Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One feels like a heroine’s journey has been extracted from something originally conceived for an ensemble cast, leaving us with not quite enough of either. There are too many characters, talking so much about what they’re doing we don’t
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One feels like a heroine’s journey has been extracted from something originally conceived for an ensemble cast, leaving us with not quite enough of either. There are too many characters, talking so much about what they’re doing we don’t
Miles Ahead
For the 100 minutes of this film’s running time, Miles Davis is taking no shit from nobody. Don Cheadle’s invocation of Miles is mad, bad and dangerous to know, as Ewan MacGregor’s desperate-for-a-scoop Rolling Stone reporter discovers. Even bullets are
Miles Ahead
For the 100 minutes of this film’s running time, Miles Davis is taking no shit from nobody. Don Cheadle’s invocation of Miles is mad, bad and dangerous to know, as Ewan MacGregor’s desperate-for-a-scoop Rolling Stone reporter discovers. Even bullets are
Westworld (1973)
Michael “high concept” Crichton directs the film of his own screenplay (no novel this time). It becomes very clear where the idea for The Terminator came from as we watch Yuul Brynner reincarnate his The Magnificent Seven character in the form
Westworld (1973)
Michael “high concept” Crichton directs the film of his own screenplay (no novel this time). It becomes very clear where the idea for The Terminator came from as we watch Yuul Brynner reincarnate his The Magnificent Seven character in the form
Jimi: All Is by My Side
Interesting, if frustrating. Seeming unable to pull a narrative from elsewhere the story spends most of its time on Jimi’s girlfriends and, by all reports, does them a disservice. Andre Benjamin’s voicing of Jimi is startlingly good but he’s playing someone
Jimi: All Is by My Side
Interesting, if frustrating. Seeming unable to pull a narrative from elsewhere the story spends most of its time on Jimi’s girlfriends and, by all reports, does them a disservice. Andre Benjamin’s voicing of Jimi is startlingly good but he’s playing someone
Captain Fantastic
Drop-out survivalists are forced to re-enter mainstream society when a tragedy strikes. They’re like a family of doomsday preppers with a positive, if fortress, mentality and leanings toward Mao and Chomsky rather than the NRA (was this written in the 70s?). The
Captain Fantastic
Drop-out survivalists are forced to re-enter mainstream society when a tragedy strikes. They’re like a family of doomsday preppers with a positive, if fortress, mentality and leanings toward Mao and Chomsky rather than the NRA (was this written in the 70s?). The
I Am Not Your Guru
Figure out what you really want. Work out what’s stopping you from getting it. Decide what you are going to do about it. Don’t get distracted. This bit of apparent common sense has been the core of Anthony Robbins’ testament for the
I Am Not Your Guru
Figure out what you really want. Work out what’s stopping you from getting it. Decide what you are going to do about it. Don’t get distracted. This bit of apparent common sense has been the core of Anthony Robbins’ testament for the
Steve Jobs
Screenwriters can be typecast, just like actors. With Steve Jobs, Aaron Sorkin cements his reputation as the go-to guy for stories about brilliant young men with personality issues – flawed, obnoxious but dazzling wunderkinds who could, might, or in Jobs’s case actually did
Steve Jobs
Screenwriters can be typecast, just like actors. With Steve Jobs, Aaron Sorkin cements his reputation as the go-to guy for stories about brilliant young men with personality issues – flawed, obnoxious but dazzling wunderkinds who could, might, or in Jobs’s case actually did
Sicario
As Sicario overplays its quest to underplay itself, we arrive at a confused portrait of profound dysfunction. That may be an appropriate angle to take on another of America’s unwinnable wars (in this case the drugs and border war with Mexico),
Sicario
As Sicario overplays its quest to underplay itself, we arrive at a confused portrait of profound dysfunction. That may be an appropriate angle to take on another of America’s unwinnable wars (in this case the drugs and border war with Mexico),
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
For the first ten minutes or so there is nagging despair, even mourning. It feels like an awkward Star Wars themed high school reunion in a room littered with lifeless artefacts, with Disney and JJ Abrams strutting around bragging “lookit all
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
For the first ten minutes or so there is nagging despair, even mourning. It feels like an awkward Star Wars themed high school reunion in a room littered with lifeless artefacts, with Disney and JJ Abrams strutting around bragging “lookit all
Tomorrowland
Conflict being the essence of drama and all that, it’s not easy to pull an entertainment out of a pleasant scenario, unless it’s one under threat. In this case the utopian promise of Tomorrowland is in danger of never arriving. We’re presented with a rampant
Tomorrowland
Conflict being the essence of drama and all that, it’s not easy to pull an entertainment out of a pleasant scenario, unless it’s one under threat. In this case the utopian promise of Tomorrowland is in danger of never arriving. We’re presented with a rampant
