Cinema can be a powerful source of projecting what is happening today. Looking back to the 70s, one can see the paranoia of post-Vietnam and the 80s for its Regean-ite freedom and greed of the rich. Now, we are in a world where war seems to fill the news agenda, and America is divided politically….
Tag: drama
The First Omen
The trend of rebooting classic horrors continues with a prequel to the 1976 classic The Omen. After the failure to capture the spirit (get it?) of The Exorcist with The Exorcist: Believer, The First Omen had meagre expectations. As the original was an Exorcist rip-off, would we get another generic horror film that relies on…
Monster
Hirokazu Koreeda is one of Japan’s most prolific and admired directors. His films are often slices of life, leading many to compare him to Yasujiro Ozu and even Ken Loach. With successful dramas Shoplifters and Broker under his belt, he now challenges his audience with a story seen from the point of view of three…
Wicked Little Letters
When you were young, you were told that swearing was neither big nor clever. Some would say that those who use excessively bad language do not have the vocabulary to cover what they are trying to say. On the evidence of Wicked Little Letters, the new British comedy-drama, these theories can be thrown out the…
The Iron Claw
It’s always interesting when you go into a movie with little knowledge of the subject matter, especially when inspired by a true story. The Iron Claw is the story of the Von Erick family, a wrestling family that helps change the face of the professional sport. I knew they had something to do with wrestling…
The Zone of Interest
The events within the walls of Auschwitz have been and will probably be a subject of interest for filmmakers. They make for powerful, sometimes shocking and always heartbreaking movies, like Steven Spielberg’s influential Schindler’s List or the harrowing Son of Saul. Now, Jonathan Glazer, the director of Sexy Beast and the sci-fi Under The Skin,…
The Color Purple
It was a Pultizer-prize-winning novel by Alice Walker that was turned into a hugely acclaimed movie 1985 by Steven Spielberg. Then, it became a West End and Broadway musical. Now we have the film version of The Color Purple, based on that musical. While there is so much to admire, there is something that doesn’t…
The Holdovers
They often say they don’t make movies like they used to. Alexander Payne, the director of such small-scale comedy dramas as About Schmidt, Election and Sideways, has managed to do exactly that. The Holdovers is a bitter-sweet tale of three very different characters brought together during Christmas; we are lucky enough to watch them grow….
Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos is a name that might not roll off the tongue, but it’s a name that you need to learn quickly because he is one of the most exciting directors on the scene. His films push the boundaries of cinema to the limit. With a batch of celebrated movies behind him: Dogtooth, The Lobster,…
Priscilla
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…
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…
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…
Stu Loves Film 