Reviews

The themes tackled throughout Warwick Thornton‘s The New Boy are presented with symbolic, almost-magical and allegorical physicality.  And though its 1940’s Australian setting lends interesting conversation to its religious outlay and the clashing of beliefs at the time, the film itself doesn’t quite contain the spark needed to earn true impact; though it’s not for…

Despite the simple premise of Celine Song‘s Past Lives and its romantic comedy connotations, the film is anything but.  Burning slow and composing its emotions until it knows when to release them in a flood of responsive passion, Song’s impeccable debut is a drama of humanism and quiet complexity. Set over the span of 24…

Whilst the breakdown of a marriage and the impending custody battle that will take place as to whose time favours the child in question has been a reliable staple for cinematic drama over the years – most recently displayed in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and perhaps most famously in 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer – queer…

In this era of streaming taking priority (unfortunately), there’s a whole generation of movie watchers – if they aren’t on their phone during said watch – who are unaware of just how special a time the video store truly was.  I Like Movies indulges in that time. Set amongst the backdrop of teen angst, Blockbuster…

There’s both a sense of adhering to the temperaments of action films gone by and embracing the current and future state of the genre present in Jalmari Helander‘s Sisu. Matching its dark sense of humour (and I mean dark) with a violently bloody mentality (and I mean bloody!), Sisu manages to present the simplest of…

Another Wes Anderson creation, where the sheer cast alone is unfathomable in their collective talent and the twee is as twee as can be, Asteroid City, with its distinct colour pallet and deadpan performances, won’t convert any viewers over to the Wes way of watching, but those that have stuck with the auteur through his…

Whilst it’s easy to pick how Scrapper – Charlotte Regan‘s impossibly charming comedy/drama – will end when all is said and done, the central performances from newcomer Lola Campbell and Harris Dickinson as a feisty, self-reliant 12-year-old and her man-child father, respectively, are what keeps the quirky narrative continually engaging. It’s one of those “message”…

“Before we continue I’d like to apologize to anyone who might be upset or offended by what you saw before the break. It’s not every day you see a demonic possession on live television.” Not the most typical sentence you’d expect to hear from a late night host, but such is the statement made by…

Though the title of Benjamin Millepied‘s feature directorial debut Carmen – the dancer-turned filmmaker having cut his teeth on short films and music videos – suggests a connection to Georges Bizet‘s French opera of the same name, his script – co-written with Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and Loïc Barrere – only mildly references its narrative mentality and…

The wants and needs of comic book fans is something of a tall order when it comes to successfully executing a story that has a certain level of lore attached to it.  In terms of The Flash, there’s perhaps an even stronger necessity for the film to prove its worth off the back of certain…

In the mid-90s a little film named Kids was released. It became a phenomenon that catapulted its stars into the mainstream consciousness. We Were Once Kids is a documentary that looks behind the scenes at the original filmmaking process, while also asking the question, “Where are they now?” Eddie Martin directs this film, which is…

Despite being the third film in the respective Crime City series – preceded by The Outlaws (2017) and The Roundup (2022) – The Roundup: No Way Out very much operates on its own.  Sure, it helps to have seen the other films, but Lee Sang-yong‘s enthusiastic actioner transmits a joy and an individuality that doesn’t…

Whilst it’s fair to say that not every respective project of director Abel Ferrera and actor Shia LaBeouf is successful in their individual execution, you can’t deny the absolute dedication they both have regarding their craft.  Ferrara, whose varied career has seen him helm such divisive works as King of New York, Harvey Keitel’s lauded…

Expanding everything that made 2018’s revolutionary Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse work so wonderfully, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is bombastically ambitious, beautifully imaginative and emotionally rich.  It’s also drastically complicated for anyone not (Spider)versed in the ways of its animated predecessor, so – like many comic book movies that are specifically intertwined with their own franchise…

Bert Kreischer is not a personality I’m familiar with.  And having no idea as to who he was in a professional capacity meant The Machine – a star vehicle centred around his most famous  stand-up story – was a film I entered with zero expectations. Perhaps that was what ultimately got me over the line…

