Luzzu
Alex Camilleri’s feature directorial debut is a melancholy lament on the decline of traditional ways of life. Without romanticising an often difficult daily life, his story of a Maltese fisherman is naturalistic but beautiful.
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John and the Hole
There is plenty to commend the technical and performance aspects of JOHN AND THE HOLE. Still, the storytelling choices and structure fill in the intriguing gaps with narrative quicksand, into which the film’s potential slowly sinks.
Synchronic
SYNCHRONIC joins the dense history of time travel films with an intriguing mechanic and clear character motivations to attach to it. However, Benson and Moorhead’s film zips by at a pace that means our attachment to those characters never develops the film into the emotionally engaging feature it could have been.
Stardust
STARDUST isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t seem to strive for much more than that. The Bowie biopic lacks the cryptic charisma of its subject; something that might distract from a disjointed and inconsequential narrative.
Tenet
TENET ends up something of a Rube Goldberg machine of a film: a wondrously complex set of mechanics that is fascinating, but also an incredibly convoluted way of masking what is, in essence, a thin and poorly executed story.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of the August Wilson play is a demonstration of captivating and powerful acting. Although it never seems to flourish visually, the chamber-piece story and powerful performance of the late Chadwick Boseman and the supporting ensemble carry it far.
Mank
MANK may become more of a cinematic curio in Fincher’s filmography but it has enough bite and edge here to give the film some degree of insight beyond the origin of one of cinema’s most significant works.
The Nest
Sean Durkin’s first feature film since MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE – one of the best debuts of the previous decade – is a parable of the pursuit of prosperity begetting toxicity. Durkin’s characters and story show the descent of a family unit and place of shelter into a nest of vipers. The film begins in … Continue reading The Nest
African Apocalypse
AFRICAN APOCALYPSE is not an examination of grainy photographs and dusty historical sources but one of an enduring legacy of oppression and white supremacy. Jim Ross reviews.
Bassam Tariq Interview
After reviewing MOGUL MOWGLI as part of our London Film Festival coverage, Jim Ross spoke to director Bassam Tariq about the themes of the film and the festival circuit in the coronavirus-hit year of 2020.