The first salvo in the Christmas movie wars for 2022, Violent Night unusually combines raunch comedy, hostage drama, violent (sometimes gory) action and the old redemption through the magic of Christmas fantasy. It’s a strange combo that recalls Die hard, Home Alone, Bad Santa and weirdly enough the skull-crunching Viking film The Norseman. David Harbour stars as a genuine Santa
Read moreWhile it doesn’t always hit the mark, in its best moments the jet-black culinary comedy The Menu cleverly (and violently) skewers foodie pretention, the cult of celebrity chefs, the loss of artistic credibility and America’s unspoken class system. There are familiar flavours here with dashes of Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Haneke, disturbing dinner party dramas like Luis Bunuel’s The
Read moreWhile it’s filled with vivid, inventive images and while it touches on important themes such as family conflict, same sex relationships and environmental preservation, the Disney animated fantasy, Strange World isn’t as engaging as it might have been. It seems as if the filmmakers weren’t sure if they wanted to create an old school sci fi adventure like Journey To
Read moreGonzo sci fi comedy/drama Something in the Dirt sits at the low-budget, DIY end of the movie making spectrum. This is both a blessing and a curse as the film has a raw, freewheeling energy but also feels unfocused and leaves us with the gnawing sense that the opportunity for a much more interesting film has been missed. This is,
Read moreDirector Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever faced an unusual challenge in that it’s star Chadwick Boseman, who played the title character, tragically passed away in 2020. This left us with the question, without Black Panther himself, is there enough in the world of Wakanda to really engage audiences? The answer is yes (just) but at 161 minutes, this
Read moreMrs Harris goes to Paris is a charming but very twee and often implausible feel-good comedy/drama. The film at times recalls movies like Hidden Figures, The Help and Pretty Woman as it features a working-class woman who’s ignored or looked down upon by society but proves astonishingly formidable and cleverer than those who see themselves as her superiors. There’s also
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