Copywriter, founder of Reed Words, sketcher, dad.
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I, Tonya 2017
Amazingly, only just got to this. It certainly delivers. A batshit story told with real panache (and a hefty dose of Goodfellas technique), featuring uniformly terrific performances. For me, though, it’s ultimately Alison Janney’s picture. Her monstrous mother is jaw-droppingly horrendous without ever becoming caricature or simply grotesque. I believed her completely, and that makes pretty much everything else her make sense. Phenomenal.
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Alien: Covenant 2017
Oh for Christ’s sake, Ridley.
It’s a monster movie. Stop taking it all so fucking seriously. (Or do that a whole lot better.) You have incredible production design, a budget of squillions, a very able cast and a monster so genuinely iconic it still has the potential to shock. And apart from a jump or two, I spent this movie more or less blandly engaged, and never once properly tense or excited. Because you’ve decided it's all about god, or…
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A Very English Scandal 2018
TV rather than a film, obviously, but what a supremely entertaining and startling tale, brilliantly told.
Overall, it's a masterclass in nuance and grey areas: neither of the main characters is remotely 'hero' or 'villain'. Both are convincingly trapped inside complex emotional knots – some of their own making, others imposed by class, culture and – of course – ludicrous laws around their shared sexuality.
Likewise, the piece managed somehow to walk the tightrope between horror and farce, balancing tenderness,…
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