Empire Of Light (2023) - Movie Review

Well, we seem to have found my limit when it comes to movies about the magic of movies. Following up his one-shot-trick feature 1917 (and bringing back DP Roger Deakins and editor Lee Smith), Sam Mendes has decided to get in on the recent trend of storied filmmakers tipping their hats to the art form they exist in. But where directors like Steven Spielberg and George Miller and even Ti West had a sturdy head on their shoulders when tackling that level of idealism, what Mendes and company have cooked up here is… well, cooked.

Blue Story (2020) - Movie Review

In terms of hip-hop aesthetic on film, this might be one of the most direct examples I’ve covered on here. The feature-length directorial debut of Andrew Onwubolu, also known as Rapman (which somehow bests Director X for most generic music video director name I’ve ever heard), this South London crime drama shows Rapman himself serving as Greek chorus, jumping in at certain key moments to provide rapped narration. As part of the bigger presentation, with the story of two teenaged friends pushed to opposite ends of a gang war by cruel coincidence, it’s a decent enough idea in theory. But in practice, it ends up dragging down what is otherwise a quite efficient slice of dramatic grit.