Category: Review
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Certain Women: A film with resolve
If Certain Women feels empty it is almost certainly by design. What better way to ring in Women’s History month than with this collection of stories regarding the diminishing effect the patriarchy has in the modern age? Kelly Reichardt is one of modern cinema’s leading formalists, exploring the place of women in society within her…
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Viceroy’s House: A paean to colonialism
If there’s one subject a British filmmaker needs to approach with caution nowadays its colonialism. I mean, sure, our history, and indeed our present, is full of shit that needs approaching with caution, but following Brexit, the subsequent rise in nationalist sentiment, and the belief among many of our elderly that a rapacious, destructive, grasping…
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Logan: Aging out
It is the tragedy of Jackman’s Wolverine that, while the character he plays is portrayed as functionally ageless, immortal, to watch the evolution of his portrayal is to watch his struggle against the forces of time. It would be wise for him not to return to the role, he can go on to star in…
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Fist Fight: Improv is no excuse for tastelessness
I think the actors in this joint were afraid of the grown up swears. Like, when filming nobody was too sure whether they were aiming for the PG13 or the R rating. In America your fucks, shits, and cunts are the grown words; your bitches, however, are fine. The characters in this film say ‘bitch’…
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Patriots Day: Third time’s almost the charm
Seems like Peter Berg has his game on lockdown right now. He’s set himself up as the premier director of Action Thrillers based on real life tragedies starring Mark Wahlberg. It’s an incredibly specific niche to be sure, but it’s his. Pleasingly, in each iteration of the formula so far, starting with 2013’s Lone Survivor,…
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The Fits: What’s a haunted house without the ghost
I’m not sure what to make of The Fits. I think that’s okay, it’s the first feature film by Anna Rose Holmer, and it’s clearly trying to cover a lot of ground. It’s exploring belonging and gender presentation and coming of age as a black girl. It’s a delicate balancing act for the most part…
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It’s Only the End of the World: Family Matters
Family be hard. I imagine that ain’t the way for everyone, but when Bush Senior talked about wanting families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons, one guesses it weren’t a simple minority he was talking about. There’s one respite for everyone, eventually you get to grow up and…
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2016’s Best Film: Your Name
It was the Oscars last night as I’m writing this. It looked like a fun evening and, despite all the drama and controversy, everyone deserves congratulations no matter who we think should have won in any specific category, and whether we still think the same way in a few years’ time. In the morning i…
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Moonlight: Watch with Empathy
I mean, I’m really not interested in any take on Moonlight that isn’t coming from a queer black person. It’s a beautiful evocation of a life that comes so far from mine that I feel fully inequipped to deal. Queerness comes pretty easy of my tongue, but that small-town, middle-class, white-British queerness. How can it…
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20th Century Women: Hanging With the Gals
At 20th Century Women’s best moments it’s got this real chill hangout movie vibe. A loose, easygoing slide that puts the audience into the headspace that Santa Barbara probably deserves. Work probably does get done there but right now it feels like a million miles away. The punk scene’s still alive, Reagan is not yet…
A Grand Quiet 