Mad Max : Fury Road
Max is back. The story hits the road early and stays there. The elevator pitch might be “Ellen Ripley vs Boko Haram on wheels”, with Max as the benevolent Michael Biehn or Lance Henriksen character. Since the second instalment the
Mad Max : Fury Road
Max is back. The story hits the road early and stays there. The elevator pitch might be “Ellen Ripley vs Boko Haram on wheels”, with Max as the benevolent Michael Biehn or Lance Henriksen character. Since the second instalment the
The Big Sleep (1946)
Forty-something private detective Humphrey Bogart finds himself on the case in the City of Available Young Women, chasing tails and kicking arses. The biggest mistake you could make with this putative noir classic is rewinding to try and work out
The Big Sleep (1946)
Forty-something private detective Humphrey Bogart finds himself on the case in the City of Available Young Women, chasing tails and kicking arses. The biggest mistake you could make with this putative noir classic is rewinding to try and work out
Jodorowsky’s Dune
In this epic yarn, the filmic equivalent of Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Alejandro Jodorowsky, wild-eyed, possessed, regales us with the story of his five year mission to bring Frank Herbert’s Dune to the screen. It’s an extraordinary chronicle of
Jodorowsky’s Dune
In this epic yarn, the filmic equivalent of Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Alejandro Jodorowsky, wild-eyed, possessed, regales us with the story of his five year mission to bring Frank Herbert’s Dune to the screen. It’s an extraordinary chronicle of
What Maisie Knew
Things are poised for the worst when parents divorce, but do not unfold via the expected trajectory – unless of course you’ve read the Thomas Mann novel upon which this tragi-redemption tale is based. Initially appearing to lack the requisite gravity
What Maisie Knew
Things are poised for the worst when parents divorce, but do not unfold via the expected trajectory – unless of course you’ve read the Thomas Mann novel upon which this tragi-redemption tale is based. Initially appearing to lack the requisite gravity
Birdman
The power of the superhero, like any hero, is also a weakness, a shadow. So the hero rejects his special powers in a quest to be human, But he fails because it means he rejects part of himself and leaves his world
Birdman
The power of the superhero, like any hero, is also a weakness, a shadow. So the hero rejects his special powers in a quest to be human, But he fails because it means he rejects part of himself and leaves his world
American Sniper
American Sniper’s apparent banner message is that America needs to move on. Troops are coming home to live among civilians again; understand their experience. But a lot of the time it seems to forget this intention, or even to have one. It
American Sniper
American Sniper’s apparent banner message is that America needs to move on. Troops are coming home to live among civilians again; understand their experience. But a lot of the time it seems to forget this intention, or even to have one. It
Maps To The Stars
David Cronenberg’s Maps To The Stars presents a tragedy of corruption and inbreeding in high places, in this case the homes of Hollywood’s B-list. When cycles of abuse collide, incipient violence erupts and death steps in to clean up the entangling mess. A link isn’t entirely
Maps To The Stars
David Cronenberg’s Maps To The Stars presents a tragedy of corruption and inbreeding in high places, in this case the homes of Hollywood’s B-list. When cycles of abuse collide, incipient violence erupts and death steps in to clean up the entangling mess. A link isn’t entirely
Only Lovers Left Alive
The perenniality of the vampire genre derives from its capacity for reinvention. Its form mimics its content in similar fashion to the zombie genre, each transcending death. In Only Lovers Left Alive, the immortality of Jarmusch’s vampire couple is a perfect foil
Only Lovers Left Alive
The perenniality of the vampire genre derives from its capacity for reinvention. Its form mimics its content in similar fashion to the zombie genre, each transcending death. In Only Lovers Left Alive, the immortality of Jarmusch’s vampire couple is a perfect foil
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coens tell a story of the man who would not be Bob Dylan with such relentless unapologetic deflation that it actually feels like something out of the end of the sixties, like Midnight Cowboy or Medium Cool or Easy Rider (all
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coens tell a story of the man who would not be Bob Dylan with such relentless unapologetic deflation that it actually feels like something out of the end of the sixties, like Midnight Cowboy or Medium Cool or Easy Rider (all
Noah
God gets a bad rap in Noah, as Darren Aronofsky tries to construe a story that makes no physical, psychological or moral sense. A brood of hapless humans is disgorged out onto what looks like a barren coalfield with no recourse
Noah
God gets a bad rap in Noah, as Darren Aronofsky tries to construe a story that makes no physical, psychological or moral sense. A brood of hapless humans is disgorged out onto what looks like a barren coalfield with no recourse