Life of Brian (dir. Terry Jones, 1979) — Review
“We must pay homage to him,” say the Wise Men. “We were led by a star.”
“Led by a bottle more like”, retorts Brian’s mother, slapping her mortal progeny around the head after a failed attempt to scam the visitors out of the Messiah’s gifts. And so begins cinema’s unsurpassed depiction of a British Christmas.
Read More
District 9 (dir. Neill Blomkamp, 2009) — Review
“By using science fiction to overturn the genre’s age-old belief that biological difference can justify abuse and oppression, District 9 highlights the potential of its medium to challenge the status quo.”
Read More
The Tourist (dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2010) — Review
“Essentially an unbranded perfume advert, The Tourist leaves several beautiful, vapid Hollywood icons drifting a parched desert of marbled buildings and mild xenophobia.”
Read More
No Time To Die (dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2021)- Review
“No Time To Die has managed to achieve what the nation's politicians cannot, and present a version of Britain with something for everyone. In a roundabout way, we have Ian Fleming’s raging misogyny to thank for 007’s adaptability- his capacity to transform, or to be transformed, into the comforting, invincible hero that his audience craves.”
Read More
Night at the Museum (dir. Shawn Levy, 2010) - Review
“The first outing for Ben Stiller's neurotic security guard was something of a rarity in its time: a big-budget concoction that delivered surprisingly enriching and uncynical fare for young audiences.”
Read More
Spencer ( dir. Pablo Larraín, 2021) - Review
“Pablo Larraín's fairytale approach allows him to treat his subject with the perfect degree of storybook nastiness, successfully steering the film between simpering tribute and tasteless hit-piece.”
Read More
Intolerable Cruelty (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen, 2003)- Review
“The bickering, plotting, and attempted murder in which the characters engage are staples of the rom-com canon, from Shakespeare to Cary Grant. But like the best works of its genre, beneath the pulpy, vapid titillation afforded by a focus on the timeless lust for sex and money, Intolerable Cruelty has a bite to it.”
Read More
Dune (dir. Dennis Villeneuve, 2021) - Review
“Chalamet is perfect for this parable, because to some extent he’s playing himself. Alongside the familiar ‘space fascist, ‘space peasant’, and ‘space emperor’ archetypes, T-Chala puts the ‘space softboi’ in the pantheon of sci-fi archetypes.”
Read More