Rental Family

Rental Family, despite threatening to tip off the tracks quite a few times, is a rewarding film driven by an uncommonly gentle performance.

The House of Gucci

Far from a disaster of a movie. But also not half as enthralling as it seems to think it is. The House of Gucci is a film that needed its director, and its actors, to stop for a second and wonder: what are we actually fucking doing?

Donnie Darko

A deliberately strange film, it’s no surprise that Donnie Darko has become a certified cult classic. It features a knotty, occasionally nonsensical plot that demands multiple viewings, and a star-making performance from a young Jake Gyllenhaal. Films like this aren’t made anymore. Cinema is worse off for it.

The Matrix: Resurrections

It is supposedly possible to make a good Matrix sequel. BladeRunner 4020 managed a similar feat. But whereas that film was willing to let its ideas simmer a little more, Resurrections feels the pressure of its own moment. The original Matrix had a gritty, noir-ish, tense atmosphere tinged in a pale green that made it feel truly gripping. This film has none of that. Resurrections is a bit too afraid to be its own film and let itself breathe. In the process, it’s not much of a film at all.

James Bond: No Time To Die

No Time To Die is classic Bond in all the worst ways. So polished that you have to squint to even recognise what it once was. We’re left with a hollowed-out shell of an action film, and a star-studded cast without any substance. It’s faithful leading man, Daniel Craig, deserved a better send-off.

The French Dispatch

Wes Anderson’s ode to journalism is pure cinema. Each moment impeccably constructed and deliberately framed. It marks the highpoint of one of film’s greatest auteurs. Like Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, its creator simply asks you to do one thing – enjoy it.

Never Gonna Snow Again

A meditative film – Never Gonna Sleep Again has a difficult time hitting its marks, even if it generally remains engaging with its odd, sparse atmosphere and thought-provoking climate undertones.

The Card Counter

Paul Schrader, legendary writer/director, mines a topic he knows well in The Card Counter – that of the brooding, disaffected male loner. His muse this time – Oscar Isaac. Their minds meld in this slow-cooked thriller. But true to Schrader’s form, it cooks very slowly. It needs a kick of something.

Dark Waters (Review)

Dark Waters, a movie based on the true story of a lawyer who successfully sued an American icon, follows admirably in the footsteps of countless other ‘legal conspiracy’ films – those films where a lone, seemingly misunderstood man sees and knows something others don’t and develops a maniacal need to get to the bottom of it. This film hits most of those satisfying beats and has its own brooding atmosphere to boot, and while it isn’t perhaps a classic in this genre, it is a mostly enthralling tale of persistence in the face of corporate greed.

Ad Astra (Review)

In the pantheon of science-fiction movies, where will Ad Astra stand? That’s a difficult question to answer. Despite boasting Brad Pitt as the lead, this film hasn’t been billed as a sci-fi blockbuster and hasn’t really tried. It feels destined to be swept underneath a sea of upcoming mega-films, not least of which Gemini Man. That would be a shame, because this Apocalypse Now-in-space saga is a thoughtful piece on how we shape our own legacy, and is oddly appropriate at a time when our planet truly feels in transition.

Tag: Film