Tag Archives: Film Reviews

December 26

Nitram (2021)

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A true story of evil, mental illness, and gun control.

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June 09

Death of a Ladies Man

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A Leonard Cohen-inspired essay on mortality and redemption

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May 05

The Father (2020)

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an interior portrait of dementia

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February 15

News of the World (2020)

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an old-fashioned western story with emotional impact

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January 28

Nomadland (2020)

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a story about life in a metal box on wheels

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January 20

Promising Young Woman (2020)

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a powerful portrait of a deadly serious subject

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December 05

On The Rocks (2020)

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a pointless tale of a rocky marriage and a meddling father

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September 04

Made in Italy (2020)

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a portrait of suppressed grief

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August 17

Babyteeth (2020)

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A quirky sad addition to the ‘terminally ill love-struck teen’ genre

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August 11

The King of Staten Island (2020)

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a tepid tale of a man-child’s struggle for adulthood

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July 17

Shirley (2020)

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A horrid portait of a horror writer.

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June 14

Sorry We Missed You (2019)

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A bleak message about the gig economy

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March 18

Downhill (2020)

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A poor American copy of the European film Force Majeure (2016)

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February 25

Military Wives (2019)

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a story about an overlooked group of heroines

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February 19

Richard Jewell (2019)

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a politically loaded David and Goliath narrative

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February 08

Bombshell (2019)

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There is more to this film than Me Too themes.

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January 29

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2020)

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A tale about human kindness.

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January 17

1917 (2019)

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a masterpiece of spectacle but an historical lightweight

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January 09

Little Women (2019)

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An adaptation that presumes more than it offers.

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December 29

2019 Film Favourites

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Personal film favourites of 2019

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December 23

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

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the nearest thing to cinematic art in years

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December 18

Marriage Story (2019)

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an insightful, witty, and sad portrait of modern marriage

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December 13

The Good Liar (2019)

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a well-acted thriller, multi-layered and implausible

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December 06

The Report (2019)

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an ugly episode of recent US history

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November 30

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

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a contrived story without a narrative core

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November 06

Joker (2019)

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a powerfully introspective portrait of mental illness

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October 28

Judy (2019)

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a dramatic tour-de-force portrait of a fallen star

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October 15

Late Night (2019)

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a comic drama about modern media

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October 03

The Keeper (2018)

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tale of a soccer hero with a dark past

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September 23

Ad Astra (2019)

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a feast of special effects and Freudian themes

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September 17

Parasite (2019)

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a black comedy about social inequality

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September 02

The White Crow (2018)

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One of the most famous political defections of all time.

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August 21

Palm Beach (2019)

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a slow-moving predictable portrayal of middle-class privilege.

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August 10

Sonja: The White Swan (2018)

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a mediocre bio-pic of a 1930s skating movie star

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July 06

Never Look Away (2018)

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an epic tale about art and truth

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June 25

Official Secrets (2019)

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a whistle-blower morality play

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June 16

Tolkien (2019)

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a story of seamless connection between life and art

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June 11

Rocketman (2019)

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a swirling kaleidoscope of emotion and music

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June 01

Top End Wedding (2019)

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tepid Aussie rom-com becomes poetic essay on belonging

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May 14

Long Shot (2018)

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some cheap laughs for gross-out fans

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May 05

The Chaperone (2018)

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a visually delightful but flawed period drama

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April 29

Sometimes Always Never (2018)

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portrait of a family desperately unable to communicate

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April 24

The Aftermath (2019)

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a portrait of unresolvable grief

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April 14

Woman at War (2018)

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a quirky tale of an eco-terrorist heroine

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March 20

The Guilty (2018)

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a tension tightrope from beginning to end

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February 25

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

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an essay on the Black-American experience

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February 18

On The Basis of Sex (2018)

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An worthwhile addition to the history of feminism and jurisprudence.

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February 13

Free Solo (2018)

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a riveting story, brilliantly filmed amongst stunning mountain scenery

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February 04

Green Book (2018)

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a study of 1960s racism still relevant today

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January 30

The Front Runner (2018)

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a turning point for media and political morality

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January 16

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

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a well-acted but uneventful tale of an artful forger

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January 09

The Favourite (2018)

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a portrait of royal frailty and fickleness

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December 29

Vice (2018)

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a darkly comic portrait of unfettered power

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December 10

The Coming Back Out Ball Movie (2018)

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a montage of hurt souls joyfully sharing their story.

