I write a review of every film I watch for the first time. No ratings, as I find them reductive.
Taipei Story (1985)
Melancholy urbanism… Continue reading Taipei Story (1985)
Hereditary (2018)
Aster’s dollhouse of horrors… Continue reading Hereditary (2018)
The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971)
Glorious aesthetics, gore-less giallo… Continue reading The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971)
The Shipping News (2001)
I don’t pity the fool… Continue reading The Shipping News (2001)
The X-Files (1998)
The truth is elsewhere… Continue reading The X-Files (1998)
The Parallax View (1974)
Misadventures in investigative reporting… Continue reading The Parallax View (1974)
Nomadland (2020)
Chloé Zhao’s poetic take on gig economy life… Continue reading Nomadland (2020)
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
A barbaric melodrama for fans of emotional sadism… Continue reading The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
The Mirror (1975)
The strange texture of dying people’s dreams… Continue reading The Mirror (1975)
Withnail & I (1987)
Feels like crying in the pale morning after a decade-long bender… Continue reading Withnail & I (1987)
Shirley (2020)
Power in creation… Continue reading Shirley (2020)
Sun Don’t Shine (2012)
Take a ride with the doll-eyed girl and the most regretful boy in the world… Continue reading Sun Don’t Shine (2012)
Hustlers (2019)
Some night time fun can’t stand the light of day… Continue reading Hustlers (2019)
Happy People (2010)
Craftsmanship at the edge of civilization… Continue reading Happy People (2010)
Knives Out (2019)
Every bit as camp and colourful as you want murder to be… Continue reading Knives Out (2019)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Christmas with your work family… Continue reading The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Honey Boy (2019)
A 12-year old becomes his father’s keeper… Continue reading Honey Boy (2019)
Salesman (1969)
The truth of how to be sold on a lie… Continue reading Salesman (1969)
Vampyr (1932)
Some people live forever for a reason… Continue reading Vampyr (1932)
Paths of Glory (1957)
The Wire meets World War 1… Continue reading Paths of Glory (1957)
The Lost Boys (1987)
For those who want everything at once, and lots of it… Continue reading The Lost Boys (1987)
Sunflower (1970)
You die twice, in life and in love… Continue reading Sunflower (1970)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
A film to inspire in office workers the kiwi bird’s envy of the eagle… Continue reading Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)
Apathy and PTSD for our leaders of tomorrow… Continue reading The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)
Happy as Lazarro (2018)
Blessed are the meek… Continue reading Happy as Lazarro (2018)
Nocturama (2016)
The kids are not all right… Continue reading Nocturama (2016)
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)
Síndrome de Estocolmo cinematográfico… Continue reading Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)
Tenet (2020)
Sleek action and scientific palaver… Continue reading Tenet (2020)
Miami Vice (2006)
The master of modern american crime takes on the tired, ego-driven daydreams of our fathers… Continue reading Miami Vice (2006)
The Sun’s Burial (1960)
A country cannibalizes itself… Continue reading The Sun’s Burial (1960)
The Crow (1994)
When camp and goth collides… Continue reading The Crow (1994)
Rebels of the Neon God (1992)
Youth, homeless and under water… Continue reading Rebels of the Neon God (1992)
Blood on the Moon (1948)
For a few dollars more… Continue reading Blood on the Moon (1948)
Fake It So Real (2011)
Toxic masculinity meets community theatre… Continue reading Fake It So Real (2011)
Midsommar (2019)
An aesthetic guide to traditional Norse grief counselling… Continue reading Midsommar (2019)
Rancho Notorious (1952)
Black-hearted romance and revenge… Continue reading Rancho Notorious (1952)
The Martian (2015)
Starry-eyed rocket science for dummies… Continue reading The Martian (2015)
First Cow (2019)
The real fortune is the friends we made along the way… Continue reading First Cow (2019)
Family Romance, LLC (2019)
It’s not a lie, if you believe it… Continue reading Family Romance, LLC (2019)
Tomboy (2011)
One child’s attempt to navigate the spaces of gender and the soft power of self-representation. … Continue reading Tomboy (2011)
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
Buds ‘til the end… Continue reading Mikey and Nicky (1976)
Little Women (2019)
Greta Gerwig arrives… Continue reading Little Women (2019)
Ghost Town Anthology (2019)
A small town drowns in existential ice water… Continue reading Ghost Town Anthology (2019)
Two Men in Manhattan (1959)
A cynical celebration of New York… Continue reading Two Men in Manhattan (1959)
A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Meet the sad gangsters of Seoul. … Continue reading A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Perverse and perversely thrilling.… Continue reading Peeping Tom (1960)
The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
The cinematic equivalent of a sneaker collab. … Continue reading The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
Day of Wrath (1943)
Whose love lights the way?… Continue reading Day of Wrath (1943)
Leave Her To Heaven (1945)
Never let you go. Never, never, never. … Continue reading Leave Her To Heaven (1945)
India Song (1975)
When the lights come on at the club.… Continue reading India Song (1975)
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (2020)
“You had a nice place here.”… Continue reading Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (2020)
I’m Not An Easy Man (2018)
Come for the man-waxing, stay for the waxing philosophical. … Continue reading I’m Not An Easy Man (2018)
Darling (1965)
“It should be so easy to be happy… I wonder why it isn’t.”… Continue reading Darling (1965)
Mandy (2018)
Nicolas Cage carves up Jesus freaks and gimp suit-wearing, ATV-driving, forest-dwelling demon bikers.… Continue reading Mandy (2018)
I Vitelloni (1953)
Real life comes with the dawn. … Continue reading I Vitelloni (1953)
Pillow Talk (1959)
It’s a bad, bad romance. … Continue reading Pillow Talk (1959)
Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
A place out of time, running out of time.… Continue reading Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
An Updike-Roth hybrid of male sexuality and toxicity… Continue reading Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Tales of Ginza (1955)
A ride through that part of town.… Continue reading Tales of Ginza (1955)
A Hidden Life (2020)
Do the right thing. … Continue reading A Hidden Life (2020)
The Lighthouse (2020)
A dark and twisted tale told to terrify.… Continue reading The Lighthouse (2020)
Charley Varrick (1973)
A messy film about a messy robbery.… Continue reading Charley Varrick (1973)
High Society (1956)
A star-powered show about the romantic entanglements of the 1%… Continue reading High Society (1956)
Uncut Gems (2020)
I like the rush of it. … Continue reading Uncut Gems (2020)
Paddington (2014)
Not your average “bear moves across the world and finds happiness”-story.… Continue reading Paddington (2014)
Secrets & Lies (1996)
Home is where the hurt is.… Continue reading Secrets & Lies (1996)
1917 (2020)
Unblinking terror in the French countryside.… Continue reading 1917 (2020)
The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
A poet gets high on another poet’s poetry.… Continue reading The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
Paddington 2 (2017)
In which a small bear redeems mankind.… Continue reading Paddington 2 (2017)
