Sinners
Ryan Coogler continues to grow as a filmmaker: the choice not to water down the more challenging ideas underneath the blockbuster sensibilities of SINNERS proves to be the lifeblood of the film.
Category Archives: Reviews
Late Shift (Heldin)
The specific events in LATE SHIFT don’t especially matter, but the resilience Leonie Benesch conveys in the face of whatever they may be matters hugely.
Jurassic World Rebirth
JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH is the seventh entry in a series that resolutely and ironically refuses to die in the way the implied resurrection would require. Instead, Gareth Edwards takes the reins on a new entry that makes a clean break from the characters of the original JURASSIC PARK and JURASSIC WORLD, but not from the increasingly convoluted world that the series inhabits.
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.
North West Independent Film Festival
The inaugural edition of the North West Independent Film Festival in Preston used its second day to focus on the theme of ‘Shifting Grounds: Breaking Cycles, Seeking Truths’, showcasing films which hold a spirit of independence and creative ambition.
Harvest
HARVEST is too tonally inconsistent and tediously obtuse to harvest any emotional substance from the ideas that it sows.
Hot Milk
Emma Mackey is an engaging screen presence that keeps HOT MILK more or less on track in her lead role, but the lack of narrative direction leaves her character and the film to languish in the hot Spanish sun.
28 Years Later
By defying a desire for simplistic metaphors and clear avatars for contemporary concerns, it’s arguable that 28 YEARS LATER allows meaning to emerge in the minds of individual viewers in more complex and unexpected ways.
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.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
With almost thirty years having passed since the first MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, the series has lasted much longer than the legendary 5-seconds-until-self-destruction. However, even if this latest spectacle delivers more than a tiny puff of smoke in an 80s tape player, it represents a fizzling out nonetheless.