Film Reviews
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker & Cats
Tuesday, January 7th, 2020 Film Reviews,In the last weeks of 2019 the big studios generously served up two Christmas turkeys. Judging by the reviews I wasn’t the only person yawning through Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, or wondering how Tom Hooper’s weirdly sexualised Cats ever secured a G rating. Both films are self-conscious ‘blockbusters’ intended to appeal to a […]
Jojo Rabbit
Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 Film Reviews,There’s something irresistible about a movie that flirts with a great taboo – a comedy about the Nazis. Mel Brooks did it with The Producers (1967), in which a Broadway show designed to offend and crash became a smash hit. Roberto Benigni made an attempt with Life is Beautiful (1997), although the humour was swallowed […]
Machine
Thursday, December 12th, 2019 Film Reviews,Artificial Intelligence will have a momentous influence on the future of humankind. It has the potential to transform every aspect of our lives – a power that brings with it a whole raft of moral dilemmas and crucial choices. At its most caricatural form no discussion of A.I. gets very far before someone mentions the […]
Where’s My Roy Cohn?
Friday, December 6th, 2019 Film Reviews,On meeting Roy Cohn, we are told, “you knew you were in the presence of evil.” This statement occurs within the first few minutes. The rest of Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary adds support to the proposition. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering how American politics attained its current level of crazed amorality, Where’s My Roy Cohn? […]
Judy and Punch & Suzi Q
Friday, November 29th, 2019 Film Reviews,Not for the first time I’m left wondering how it is that Australian films have become so bleak and brutal. The latest example is Mirrah Foulkes’s debut feature, Judy and Punch, which has atttacted a lot of specious praise and been nominated for umpteen awards. The reasons, as far as I can tell, are as […]
The Report
Friday, November 22nd, 2019 Film Reviews,One of the last-resort strategies being used by Fox News to undermine the Trump impeachment case is to complain that it’s too boring to watch witness after witness pile ignominy on the President. The point was suprisingly echoed by an NBC reporter who complained the proceedings lacked “pizzazz” – a word defined by the dictionary […]
Ford v Ferrari
Friday, November 15th, 2019 Film Reviews,In Rush (2013) Ron Howard turned the rivalry between racing car drivers into an engrossing portrait of two uncompromising personalities. In Ford v Ferrari James Mangold has stepped up a few gears, giving us a movie about fast cars, larger-than-life personalities and corporate hubris. It’s also a buddy film, a celebration of the common man […]
The Irishman
Friday, November 8th, 2019 Film Reviews,Ah those good ole days! Whacking people for the mob, driving a truck full of guns bound for the Bay of Pigs, running a union for the Teamsters… the elderly Frank Sheeran has so many happy memories of a full and active life. Nowadays, sadly reduced by old age and infirmity, Frank resides in an […]
Terminator: Dark Fate
Friday, November 1st, 2019 Film Reviews,In the very first Terminator film in 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger assured us: “I’ll be back”. Arnie has proven to be a man of his word, returning again and again as James Cameron and his pals crank out yet another Terminator sequel. We’re now up to number six – and counting. This time the director is […]
The King
Thursday, October 24th, 2019 Film Reviews,It would be foolish to expect the cinema to accurately portray historical reality but some films leave one itching to get home and pick up a reference book – or more likely, ask Google. Whether your preferred route is paper or digital, David Michôd’s Netflix drama, The King, is a film that cries out for a […]