An aged lord reflects on the legacy of his kingdom. He resolves to divide his realm between his three children expecting them to act harmoniously. Despite the protestations of his youngest that this is grossly unwise, the lord proceeds to ...
Read More »Sing Street: You’re in a band?
Ah, the coming of age drama. Such a staple and yet so often botched. Do it well and you can tell a tale of universal appeal. Do it poorly and your film will surely be a hive of insipid sentimentalism ...
Read More »Green Room: It won’t end well
Green Room is not my usual kind of film. When I do watch horror, I tend to prefer films with a more supernatural element – staying well within the realms of ‘scary’ but further away from reality. The third feature ...
Read More »Son of Saul: Rabbi, help me bury a body
There is sensitive subject matter and then there is sensitive subject matter. Son of Saul depicts the Holocaust. The plot follows Saul Auslӓnder, a Hungarian Jew and Sonderkommando – a death camp prisoner put to work in the camp. The ...
Read More »Captain America: Civil War
This film had arguably the easiest act to follow after the utter crap-pile that was Batman vs Superman. Critics and fans alike were crying out for a better superhero film to wash away the bad aftertaste. And, thankfully, Civil War ...
Read More »Miles Ahead: Come at it with some attitude
The musician biopic has sadly become a staid and generic entity. Since Walk the Line, the format has been refined to a soulless template, mapping out predictable plot points to be applied tritely at well-edited points in the musician’s life. ...
Read More »Jane Got a Gun: What is a Western without a brilliant baddie?
I love a good Western. The best Westerns have simple premises and tend to stay focused on one single plot line, something Jane Got a Gun sets up before spectacularly discarding in favour of a meandering, flavourless, tension-less narrative. With ...
Read More »The Jungle Book
Here we have a new version of The Jungle Book: part of an initiative from the House of Mouse to bring new renditions of their classic films to younger audiences. With the sad retirement of their traditional animation studio, Disney ...
Read More »Midnight Special: A spectacular misfire
Jeff Nichols’ third feature film, Midnight Special, a science fiction thriller, has been the recipient of high praise from critics and viewers. I feel like I must be missing something. While it is obvious the man knows how to create ...
Read More »Fullmetal Alchemist in the flesh
It is the era we live in. Old properties, and even those not long put to rest, are dredged up for live action remakes by soulless money-grabbing studios. The new announcement that one of my favourite anime/manga series and fan ...
Read More »