What is a “feel-good” movie? Is it just an uplifting story? Or something even more? That’s a tricky question that doesn’t have a distinct answer. Something that may be heartfelt to one person may be found schmaltzy and manipulative to another. Adding that idea to 2025 films makes the prospect …
Why is a movie about the aftermath of a Parisian career woman’s mental breakdown, set in a small town in eastern France, named after an area of the west coast of Ireland? Because in 1981 a French singer, Michel Sardou, had a massive hit with a song called “Les lacs …
Well. This is the darkest episode yet of Carême and where almost all of the various plot points from earlier in the season have finally converged. Our hero Antonin (Benjamin Voisin) finally has it drilled into his skull not only that actions have consequences, but also that he is not …
It’s funny that the humble beginnings of Steven Spielberg — arguably the most iconic filmmaker working in Hollywood — can be traced back to Playboy Magazine. His directorial debut from 1971, Duel, began as a short story published in Hugh Hefner’s adult-oriented magazine. Author Richard Matheson (The Omega Man, Stir …
This episode of Carême pays off some serious buildup, but the important thing is this is when our cutie hero finally grows up. Antonin (Benjamin Voisin) finally comes to appreciate how his skills as the best cook in France mean that he is not just a pawn on the chessboard …
This Japanese movie is named after an art print a preteen girl buys her terminally ill father. This strange misdirection fits this quietly misguided film, about how that girl passes the time while her parents are too preoccupied for her. This includes some topics on the very edge of what …
Bold, primary colours take centre point within the animated tale Death Does Not Exist (La mort n’existe pas) which convey the film’s blunt messaging effectively. Political in nature and economic in scale, the film lays bare its stance within its opening sequence leaving no doubt about its eat the rich …
The 1980s were perhaps the best decade for high-concept, low-budget, effects-driven horror films. There are many examples, but one that has stood the test of time and become a cult classic for horror fans is Stuart Gordon’s 1984 feature Re-Animator. Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, it tells …
Paul Mescal has the very rare talent of making unusually good choices. He has made a few damp squibs; nobody loved Carmen but me, and while his charisma carried his stage performance of A Streetcar Named Desire from London to Brooklyn, the whole show was misguided. That said, he has …
There is a certain charm in looking back at a film that you watched as a kid. 1995’s A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, from director Michael Gottlieb and writers Michael Part and Robert L. Levy, was an easy choice for family movie night. It stars Thomas Ian Nicholas as …
Film critics could argue that certain films prove challenging to review. Hearing that statement may lead fans to assume one thing: that a film is bad. Bad movies are the hardest to review because there’s only so much to say about them. That statement can be stretched further into the …
Up until a few months ago Wide Awake was just a normal indie festival with the kind of music that would play bands with names like “Psychedelic Porn Crumpets” and “King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard”; and nobody would be none the wiser of to its existence. However, that would …
Everything in Hacks blew apart in A Slippery Slope, episode 9 of season 4. So many threads that we have been following all season came to a head in the penultimate episode. And I admit, the writers had me on the ropes in this one, waiting to see how everything panned out. And …
The dual drop of Hacks episodes 7 and 8 was interesting, but it makes sense for these two to air at the same time. The two work well together and set up the final three episodes well. By the end of episode 8, several conflicts have been set up that should make …
Director Gareth Evans made waves with his 2011 film, The Raid: Redemption, and its 2014 sequel, The Raid 2. Both films became modern-day staples of the action genre, delivering a one-of-a-kind experience. They are films that, 10+ years later, still have an impact on the cultural discussion of action movies. …
I take it all back! Hacks season 4 is perfect and I love it and everyone needs to watch it! Okay, not quite that, but episode 6, Mrs. Table, is an impressive payoff for what has been a lackluster season thus far. This is the kind of writing and performing that I expect …
There was a period when Fox Animation Studios was producing high-quality animated kids’ films. The studio gave us Anastasia in 1997, and a few years later, gave us Titan A.E. A pull quote on the special edition DVD of the film proclaims it as “the movie Star Wars fans have …
The gift Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi has given to us all is no accident. Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident uses a very simple scenario to ask unanswerable questions about what makes a person good. It does this by offering four people a chance many dream of: the …
You wait your whole life for two female directors to adapt books written by women about artists who are thunderstruck by the prison of motherhood, then two come along in the same year. In December 2024 Marielle Heller gave us Nightbitch, and now this year’s Cannes Film Festival has given …
Sirât is the rare movie that should be seen absolutely cold. I mean it, stop reading this review right now until after you have seen it, then come back for when you need someone to hold your hand afterwards. For Sirât manages to deliver one of the greatest shocks ever …