Review: Megalopolis

What an abundance of nonsense. “New Rome” is in a state of upheaval. The disillusioned public are led by the rich elite and their insane offspring, and a lone visionary is intent on changing the world forever. That summary is far too neat for what Megalopolis is. Directed by one of the literal grandfathers of…

Review: Kinds of Kindness

It makes Poor Things look positively mainstream. Comprised of three separate stories, Kinds of Kindness follows unorthodox characters in unorthodox relationships. Director Yorgos Lanthimos returns once again, with stars Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, since Poor Things earlier this year. Once again, audiences are greeted with another surrealist experience. Perhaps not as unintentionally divisive, but…

Review: The Bikeriders

Solidly performed dramatic piece of 1950s American culture. While a photographer finds himself riding with an American biker club, he interviews Kathy, a young woman also swept up into the club. She finds herself involved with Benny, a man who wants nothing more than to ride with the club.But when the club expands with more…

Review: Bob Marley – One Love

Musical biopic with a mystical edge. Could have been a little longer? It is the mid-1970s, and Jamaica is in turmoil since gaining its independence from the United Kingdom. Musical sensation and icon of the country, Bob Marley, plans to put on a show to lessen hostilities. But is his chilled demeanour more naiveté than…

Review: The Holdovers

Quirky characters, moving stories, heartache, wrapped in a cosy and familiar blanket. 1970 Christmas time, a boys boarding school must house the kids who have nowhere to go for the festive period. This task is given to one of the faculty’s older and most curmudgeonly teachers. Can any of these reluctant individuals find sympathy in…

Review: Poor Things

Beautiful, surreal, hilarious, dark, compelling. So very nearly perfect. Bella Baxter, a creation of a surgeon who creates weird chimera lifeforms, wants to be free of her “father’s” trappings and explore the world. She galivants off with a debauched lawyer, to start a journey of self-discovery. Poor Things has got a lot of coverage and…

Best and Worst of 2023

2023… It has been a difficult year for me personally, and I welcomed the increase in cinema this year since the pandemic as it was a means of escapism and distraction. But it has also been a difficult year for cinema! The start of the year (in the lead up to award season) saw several…

Review: Ferrari

Director Michael Mann can be hit or miss, but Ferrari is definitely a hit. Enzo Ferrari, owner of the most prestigious brand of race cars in Italy after the end of the war, is faced with bankruptcy if he cannot get more interest in his cars. Compounding this, his business partner and estranged wife, and…

Review: Eileen

A moody, retro, psychological thriller. 24-year old wallflower Eileen exists in an unfulfilled void between her job at the local prison and living with her alcoholic father. But when co-worker Rebecca arrives at the prison, Eileen’s life is about to be electrified. Directed by William Oldroyd (Lady MacBeth), Eileen is adapted from the 2015 novel…

Review: Dream Scenario

One of the weirder, but very consumable, comedies seen in a while. Paul Matthews is your average, everyday man. But his life changes forever when people across the globe, people who don’t even know him, are experiencing dreams with him in them. How does this phenomenon affect him… and the world? A big release by…