverfield Bertie Archer August 21, 2015 Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia “My name is Robert Hawkins. It's 6:42 AM on Saturday, May 23rd. Approximately seven hours ago, some... thing attacked the city. I don't know what it is. If you found this tape, I mean if you're watching this...
A Love Letter To… Zoolander Conor Morgan February 20, 2015 Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia In Zoolander, Ben Stiller’s 2001 send-up of the fashion industry, the shadowy controlling figures of the trade task leading designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell) with finding a suitable candidate to assassinate the...
A Love Letter To… Being John Malkovich Conor Morgan October 18, 2014 Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia Continuing the recent trend of articles about Spike Jonze on One Room With A View, here's a Love Letter dedicated to Being John Malkovich and why it's a work of genius that should be adored by everyone....
The Citizen Kane of Awful: The Core Conor Morgan September 18, 2014 Features, Nostalgia, The Citizen Kane of Awful Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, Richard Jenkins, DJ Squalls, Bruce Greenwood Director: Jon Amiel Writers: Cooper Layne, John Rogers Budget: $60 million Worldwide gross:...