“A thousand generations live in you now”. Luke’s utterance must have also been what J. J. Abrams heard when he was asked to direct the final episode in the Skywalker Saga. Every generation of child, young or old, was waiting to see what he was going to do with the final chapter. The answer? He … Continue reading “A thousand generations live in you now” (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker review)
From Noah Baumbach (director of The Squid and the Whale) comes Marriage Story. Another sublime comedy drama, it tells the story of a coast to coast divorce in a film that is a masterpiece of brutality. Charlie Barber, a successful theatre director, is married to Nicole, a successful actress. After giving up on marriage counselling, … Continue reading A heartbreaking portrayal of divorce (Marriage Story review)
Years in the making and decades in the narrative, The Irishman (titled onscreen as “I Heard You Paint Houses”) is Martin Scorsese’s latest epic crime drama, telling the life and confessions of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran. Though it doesn’t feel it’s 3 ½ hour run time and the drama is beefy enough to fill it, it also never feels like enough excitement or emotion occurs within the film to justify it’s length.
From Bill Condon (director of Mr Holmes and Beauty and The Beast) comes The Good Liar, a dark crime thriller based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle. With an intriguing but weird story, this film walks dangerously close to mediocrity and is only saved by two fantastic performances.
From director Paul Feig and writer Emma Thompson comes a charming festive rom-com that the title sequence brags is “based on George Michael’s eponymous song”. With great performances but a cliché story, it’s a fun film that fails to fully give cheer to someone special.
Rian Johnson is one of the hottest filmmakers of recent years. His take on Star Wars with ‘The Last Jedi’ utterly divided critics and fans, as he proved he could do something different with the seemingly formulaic nature of the franchise. With his new film Knives Out, he again proves a master of subversion, this time taking on the murder mystery genre.
After playing Dick Chaney in Vice, Christian Bale has now lost all that weight to star alongside Matt Damon in a film about racing. You’ve gotta love Bale for his diversity in choosing projects, but he clearly has a keen eye for greatness because this film, which sports some phenomenal racing sequences, is absolutely fantastic.
The Shining is widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made (and has always been a firm favourite of mine). In 2013, Steven King (author of the original) wrote a sequel, and this is that adaptation. A sequel to the Kubrick masterpiece but still a film of it’s own, it’s a love letter to the original with enough scares and twists to stand alone.
Aardman have been responsible for some of the funniest and most British films of recent years. There aren’t many production studios that can take a minor character from another franchise, make a spin-off TV series from it, and then two feature films from that, and STILL maintain originality and freshness. However, with 'Farmageddon', they have managed to still do justice to that little sheep from ‘A Close Shave’.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day has long been one of my favourite films. Its action, its emotion and its CGI are all stunning for its age, and upon countless re-watches it still holds up as one of the greatest films ever made. The team behind Terminator: Dark Fate clearly noticed that, and decided to try duplicating that film. What’s left is a fairly enjoyable action flick with none of the flair of the originals.
Daniel Robinson: From Reel to Real 