Belgian coming of age drama Close, which has been nominated for the Best International Feature Film at this year’s Oscars, is destined to be hailed one of the year’s most important and affecting films. Beautifully shot and superbly acted, this is a devastating study of guilt, grief, homophobia, destructive teenage social rules, the roots of toxic masculinity and the end
Read moreWith its contemporary catchphrase title, Spoiler Alert sounds like it should be a snarky teen comedy. Instead, this romantic comedy/drama ,which is based on memoir of the same name by Michael Ausiello, is a sensitive, at times very moving but also tonally erratic film about the impermanence of life and the short time we have with one another. Jim Parsons,
Read moreA religious parable, a critique of a society poisoned by chatroom conspiracy theories, an endorsement of conspiracy theories or simply a loopy shaggy dog story, the meaning of M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film A Knock at the Cabin is a little too fuzzy and while some of the journey is worth it, its half-baked story makes for an often-irritating experience.
Read moreHi Built For Speed listeners, here’s my review of The Whale from Friday 3rd Feb 2023.
Read moreWith Tar, his first feature length film as director since 2006’s Little Children, Todd Field mixes high fibre Ingmar Bergmanesque intellectualism with Michael Haneke’s growing sense of threat and some of the meticulous framing and clinical creepiness of Stanley Kubrick. It’s a very impressive but difficult combination requiring patience and work from the audience as they have to negotiate some
Read moreExactly what writer/ director Damien Chazelle was trying to say with his latest film, Babylon, a wild sprawling, occasionally funny, often ridiculous, exhaustingly manic, yet emotionally hollow homage/satire/savaging of early Hollywood is not entirely clear. It’s as if he’s poured all his memories of film making and watching into a blender, mixed them with lurid fantasies of Hollywood’s debauched underbelly
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