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December 01

The Children Act (2017)

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a story of the perfect mid-life firestorm

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November 23

Boy Erased (2018)

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shining a light on the dark arts of gay conversion

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October 29

A Star is Born (2018)

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a standout musical and a modern classic of entertainment.

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October 23

First Man (2018)

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An engaging, exciting, and visually satisfying film.

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October 15

Custody (2017)

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a pulse-racing portrait of domestic terrorism

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October 09

The Seagull (2018)

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If Chekhov were here, it is unlikely he would rush to see it.

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October 03

Foxtrot (2017)

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An essay on the absurdism of war.

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September 25

Ladies in Black (2018)

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Entertaining, heart-warming, and a visual feast of nostalgia.

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September 19

Beast (2017)

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a tense portrait of unpredictable characters in a web of the unexpected.

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September 05

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

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while we laugh at this film it is laughing at us.

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August 27

The Insult (2017)

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Being an important film is not the same as being a great one.

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August 20

On Chesil Beach (2017)

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A slow and awkward film that lacks soul

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August 12

Summer 1993 (2018)

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A film to be savoured on many levels.

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August 07

The Breaker Upperers (2018)

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a contender for the Most Unfunny Comedy of 2018

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July 30

Lost in Paris (2017)

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A vaudeville-circus style romp across Paris

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July 16

A Horrible Woman (2017)

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a portrait of perfect complementarity

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July 10

Leave No Trace (2018)

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an engaging tale of emotional survial

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July 01

Kodachrome (2017)

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A film of unfulfilled potential

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June 25

The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)

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an essay in psychotic obsession

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June 18

The Wife (2017)

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an original tale of midlife self-discovery

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June 12

Hereditary (2018)

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a grief psycho-drama becomes a supernatural fantasy

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June 05

The Bookshop (2017)

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a slow-moving village drama full of old-world Britishness

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May 28

Chappaquiddick (2017)

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a portrait of unbounded privilege without moral compass

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May 23

On Body and Soul (2017)

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an unusual love story that defies conventional tropes of romance.

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May 17

Breath (2017)

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a beautiful looking coming-of-age full of cliches and banalities

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May 13

Tully (2018)

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a comic-serious case study in post-natal psychosis

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May 07

Loveless (2017)

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a bleak essay about a loveless society

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May 01

Unsane (2018)

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a horror story about the fragility of sanity

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April 24

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

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a tale of friendship, romance, and love of literature

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April 16

The Other Side of Hope (2017)

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a film that looks into the face of the dispossessed

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April 12

A Quiet Place (2018)

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stay quiet or a slimy creature will eat you

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April 07

Love, Simon (2018)

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a Glee-style sugar-coated rom-com about a teenager’s coming out

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March 27

The Death of Stalin (2017)

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a deviously clever satire on Russian politics that is relevant elsewhere

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March 20

Film Stars Dont Die in Liverpool (2017)

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an unconventional love story in the lonely space beyond stardom

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March 14

Red Sparrow (2018)

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a pre-Weinstein era espionage thriller full of gratuitous violence and degradation of women

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February 26

Finding Your Feet (2018)

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a gentle British rom-com laced with upper-class ridicule and feminist self-discovery.

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February 21

Winchester (2018)

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a standard spook with a message on the morality of guns

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February 14

Molly’s Game (2017)

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a lightweight expose of the seedy world of high-stakes gambling

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February 07

Lucky (2017)

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a poignantly introspective essay on aging and death

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February 01

Phantom Thread (2017)

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a psychological thriller-satire on haute couture

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January 29

Lady Bird (2017)

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brilliant acting stands out in a cliche-filled coming-of-age tale

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January 26

The Post (2017)

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a true story showing why the media is despised by despots

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January 21

The Shape of Water (2017)

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a luscious production of an unoriginal fairy tale

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January 19

Sweet Country (2017)

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a visually stunning outback tale that resonates today

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January 15

I, Tonya (2017)

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a compelling portrait of an abused skater-made-good

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January 11

Darkest Hour (2017)

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the finest film ever made about the Churchill legend.

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January 08

Breathe (2017)

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an inspiring story of unconditional love

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January 04

The Florida Project (2017)

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a montage of moments in the pitiful ordinariness of living in poverty.

