Babylon (2023) - Movie Review

Damien Chazelle might be the single most self-confident filmmaker working in Hollywood right now. No matter how idealistic (the grand romantic tones in La La Land), or familiar (the story of Apollo 11 in First Man), or just downright goofy (the colourful string of expletives in the script for Whiplash) his ideas get, there’s never an inkling that he’s meeting any of it halfway. And even when I find myself on the wrong side of some of those aspects, I’ve been unable to deny that there’s a certain infectious quality to how much conviction the man pours into each of his directorial efforts thus far. But his latest seems to be the ultimate test for that methodology, as we’ve gone from a film that would merely benefit from that much confidence behind the camera, to a film that outright requires it to work even slightly.

Overlord (2018) - Movie Review

 

There was a time when saying that Nazis are bad wouldn’t have been met with so much resistance. There was a time when seeing Captain America punch Hitler in the face wouldn’t have drawn accusations on the artists being SJWs. There was a time when recognising that the Nazis are responsible for some of the greatest atrocities in human history was the least controversial statement a person could make. But it seems that, in an age where white supremacy is a hot-button issue, that time is not now. Many people aren’t exactly happy with this idea, myself included, and that is why this film is such a delightfully demented breath of fresh air.

Fences (2017) - Movie Review

After yesterday’s parade of posing, it’s nice to actually sit down with a proper king of cool for today’s film. Specifically, the man, the legend and the recently dwindling star that is Denzel Washington. His notoriety as an actor is properly set in stone through his work with Spike Lee and the Scott brothers, but his more recent work is somewhat less compelling. Denzel and director Antoine Fuqua have brought each other much adoration in the past through Training Day, but between the somewhat middling The Equalizer and the outright disappointment of The Magnificent Seven retooling, he hasn’t been at his best of late. Knowing the extremely presentist mindset of today in terms of pop culture, it’s not much of a stretch to say that this guy’s legacy could be in jeopardy in the minds of current filmgoers. Hopefully, today’s film will present a possible resurgence. This is Fences.