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Who knew that I liked zombie/rampaging monster/apocalyptic movies so much? Cloverfield takes a Blair Witch approach to a story of an unnamed monster that attacks Manhattan. Continue reading
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Hirokazu Kore-Eda has crafted a deceptively complex story within a film that feels as airy as a soufflé. Continue reading
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I’m sure there will be a growing number of Hollywood films made that show how the oppression of women is being acknowledged and ‘fixed’ (the trailer for Miss Behaviour (2020) looks like a particularly heavy-handed girl power movie that ticks all the boxes). Bombshell does a fair job, despite its awful title.* Continue reading
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I resisted seeing this Best Picture Oscar nominee because it is a war film (not my favourite genre) and promos had made it seem a bit epic and action-heavy rather than introspective. Boy was I wrong. Continue reading
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I’ll declare a bias upfront: I’m a Taika Waititi fan. From Boy (2010) and Eagle vs. Shark (2007) to What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), his dry, droll, irreverent humour never fails to win me over. He even made a superhero movie watchable with Thor: Ragnarok (2017) mostly not taking itself too seriously. Continue reading
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Memories of reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott are distant. I remember feisty Jo and the warm and chaotic March family, full of charity for the poor and hopes for the future. Continue reading
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Don’t forget the full stop. Emma is my least favourite of Jane Austen’s novels (other than the superlative adaptation Clueless (1995). This remake by Autumn de Wilde is nicely staged with beautiful sets, clothes and a humorous thread of caricature and it mostly surmounts the biggest challenge of the story – that the eponymous character is not very likeable. Continue reading
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An overwrought black-and-white melodrama of grubby masculinity, Roger Eggers’ The Lighthouse is too self-consciously arty to be genuinely engaging. Continue reading
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This autobiographical meditation on trauma, fame and rehab, written by actor Shia LaBeouf and directed by documentarian Alma Har’el, is surprisingly gentle and engaging. Continue reading
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This psychological thriller compellingly portrays the reality of toxic relationships and doesn’t let up from start to end. Continue reading
