The Naked Gun
THE NAKED GUN is by no means the saviour of theatrical comedy. Still, with many films of its ilk relegated to streaming services, Akiva Schaffer’s legacy sequel is an unexpectedly welcome theatrical experience.
All posts by Connor Lightbody
Christy
The working-class coming-of-age genre has been one especially prone to descending into self-pitying or melodramatic tones without a strong vision behind it. CHRISTY never fails to feel genuine, the Berlinale ’14plus’ winner covering a rekindling of a fraught brotherhood with a joyous air of authenticity.
Ethical Spoilers & Alien: Romulus
You would have to live under a rock or be terminally offline not to notice the recent surge in artificial intelligence use. The A.I. platform ChatGPT responds to user input using machine learning, analysing language used on social media platforms and other sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit, to name some sources from which it … Continue reading Ethical Spoilers & Alien: Romulus
Stranger Eyes
STRANGER EYES is a film that is both deeply cynical and resoundingly humane in portraying the hyper-surveilled Singapore. Everyone is under scrutiny, but their humanity remains beyond the camera’s gaze.
Robot Dreams
The magnitude of pathos acheived by ROBOT DREAMS without dialogue while being a visual and witty delight is a miraculous achievement.
Arze: Mira Shaib interview
Mira Shaib’s feature film debut, ARZE, chronicles the story of Lebanese mother Arzé (Diamand Abou Abboud) as she searches for a stolen motorcycle on the streets of sectarian Beirut.
Black Dog
George Jaques’s BLACK DOG shows a lack of confidence in storytelling, but his next film can be great should the choices be bolder and more confident.
Elaha
When ELAHA channels anger into something pensive, the film’s power is amplified, evolving from didactic frustration to something evocative and immensely powerful.
Last Swim
The British indie film scene has always had an eye for generational talent. From Oscar-winner Chiwetel Ejiofor, who got acclaim in Stephen Frears’ indie DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, to Hollywood starlet Emily Blunt in Paweł Pawlikowski’s MY SUMMER OF LOVE, there is a recurrence of British indie films finding gems. In Sasha Nathwani’s sun-soaked tale of … Continue reading Last Swim
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is ugly, prosaic, and dull, pandering to an audience willing to be spoon-fed lines that they once recognised and moves as gracefully as its geriatric lead.