Reviews / 26.02.2021

By virtue of their connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo are now officially the second-most commercially successful film directors of all time behind Steven Spielberg. Naturally, that figure is a touch slanted, given more than half their total box office earnings belong to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In a bid to break away from the MCU, the Russo brothers offer their first non-Marvel film since 2006's You, Me and Dupree. Unfortunately, it's a catastrophic mess. Drowning in overstylisation that's more akin to...

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Reviews / 23.02.2021

After struggling through almost a decade of development hell, co-writer/director Joe Carnahan's vision of making Groundhog Day as an action film is finally here. A passion project Carnahan and actor Frank Grillo has been desperately attempting to get off the ground since late 2012, Boss Level is a video game-like twist on the age-old time-loop genre. You're probably rolling your eyes at the thought of another entry in this overused conceit (especially after Palm Springs shattered the mould last year), but this unashamedly violent and occasionally hilarious riot is actually...

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Awards Season, Reviews / 20.02.2021

Can a song incite a revolution? That's the inherent question floating behind Lee Daniels' messy, bloated biopic, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, that seeks to capture the troubled life of a music legend but gets lost amongst Daniels' penchant for extravagance and melodrama. The powerful story is there, especially for those unfamiliar with Holiday's battles with drugs, men, and the FBI. But Daniels' frustrating direction, chaotic pacing, and a ghastly screenplay derail what could have been a terrific film. Thankfully, this disappointing biopic is saved by the...

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Reviews / 18.02.2021

Back in 2014, Rosamund Pike should have won an Academy Award for her sensational performance in David Fincher's Gone Girl. If not for the Julianne Moore "overdue" freight train, Pike would have easily waltzed away with that Best Actress Oscar. Seven years later, she's back with an equally icy femme fatale who would undoubtedly give Amy Dunne a run for her money. In J. Blakeson's terrifically entertaining and deliciously wicked thriller, I Care a Lot, Pike reminds us why she came within an inch of Oscar glory and...

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Reviews / 15.02.2021

In a case of unfortunate timing, Robin Wright's directorial debut feature, Land, arrives at a time when another film of a similar nature has been eating up awards season and generating tremendous Oscar buzz. Both feature women-of-a-certain-age essentially turning their back on civilisation. Both are running from their grief after a terrible loss. And both feature spectacular cinematography that showcases the gorgeousness of the wilderness. By virtue of unavoidable comparison, Land can't hold a candle to something like Chloé Zhao's contemplative masterpiece Nomadland. A film that feels painfully familiar...

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Reviews / 08.02.2021

As we've now learnt, Apple Studios has set a new Sundance record by purchasing Sian Heder's gorgeous delight Coda for $25 million. While that is a staggering sum of cash for an independent film, CODA is worth every damn penny and will prove a huge coup for Apple as a drawcard for its struggling streaming service, Apple TV+. A rousing crowd-pleaser that will surely find an adoring audience later this year, CODA leans heavily into its well-worn formula to deliver a charming heartwarmer that's good for the soul. Led...

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Awards Season, Reviews / 04.02.2021

Even the non-religious are aware of the infamous betrayal of messiah-figure Jesus Christ at the hands of his trusted disciple and eventual saboteur Judas Iscariot. His name has become since synonymous with those who would treasonously sell-out a friend for their own personal benefit. In other words, it's not a moniker you'd be proud to have attached to your name. The biblical tale is the perfect analogy for the tragic true story of Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton and the treacherous FBI informant who infiltrated the...

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Reviews / 01.02.2021

When a film is accompanied by a warning about its level of gore, you have a certain expectation something truly wicked is on the horizon, especially when it features in Sundance's infamous Midnight program. While co-writer/director Prano Bailey-Bond's Censor is a film that pays deep homage to the UK's wave of "video nasties" of the 1980s, it isn't quite nasty enough to truly call itself an example of the cult genre. Those seeking lashings of gore and violence may find this one a tad disappointing and that pre-screening...

1 Like
Awards Season, Reviews / 26.01.2021

Back in 2018, Los Angeles Times freelance film critic Katie Walsh described writer/director Sam Levinson's Asssassination Nation as "a badly bungled attempt at social commentary." It's wildly ironic that very review forms part of the inspiration for Levinson's pretentiously smug Malcolm & Marie; an equally badly bungled attempt at social commentary. Filmed in the grips of coronavirus restrictions, it's an experimental film that ultimately feels like a film school project crafted one weekend by an overly-ambitious filmmaker and his two acting school buddies. This kind of restricted filmmaking is...

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Awards Season, Opinion, Reviews / 08.01.2021

It's been said many times before and I'm sure you don't need reminding 2020 was an absolute dumpster fire of a year. For those of us in the world of films, it was a year filled with cinema closures, film festival cancellations, and release date delays. We watched helplessly as practically every major release was punted to 2021. When you're a film critic who predominantly focuses on reviewing new release films, it was a terrifying prospect to watch months of scheduled writing content vanish in the blink of...

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