Like David Lynch in the 1990s and 2000s, Yorgos Lanthimos has brought dark humour and surreal artistry at least a little closer to mainstream cinema. He’s skewered relationships and social conformity in The Lobster, elitist power structures in The Favourite and the suburban family in The Killing Of a Sacred Deer. Now, he turns his darkly comic gaze to sexism
Read moreThe suspiciously named Bottoms is a gleefully silly, occasionally witty and slightly subversive teen comedy in the tradition of Heathers and Booksmart with a touch of Fight Club. The film throws feminist and queer politics into the mix but is mainly a quirky and acerbic comedy. Friends PJ (Rachel Sennot who cowrote) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri, The Bear) are desperate
Read moreThrough films like Air, Blackberry and now Dumb Money, an intriguing sub-genre has recently emerged in cinema: the maverick entrepreneur capitalist film. Through their depiction of quirky yet highly driven individuals, these movies both critique and celebrate the American obsession with the market and the pursuit of business success. The latest addition to this sub-genre, the fascinating, funny, cheekily inspiring,
Read moreA screen drenched in pastel colours, oddly symmetrical compositions that recall childhood dioramas, zany off-kilter characters and obtuse dialogue, yes, it’s time for another Wes Anderson film. Some adore the droll humour, the oblique storylines, the monotone voices and the blank faces staring at the camera that typify his movies. Others, like myself, admire his visual artistry and maverick spirit
Read moreThe Barbie movie has been one of the more intriguing events in recent popular culture. The fact that it’s based on a doll designed for pre-tween children but has a trailer with adult humour and ideas, makes this a complex, uncertain and slightly unsettling prospect before the opening titles roll. Is this a cleverly subversive feminist satire of a female
Read moreYou Hurt My Feelings from director Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money) is a very amiable, low-key, Woody Allen-esque comedy/drama that looks at the white lies couples use to maintain domestic harmony and to keep insecurities at bay and what can happen when these lies are exposed. The film is, to a large extent, built around the wonderful perky charm of
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