Poor Things (2023) - Movie Review

Yorgos Lanthimos is a mad genius of filmmaking. Having managed to make a rather unexpected emergence into the mainstream off of The Favourite, which took his usually osmium-thick storytelling style and made it accessible to a larger audience, his latest feature is as much a departure from that as The Favourite was from The Killing Of A Sacred Deer. DP Robbie Ryan is still offering a peephole-view into a world that is wildly different from what we charitably consider to be ‘reality’, and writer Tony McNamara is still finding new and deliciously colourful ways to describe the most vulgar shit, but what Lanthimos has brought them together for this time around is something truly special.

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) - Movie Review

2009’s Zombieland was a pretty big turning point for both the people involved in its production and for its genre. As far as zombie cinema is concerned, its highly self-referential and tongue-in-cheek approach to the running dead makes for one of the bigger splashes the genre has seen this side of the new millennium. And for its production crew, it was the first big break that led to much bigger things: Jesse Eisenberg was on the cusp of his defining role in The Social Network, Emma Stone was on her way to becoming one of the best romantic leads of the modern era, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick’s first collaboration here would lead to great success with Life and the Deadpool movies, and director Ruben Fleischer… well, I won’t hold Venom against him, but he got a big boost from it too.

The Favourite (2018) - Movie Review

 

The latest from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, while it lacks his attachment to the script as well as the involvement of his go-to DOP Thimios Bakatakis, operates within his usual realms of all things quietly insane. A costume drama set in the early 18^th century, involving a battle for the favour of Queen Anne (played superbly by Olivia Colman) between cousins Abigail (Emma Stone in rare, vengeful form) and Sarah (Rachel Weisz apparently trying to redeem herself for her last attempt at romantic period drama). It marks the most easily-digestible film Yorgos has made yet, meaning that I’m not going to be wallowing in a critical malaise trying to figure this shit out like last time. It also means I get to talk about one of the funniest films I’ve seen all year without any cerebral hang-ups.

La La Land (2016) - Movie Review

The movie musical is dead. Or, at least, the original concept of the movie musical is dead. Starting out as a natural extension of film’s stylistic origins in theatre, it was full of big grins and bigger dance numbers about the ways of life and love. And then we started to get inventive with the format, using it less as a means of showing the fantastical nature of the musical and more to highlight it as a heavy contrast to the harshness of reality. Through this, we’ve gotten some proper quality musical films as Sweeney Todd, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Reefer Madness and a bunch of others that wouldn’t even be conceivable as viable musicals back in the old days. Now, as much as this evolution of the format has honestly worked out for the best all things considered, maybe a bit of revivalism could help keep everything in perspective. And thanks to rising star filmmaker Damian Chazelle, it seems that we have just that for today.

Irrational Man (2015) - Movie Review

Given the recent news of two other celebrities whom have become embroiled in sex scandals, talking about Woody Allen is going to prove… problematic, to say the least. What makes this even more awkward is the fact that, unlike the events surrounding Rolf Harris and Bill Cosby of late, it seems that people have forgiven(?) Allen for his actions; or, to be more accurate, developed a capacity to ignore them. Now, I’m a firm believer that a disconnection between the artist and his art is possible and, at times, necessary: Grave Of The Fireflies is an immensely powerful film, but it’s hurt when it’s brought into context of Isao’s intent for the film. I am not condoning Allen’s behaviour by any means; I’m just saying that how he is as a person shouldn’t immediately paint all opinions concerning his art, some of which is still beloved to this day. Hell, if that were the case then no-one would ever listen to another Phil Spector-produced song again. Okay, now that all of that is out of the way, let’s actually get into the film itself so that I can practice what I preach for once about separation of art and artist.

Aloha (2015) - Movie Review

As much as I have frequently shown pessimism about the films I review, I don’t think I’ve come across a film yet that has given me this much reason to do so. Between the laughably appalling tagline "Sometimes you have to say goodbye before you can say hello", which rivals The Impossible’s "Nothing is more powerful than the human spirit" in terms of trite advertising, the extremely by-the-numbers plot as hinted at by the trailer and the sheer frequency at that trailer was shown, to the point where it has been playing in front of every film I’ve gone to see in the last couple months, I find myself largely sick of this movie before I even paid to see the thing. But, keeping in line with the feel-good mentality that permeates these kinds of films, I will try to keep an open mind about this… Let’s see how long that lasts.

Birdman (2015) - Movie Review

We all have moments in our lives when we doubt ourselves. Whether it's out of fear of what may result of our actions or just as a backlash from what others expect from us, no-one can be entirely sure that they are doing the right thing. This way of thinking gets even more muddled when it delves into the creative world, where the entire reason for doing anything is out of a need for an outlet for creativity but still being required to adhere to what the higher-ups ask of you. Today's film tells the story of one man who tries to make something out of his creative endeavours while still fighting with his environment, his peers and himself.