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January 01

The Greatest Showman (2017)

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an original, vibrant, fast paced fantasy musical

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December 28

Favourites 2017

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My twelve favourite 2017 films

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December 20

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

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a visually rich and emotionally engaging universal love story

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December 17

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

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a mother’s enraged quest for justice at any cost

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December 14

The Secret Scripture (2017)

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a fractured melodrama about a woman wrongly held in a Catholic hospital for 40 years

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December 11

Wonder Wheel (2017)

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an over-cooked melodrama behind the facade of a fun park

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December 08

The Teacher (2017)

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a chilling allegory for moral corruption under communism

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December 03

Wonder (2017)

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an irresistible emotional ambush

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November 29

Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

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a beautifully told story of sadness behind Winnie the Pooh

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November 26

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

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a true story about the creation of a feminist icon

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November 23

Brad’s Status (2017)

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a whimsical interior monologue about mid-life inadequacy

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November 20

Mary Shelley (2017)

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deliciously Gothic tale of the tempestuous life behind Frankenstein

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November 15

Detroit (2017)

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gripping drama but poor history of the Detroit riots

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November 13

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

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an absurdist tale of atonment

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November 08

Tulip Fever (2017)

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gorgeous production cannot disquise contrived melodrama

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November 05

Suburbicon (2017)

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an audacious film about conservative white America

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November 02

Three Summers (2017)

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an irreverent comic snapshot of the Aussie national culture

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October 30

Tom of Finland (2017)

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a well-made bio pic of an artist who redefined gay culture

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October 25

The Midwife (2017)

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an emotionally rich tale about two very different women

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October 23

The Emoji Movie (2017)

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a whimsical satire on the return of hieroglyphics

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October 18

The Only Living Boy in New York (2017)

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a coming of age tale full of angst-laden whimsy and musical nostalgia

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October 15

The Mountain Between Us (2017)

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an Alpine soap opera ruined by a dog

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October 12

Flatliners (2017)

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a gods-in-training story that flatlines to a corny finalé

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October 10

Final Portrait (2017)

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If you enjoy watching paint dry this is your film

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October 06

The Dancer (2016)

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an engaging bio pic of an avant-garde Parisian dancer

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October 02

Tommy’s Honour (2016)

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a well-made but dull historical drama about golf

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September 27

Mountain (2017)

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a beautiful meditation on mountains but easy to forget

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September 25

Battle of the Sexes (2017)

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the story of the most watched game in the history of women’s sport

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September 21

Victoria and Abdul (2017)

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An impeccable British historical drama

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September 17

Mother! (2017)

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an audacious masterpeice of political and religious satire

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September 15

Gifted (2017)

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a charming tale of a child prodigy who just wants to be a child

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September 11

The Dinner (2017)

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an angry dinner serves up a morality battle laced with race and class divsion

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September 07

God’s Own Country (2017)

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a brave honest essay on sexual self-discovery

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September 04

Ali’s Wedding (2017)

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a well intentioned light-hearted inter-racial rom com

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September 01

Madame (2017)

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a slow-burning comedy of inflated egos and a Cinderella dream

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August 28

The Lost City of Z (2016)

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a solid tale made lacklustre in the telling

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August 24

The King’s Choice (2016)

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a gripping study of moral responsibility in leadership

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August 21

Hampstead (2017)

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a lukewarm uneven British rom-com

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August 17

Wind River (2017)

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a vengeance thriller with solid storytelling, exciting visuals, and well-crafted acting

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August 14

Atomic Blonde (2017)

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more heroine-inflicted casualties per minute than some war movies

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August 11

The Circle (2017)

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a techno-dystopian warning about digital dependence

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August 08

A Monster Calls (2016)

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a gut-wrenching tale about death and grieving

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August 04

The Big Sick (2017)

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a clever rom-com that laughs where few dare to tread

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July 31

A Ghost Story (2017)

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a haunting reflection on grief and what lies beyond the last heartbeat

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July 28

The Man (2017)

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a tense Nordic essay on ageing, art, and father-son rivalry

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July 25

Paris Can Wait (2016)

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a delicious film title promising much but delivering little

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July 21

Dunkirk (2017)

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a combat spectacular loosely based on Dunkirk history

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July 17

The Beguiled (2017)

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a beguiling exercise in form over substance

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