Julia Ducournau is one of the most original horror directors around, having served up the brilliant Raw and the bonkers body horror Titane. There was excitement when her new film, Alpha, was announced —an examination of a family in crisis, dealing with trauma, and an allegory for the AIDS epidemic. However, what starts off with…
Category: Cinema
The Choral
The Choral is the new collaboration from director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett, having worked together on The History Boys, The Lady in the Van and The Madness of King George. It has all the elements of a typical British comedy drama, set during World War 1, an unlikely bunch of characters thrown together…
Predator: Badlands
The Predator franchise has been diminishing ever since the alien decided to take on Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 1987. That is, until writer and director Dan Trachtenberg came on board with his 2022 film, Prey. Earlier this year, he gave us the animated Predator: Killer of Killers, and now he takes the story to a…
Bugonia
Many people say there is little originality in mainstream cinema. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is out to prove them wrong. His films push the boundaries of what it means to be different while challenging the audience with his creative approach and unpredictability. Movies like The Favourite, Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness are critical successes,…
Tron: Ares
Back in 1982, Tron took cinema to a whole new dimension. The first film to use computer-generated effects was a marvel to behold, as we were taken from the real world into the land of video games, where light cycles raced around a grid, even though the computer they used had only 2 MB of…
I Swear
Very little is known about Tourette’s Syndrome and the stigma that has followed it. Well, now that is all about to change with possibly the most heartfelt, charming and emotional film of the year, I Swear, based on the real experiences of John Davidson. It is one of those rare films that will both touch…
The Smashing Machine
Mixed Martial Arts is a sport I have little idea about, apart from the fact that it involves beating the living daylights out of your opponent. So a film about one of the first names of the sport didn’t initially grab me. Yet while Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is a biopic of Mark Kerr,…
One Battle After Another
Entering into Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, One Battle After Another, I didn’t know what to expect. The trailer appears somewhat disjointed, not only in tone but also in terms of plot and character development. Thankfully, this was one of those times when the trailer does the right amount to make an audience member intrigued, because…
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Downton Abbey has become almost critic-proof. No matter what people think about the movies that have come out since the TV series ended, the fans will come out to support it. The third, and allegedly, last movie, The Grand Finale, is a perfect example of how safe it is. It is possibly the worst of…
The Long Walk
Stephen King seems to be the flavour of the month at the moment. With the excellent Life of Chuck recently released, a TV series based on the novel It, Welcome To Derry, coming soon, and a new version of The Running Man in November, King’s wealth of novels and short stories seems to be attracting…
The Roses
Take two of this country’s finest and highly respected actors, the director of the Austin Powers and Meet The Parents movies, the writer of The Favourite and Poor Things and a film based on a best-selling book that has already been made into a popular movie from 1989, and what do you expect you will…
The Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman, TV presenter and producer, turned his hand to writing and achieved international success with his murder mystery, The Thursday Murder Club. Becoming a phenomenon, Steven Spielberg instantly bought the rights, brought on board Home Alone director Chris Columbus, and assembled a cast to die for, entering into a deal with Netflix to present…
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