The Power Of The Dog (2021) - Movie Review

The chances of me being able to get into a Western are about as the same as the average person liking Bender’s cooking: Unless there’s something wild and possibly psychedelic is mixed in there, it’s probably not gonna happen. But this is another one of those films that I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about over the last month, and while I’m still going in with a mild disinterest in the genre as a whole, I’m at least willing to give it a chance on its own terms, rather than making it adhere to my own. It coming from a filmmaker as beloved as Jane Campion definitely helps with that, but just bear in mind that I’m not exactly the target audience for such stories. Or, at least, that’s what I thought going into this.

The Justice Of Bunny King (2021) - Movie Review

This one seems like a no-brainer: Get one of Australia’s best working actresses, and one of, if not the, best young New Zealand actress, and put them in a movie together. Besides both Essie Davis and Thomasin McKenzie being in some absolute winners this year already, they’ve been putting in a lot of strong work over the last few years. And this film adds another notch to their respective belts, to the point where this might be my single favourite Essie Davis performance yet. As the titular Bunny King, she is mama bear personified as a hard-done-by squeegee woman who just wants to go to her daughter’s birthday party. The sheer conviction she gives with this role is incredible, perfectly portraying someone trying to make the best out of a terrible situation. Well, several terrible situations that have piled on top of each other.

Last Night In Soho (2021) - Movie Review

I’ve been looking forward to this film for a very long time. In fact, this goes beyond pure anticipation, as this film’s existence is tied directly to my big break into this film criticism gig. Long story short, when I got to interview Edgar Wright during the press tour for Baby Driver, he mentioned that he wanted to make a straight-up horror movie one day. For a while, everyone was abuzz about him possibly doing a sequel to Baby Driver which, while I like and is certainly the most technically polished film he's made yet, I wasn’t as hot on as his previous work. No, I was holding out on that raw genre experience, and sure enough, my prayers were answered once news of this film first broke. And even with the curious levels of backlash this has gotten thus far, I am incredibly happy with the end result.

Jojo Rabbit (2019) - Movie Review

In June of 2017, in-between being named New Zealander Of The Year and making Thor: Ragnarok, filmmaker Taika Waititi made this video in collaboration with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Waititi making something like this. A video so bursting with ironic social cringe, made by a creative who has built an entire career out of weaponising it, that its discomfort can make it difficult to watch. Being able to sell the message that even the smallest act of racism adds to the larger picture (basically the concept of micro-aggressions in a nutshell) is what immediately won me over that this is the guy who should make a fascist satire in a “you couldn’t make a Mel Brooks movie today” cultural climate. And thankfully, the man does not disappoint.

True History Of The Kelly Gang (2019) - Movie Review

After bringing Shakespeare to the big screen with Macbeth, and delivering a much-maligned but still admirable attempt at video game adaptation with Assassin’s Creed, director Justin Kurzel has reunited with screenwriter Shaun Grant to once again step into Australia’s dark history to bring us a film about the quintessential Aussie legend: The outlaw Ned Kelly. The two have already proven their salt as a team with Snowtown, and Shaun Grant’s writing did a great service to the cultural hiding featured in Jasper Jones, and true to form, their efforts here make for a powerful piece of cinema.