Just over a week ago, I broke my arm in a cycling accident. It wasn't a bad break; it's expected to heal well and the recovery hasn't warranted more than some light physio and heavy painkillers to keep it all moving. In truth, aside from some mobility frustrations and the indignity of having to take the Northern Line to work, the only thing it's really affected is my sleeping pattern.
During the first three or four days, I was successfully…
As before, so again, the greatest tragedy that could befall Hayao Miyazaki’s career capstone is, despite the illustriousness of his career, that he continues to make movies. While the last decade had canonised The Wind Rises as his final opus, a reflection of his own styles and philosophies, The Boy and the Heron works double duty, imbuing some of Studio Ghibli’s most arresting visuals with a tribute to his past, and a letter to its future. There are homages to countless…
Still demonstrably a Spielberg vehicle; his trademark can be seen in everything from the blocking to the core themes that prop it up throughout, but there's a darkness that feels more in line with his post-Schindler's List era than his imperious run across the seventies and eighties. It's a far more mature story than something like E.T., but contrasts it through Christian Bale's perpetual immaturity and an element of quiet whimsy. That lost connection with one's parents that pervades almost…
A testament to the plasticity of the British TV personality. Here we have a movie by one of the most acclaimed directors of the day, packed to the rafters with A-list talent and top quality below-the-line filmmaking, oh and also Tim Key is there.
Bong Joon-ho is known for his general dismissal of subtlety as a device, and Mickey 17 is no exception to the rule. The fans of Kenneth Marshall, a pastiche of Trump and Musk played by a set…
Spectacular.
Given the frequent comparisons, there was something of an expectation that Part Two would follow in the footsteps of The Two Towers, namely that it would be a direct continuation of the previous movie that, for all intents and purposes, feels like the same thing but more. From the first minute, Villeneuve buries that idea and never looks back. This is a version of Dune that feels two years more advanced than Part One, both narratively and artistically. The first shot…
It’s baffling how the term “coming of age” seems to have been exclusively co-opted by that awkward time between sixteen and nineteen where everything is possible, nothing is doable and every mistake feels life altering in every possible interpretation. It’s certainly a time of learning and reflection, but to imply that it’s the only point of meaningful change in one’s life, or even the most important, couldn’t be further from the truth.
I watched this film a few months ago…
