Todd Phillips’ Joker (2019) reimagined the supervillain origin story as a study of a fracturing mind with the beaten down incel Arthur Fleck transforming into the weirdly charismatic murdering psychopath clown of the title. In this age of superhero/ villain obsession it was an ambitious and subversive take on an iconic character but not always a riveting one. For those
Read moreStrange Darling is guaranteed to be a favourite of those who enjoy blood-soaked cinema. While it’s certainly violent and confronting, it’s also inventive in the way it gleefully plays with the conventions of the serial killer film and with audience expectations. Written and directed by JT Mollner, the film cleverly goads us into thinking in a certain way about the
Read moreThe eccentric, super rich tech entrepreneur has become a strange 21st Century icon. It should come as no surprise that one should figure as the central character in an oddball Hollywood movie. Writer/ director Zoe Kravitz’ darkly comic, at times disturbing but derivative and underweight mystery thriller Blink Twice, features one such figure in a story that has creepy resonances
Read moreWriter/ Director M. Night Shyamalan has become a strange addiction for filmgoers. After the first magical rush of The Sixth Sense 25 years ago, we’ve been chasing that cinematic high ever since… but it has never come. Some of his films have started promisingly, featured some novel ideas and contained inventive visuals but they’ve invariably given way to glaring tonal
Read moreThe thriller Long Legs has been touted as one of the scariest films of recent times and even a modern horror classic. It’s neither of these things and will probably wind up as one of the year’s most overrated movies but that shouldn’t dissuade people from seeing it as this is still an impressively stylish and creepy film. This movie
Read moreFollowing Murder on The Orient Express and Death On The Nile, A Haunting In Venice is the third entry in Kenneth Branagh’s vivid, energetic but at times erratic and overcooked Agatha Christie adaptations. Like the two previous films, this one benefits from a few standout performances and its probing of detective Hercule Poirot’s formidable intellect and complex psyche. More than
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