Reviews

The horror of the Holocaust has been cinematically depicted more times than the horror of Freddy, Jason, and sharks combined. How can a film possibly stand out in an emotionally challenging area that also feels overcrowded? Son of Saul finds a way. The plot is appropriately rough: Saul, a Hungarian man forced to help the […]

It may be because I’m a sucker for any movie that strives to recapture the joy of the glorious action comedies of the 1980s, but I enjoyed the original Ride Along, which is quite possibly the most financially successful film ever ($130 million at the US box office) to not receive a theatrical release here. […]

I saw Michael Bay’s latest film and I did not hate it. Choosing to leave aside key political considerations – the timing of this film depicting controversial events that have dogged a frontrunning presidential candidate and its accuracy in doing so – helps, with the results being predictably jingoistic, but still an intense watch. Yes, […]

The TV series Dad’s Army was a work of comedy genius. It boasted an ensemble cast up there with Cheers, Seinfeld, M.A.S.H. and evenThe Office. It’s part of TV folklore. It presented men dressed in uniforms not as heroes but as bumbling fools. The posters may have said Keep Calm and Carry On, but if the Nazis had made it over […]

Writer/director Peter Landesman’s medical drama is a timely reminder that just because you’re Oscar bait, doesn’t mean you’re Oscar standard. Diligently ticking all the right boxes as if genetically engineered for awards glory, it’s a true story (check), about an honourable man (check), overcoming impossible odds (check – well, the NFL), to save lives (check). […]

Amid generic rom-com fare – which, for the record, I’m not necessarily opposed to – lies the odd interesting angle. The Five-Year Engagement was pitched as a comedy about the journey between proposal and wedding (and coincidentally featured How to Be Single’s Dakota Johnson and Alison Brie billed 12th and 4th in the cast respectively); […]

Fifteen years ago, Zoolander set the world alight with its comedic blend of satire and silliness. That’s a long, long time in comedy – witness how far the three Austin Powers films fell thanks to oversaturating pop culture (and running out of good gags) in just one third of that. While Ben Stiller’s sequel may […]

If something is described as “classy”, so the dictum goes, neither the object, nor the person describing it, actually is. Still, you’d be hard-pushed to talk about Todd (Far From Heaven) Haynes’ latest awards hopeful, based on a 1952 Patricia Highsmith novel (published pseudonymously because of its then-shocking content), without recourse to such a word. […]

Deadpool (the character, and the movie), is obsessed with equating sex and violence. When he says “I’m touching myself tonight” after murdering a bunch of dudes, it isn’t just a wisecrack. He really means it. It’s a kind of miracle that the ensuing scene doesn’t play out as repulsive, rather it’s genuinely funny, as is […]

You don’t get much more niche than Anomalisa – a crowd-funded stop-motion animation from master headchuffer Charlie Kaufman, writer of Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Adaptation. Unheard from since his frustrating 2008 directorial debut Synecdoche, New York, Kaufman creates cinema of grouchy self-doubt and grotesque self-deception, but anyone not already […]

Even without its Ashton Kutcher-led predecessor, this Steve Jobs biopic would likely have suffered from the perception that there may be nothing left to say about the much-discussed Apple innovator. Thanks to the specific talent involved in the film, it does not live down to this perception at all. Instead, it feels as vital and […]

Irish director Lenny Abrahamson, who made his mark with 2012’s underappreciated thriller What Richard Did, follows up 2014’s festival favourite Frank with this sensitive adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel. A much more direct cinematic experience than the intriguing-but-inscrutable Frank, Room leans in to its harrowing subject matter and delivers an uplifting and rewarding tale of […]

It’s easy to be wary of The Finest Hours – it gives off the whiff of an earnest, manipulative, straight-arrow film, the likes of which could only be released by Disney. It is all those things, but if you’re willing to hold your cynicism at bay, it’s also an often stirring, highly enjoyable tale of […]

To call The Danish Girl ‘Oscar-bait’ seems trite, but with the magical formula of an outstanding dramatic lead, hot subject matter and biopic, it’s hard to imagine a world where Eddie Redmayne won’t nab the Best Actor gong for the second year running. The Danish Girl charts the transition of Lili Elbe (Redmayne), née Einar […]

It looked like just another crappy comedy. Robert De Niro has been in some of the greatest films of all time, but his modern comedies are mostly rubbish and include abominations like Little Fockers. As for wee Zac Efron, he’s laughable when he’s trying to be serious and the unfunny guy that comedians use to […]

There’s something old-fashioned about Tom (The Station Agent) McCarthy’s real-life child abuse drama, and it’s not just the setting: 1990s/2000s Boston. Although – it has to be said – reasonably unappealing as Friday night viewing, it’s a film with integrity, about people trying to hold on to that self-same quality. Like its protagonists, it’s modest, […]

As great as Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained were, the manner in which Quentin Tarantino’s pointed proclivity for ponderous proclamations went unchecked in those films prevented me from wholly embracing them. In The Hateful Eight, the third entry in QT’s unofficial ‘Revisionist Myth’ trilogy, those tendencies go even further, gloriously so. The writer/director’s trademark verbose speechifying works in a way […]