Acting as a true, unapologetically enthusiastic celebration of Hong Kong action icon Jackie Chan, Kung Fu Rookie (or Timuchin), is a fun homage to a significant figure in martial arts cinema. With Chan’s Karate Kid: Legends releasing in a few months and his classic Rumble in the Bronx celebrating its …
In The End, Joshua Oppenheimer turns his camera from documentary towards fiction while continuing his exploration of the lies people tell themselves. The film opens with a young man (George Mackay) painstakingly painting miniature figures and landscapes onto a large diorama; on closer inspection, the diorama seems to encapsulate a …
Luck is not a belief unique to Americans, but The Luckiest Man in America – a half-fictionalised dramatisation of real events directed by Samir Oliveros – makes the case that no one commits to the myth of random good fortune with as much aplomb as does the denizens of the …
At this year’s iteration of the Edinburgh Film Festival, I sat down with director Will Seefried to discuss his debut feature Lilies Not For Me. The film explores the relationship between old school friends Owen (Fionn O’Shea) and Phillip (Robert Aramayo) as they begin a homosexual relationship in the quiet …
Bong Joon-ho is one of the most fascinating filmmakers of the century. From The Host to Parasite, not forgetting Snowpiercer or Okja, the writer-director jumps from genre to genre, blending distinct tones with remarkable balance and efficiency. Joon-ho fits into that special category of filmmakers who simply cannot make a …
If there’s one person you want to cast in your movie about a man waging war against local thugs, who slowly but surely has a mental collapse, it’s the ever-eccentric Nicolas Cage. Pair Cage with Lorcan Finnegan, director of bizarre suburban horror Vivarium, and you have a match made in …
Directed by Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), produced by James Wan (Aquaman), and based on yet another work by Stephen King (It), The Monkey had all the right ingredients for a memorable horror viewing. Its premise, centered on a toy monkey that causes gruesome deaths whenever someone winds up the key on …
The birth of social media also heralded the boom of several different types of jobs and the monetisation of online content. Such content includes pursuits that may previously have been undercover activities but can now find audiences online to indulge in those tastes. Sugar Babies penetrates the microcosm inhabited by …
Director José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço’s I’ve Never Wanted Anyone More is the latest entry into a very, very long tradition – 250 years and counting, in fact. The film is a loose modernised adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1774 episolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (indeed the …
The post-Endgame era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been inconsistent and marked by numerous production issues, so the fact that Captain America: Brave New World is yet another project affected by reshoots and multiple script revisions isn’t at all surprising. It only reinforces the general concern surrounding the …
The Gorge is a strong addition to the Apple TV+ movie catalog. Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy make this the perfect Valentine’s Day date night movie. Apple TV+ is giving everyone an option this Valentine’s Day weekend by releasing a film starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy in The Gorge. The streaming platform is known for its hit TV shows …
Brazilian cinema has always been known for exploring the country’s turbulent history and coming forward with hard-hitting stories. Be it the City of God or Four Days in September, cinema has been one of the most powerful mediums for shedding light on Brazil’s socio-political struggles, unearthing raw, unfiltered narratives that …
Death to Smoochy came out in 2002 when I had three kids under three and was expecting my fourth. I was in the thick of parenting little kids, which meant I was at my most familiar with children’s television programming. Danny DeVito’s dark look at the seedy underbelly of that industry seemed …
In 2014, I lost my mother to ALS. It was difficult because the disease caused us to lose her bit by bit and then all at once. In his documentary Time Passages, Kyle Henry charts the story of his mother’s decline into dementia during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But more …
“Torture Porn” — a term used to describe a particularly unsettling subgenre of horror — was made popular in the early 2000s through films like Hostel and Saw. Terrifier 3 doesn’t quite fall into that category, but it comes pretty dang close. Through the use of gruesome practical effects and …
At the beginning of Parthenope, the protagonist reflects on the concept of beauty, saying that it lasts only for 10 minutes and all that is left after that is just boredom. Interestingly enough, that is exactly how I ended up feeling about the entire film after the first few scenes. …
The art of cinema has room for all kinds of experiences, whether unusual blends of genres, unorthodox storytelling methods, or unique filming techniques. Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) is a pioneer of modern independent cinema, and his movies are often acclaimed precisely for their inventive or distinct perspective. Presence fits into the …
Unless covering a film festival, January is usually not a particularly memorable or busy month. On one hand, it’s a pity not to attend the always interesting week or so of the Sundance Film Festival, but on the other hand, there’s more time to watch films that often go unnoticed …
There will be no chicanery in this review about what Companion is about, even if the film spends a minor chunk of time attempting to shroud the obvious in double entendres. This obviousness, shall it not be devised from the opening few minutes, the revealing trailer – or from the …
Several factors build anticipation for a film. Whether it’s the cast, genre, franchise, or director, the reasons why viewers feel more or less excited about a new cinematic release are endless. Personally, my expectations for Wolf Man were naturally high simply because it’s the newest movie by Leigh Whannell, the …