The Wrath of Becky continues the story of its titular character, played by Lulu Wilson, who reprises her role from the 2020 film, Becky. Two years on, she has moved on from foster parent to foster parent after the loss of her real parents in the events from the first film while keeping up with…

Whilst, for the most part, there’s a certain unnecessary mentality that comes along with Disney and their incessant need to live-action-update their animated back catalogue, some of these efforts have given way to adaptations that are inherently interesting (Jon Favreau’s 2016 take on The Jungle Book), undeniably charming (Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella from 2015) or have…

When you have a film led by such reliable talent as Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and William H. Macy, it’s understandable to believe that the hands you’re in will guide you to a safe destination.  And perhaps that’s the problem.  Maybe I Do is entirely too safe to make any lasting impression beyond…

If ever there was a role Nicolas Cage was going to sink his teeth into, it’s that of Dracula.  And the eccentric character actor is undoubtedly Renfield‘s biggest asset, but, despite top billing, this isn’t the Count’s movie – though it’s not for a lack of trying. The titular Renfield is R.M. Renfield (the film’s…

Given how attached John Farnham is to the song “You’re The Voice”, it’s hard to believe that it almost didn’t make the cut for his 1986 signature record, “Whispering Jack”.  His 12th album at the time, “Whispering Jack” reignited Farnham’s solo career, and off the back of the aforementioned single, it drove itself to 25…

The Fast & Furious films live in the ridiculous – or, at least they have predominantly for the last decade or so – and, at this point, that’s practically a compliment to call so.  Whether you think they have evolved or devolved over time from their humble 2001 beginnings of car-jackings and street races is…

There’s a distinct lack of energy and unfortunate fizzle present throughout Neil Jordan‘s Marlowe.  It’s stylish, has an impeccable cast, and certainly isn’t lost on narrative potential, but the titular character as played by Liam Neeson – based off Raymond Chandler‘s famous detective – feels like they’d much rather be sipping a cuppa than solving…

With Gerard Butler‘s name attached, and the most simplistic of titles on hand, you’d be right in thinking such a film as Plane is going to deliver on the bare minimum; It’ll be big, loud, non-sensical, heavy on testosterone and light on narrative. And whilst aspect of those expectations aren’t far off the mark, Jean-François…

Watching Hypnotic and noting its mid-2000 mentality makes all the more sense when you know that Robert Rodriguez wrote the screenplay back in 2002, with the filmmaker calling it one of his favourite stories that he’s created.  It may have been written in 2002 but the film very much lives in the shadow of Christopher…

Love Again tells the story of two intrepid, lovelorn strangers who find themselves back into the spotlight of love. Mira (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) is a talented children’s author/illustrator who is undergoing a time of grief after the untimely passing of her loving fiancé John (Arinze Kene). She becomes inconsolable that her grief affects her work…

The wealthy whites and their easy skewering is a narrative mentality that we have been witness to in a variety of practices as of late.  But unlike The White Lotus and The Menu, two of the most recent examples of such a temperament, Brandon Cronenberg‘s Infinity Pool pushes further past being just a little wicked…

Eldritch, USA wears its miniscule budget and make-shift mentality with a gleeful pride over the course of its 108 minutes.  Its limitations are obvious, but there’s a certain scrappy charm to it all that you can’t help but be a little taken by its ambition and camp B-movie mindset; there’s a certain Little Shop of…

Only a few weeks after Jane Fonda navigated pedestrian, older-skewered comedy in 80 For Brady, the legendary actress is working with similar, though admittedly better material in Book Club: The Next Chapter, an unnecessary, but serviceable laugher that reunites Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen for another round of mostly safe, occasionally suggestive…

Even though the title of Johnny & Clyde may indicate that writer/director Tom DeNucci has gender-flipped the classic criminal couple of Bonnie & Clyde – which could actually be quite a fun, progressive angle – audiences are in for no such change; at least from a gender point of view. DeNucci, unfortunately adopting an “everything…

Since Avengers: Endgame – arguably the last great Marvel movie to be created – the cinematic universe of Kevin Feige‘s box office-conquering superheroes has been creatively rocky.  Sure, they’re still bringing in considerable bank, but the audience enthusiasm has seriously waned in the wake of too many cooks in the kitchen, and their served dishes…