You seem to wait ages for an Elvis biopic, and then two come along quickly. Actually, that’s not exactly true, for the second release, Priscilla, is more about his former wife than about the King. Yet, suppose Baz Luhrmann’s barn-storming 2022 film was about the showman. Sofia Coppola’s film is about the private life, or…
Author: Stuart Wren
One Life
Some films almost make themselves. You get a decent enough story and cast the right people in the roles, and all it takes is for a competent director to point the camera in the right direction. One Life is one such story. The tale of an ordinary man who did a most remarkable thing. It’s…
Next Goal Wins
Director Taika Waititi was a rising star in the directing world with movies like Eagle vs Shark, Boy, What We Do In The Shadows and The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, all quirky comedies built of fascinating characters. Then the big boys came calling and tackling Marvel with Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi’s unusual wit and charm created…
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom
It has not been a great year for superhero movies. Both DC and Marvel have failed to deliver, and it has shown in the box office figures. Only Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 made significant money, while The Marvels, possibly the most enjoyable Marvel movie this year, still failed to connect with audiences. So…
Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget
Aardman Animation has always been at the forefront of clay animation, but what puts them at the front of the filmmaking process is their ability to use whimsical humour, something that suits the Britishness of the products. In 2000, they produced Chicken Run, an affectionate pastiche of The Great Escape but with chickens. Twenty-three years…
Wonka
We are living in very dark times. With wars and political upheaval, the cost of living crisis and corruption all around, you feel downhearted every time you switch the news on. Fear not, good people, for there is a way to feel joy for a few hours, in the form of the latest film from…
Napoleon
My partner’s son is an enormous Napoleon fan, having studied everything about the French leader. When asked what he thought about the film, he replied: “It’s weird!” I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. When asked if he could expand, he began listing all the inaccurate things about the history. We know this…
Eileen
Some films don’t work; you can almost forgive them for their flaws. Then some work so well you wonder where they are going and then deliver a flimsy ending that makes you want to boo the screen. Eileen is one such movie. It builds slowly, giving the audience a detailed character study brimming with style,…
Wish
It’s Disney’s 100th anniversary. Since 1923, one of the biggest and most successful film companies has produced family-friendly entertainment. And so, this, their centenary year, they wanted to give us something memorable, something exceptional that will go down in the history books alongside Pinocchio, Bambi, The Jungle Book, The Lion King and Frozen. Instead, they…
Saltburn
Writer and director Emerald Fennell’s debut movie was the darkly comic Promising Young Woman, with Carey Mulligan as a woman who pretends to be drunk to ensnare men who are willing to take advantage of her. The film won Best Original Screenplay for Fennell. Now she is back with Saltburn, or what could be described…
The Marvels
Ever since Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios has found it hard to follow the epic finale. Issues have been coming their way from substandard productions, introductions of characters that no one knows, too many T.V. shows leading to poor receptions, problems with the effects teams and a future studio star being accused of abuse leading to…
Five Nights At Freddy’s
Going into Five Nights At Freddy’s, I knew little about its history. Based on a video game, I knew this was a horror film based around large animatronic creatures, so immediately it brought images of Nicolas Cage’s Willy’s Wonderland, which came out a few years ago, where the Cage had to spend a night with…
Stu Loves Film 