At its heart, BABY DONE is a film about being uncomfortable adopting the roles of parenthood, and realising they’re only as restricting as we allow them to be. The film’s shortcomings aren’t from a lack of ideas, but rather from their execution.
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.
Beneath the documentary textures of BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS, its vérité camerawork and calm but quick editing schemes, something planned and constructed is at work. The Ross brothers transform a concocted scenario into a space full of what seems like extempore feeling and lived-in experience. Marc Nelson reviews.
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.
There will be much debate as to what this film is – if it is a film at all. But what can be deduced from the experience is that utopia is far from our grasp, and our understanding of what utopia is, is far from universal. Steph Brown reviews.
IHUMAN won’t be new for anyone who’s kept up to date with any of the other numerous documentaries on data mining and surveillance but it’s nifty in tying everything together and offers a sense of understanding, albeit one we may wish we never had. April McIntyre reviews.
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.
COCOON, as the title and butterfly imagery in the film suggests, is about evolution, change and new beginnings. April McIntyre reviews.
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.
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
