All Is True (2018, Sony Pictures Classics) Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Written by Ben Elton. Featuring Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Sam Ellis and Ian McKellen. Kenneth Branagh’s new biopic drama is staged in the latter part of William Shakespeare’s life, when he returns to his home and family in Stratford-Upon-Avon and into the turmoil of … Continue reading The Two Reviews: All is True and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Us (2019, Monkeypaw Productions and Blumhouse Productions) Written and directed by Jordan Peele. Music by Michael Abels. Featuring Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, and Tim Heidecker. The brilliant Jordan Peele returns to the director’s chair with another horror film. This time about a family holidaying in Santa Cruz, California … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Us and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Roma (2018, Mexico and US, on Netflix in Spanish with subtitles) Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Featuring Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Jorge Antonio Guerrero, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta and Verónica García. As you may have heard, Roma is the highly acclaimed, award season favourite from Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón. It … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Roma and Cold War
The Mule (2018, Imperative Entertainment, Bron Creative and Malpaso Productions) Directed by Clint Eastwood. Based on 'The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year-Old Drug Mule' by Sam Dolnick. Featuring Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest and Andy García. Directed by, produced by and starring Clint Eastwood, The Mule is a crime drama/thriller in which … Continue reading The Two Reviews: The Mule and Velvet Buzzsaw
Mary Queen of Scots (2018 Focus Features and Working Title Films) Directed by Josie Rourke. Featuring Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Jack Lowden and Joe Alwyn. Mary Queen of Scots is a period drama set in the second half of the 16th Century about the troubled reign of Queen Mary of Scotland … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Mary Queen of Scots and The Front Runner
The Children Act (2018, FilmNation Entertainment and BBC Films) Directed by Richard Eyre. Featuring Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Fionn Whitehead and Ben Chaplin. Based on a novel by Ian McEwan. This English-set drama follows the traumatic life choices surrounding religious objections to blood transfusions by Jehovah Witnesses. Seventeen year-old Adam (Whitehead) is dying and only … Continue reading The Two Reviews: The Children Act and Vice
In overview for the year, the worst films I watched were burdensome with clichés or else just outright tasteless, while the best films I watched had qualities that were original, quirky and heartfelt. Many of these more favoured films tapped into current global concerns (e.g. the shit-fight of ideologies in the US; relations between the … Continue reading Momentary Cinema’s Review of the Year 2018 in Film – Part 2
'2018: The Year of Okaaaay Films' By Robin Stevens I have reviewed around 20 new releases for the blog this year. There were some good films, some interesting films and some poor films, but overall there were a lot of films that were okaaaay. What I mean is that far too many of these films … Continue reading Momentary Cinema’s Review of the Year 2018 in Film – Part 1
I have always been a fan of the slasher-horror genre. The raw and chilling, but sometimes passionate, horror that provides a continuous thrill of the chase in which you never know whether the predator or prey will win. Some slasher movies can be almost comedic but Halloween from 1978 is a quintessential horror classic that … Continue reading Forty Years of Terror: Halloween (1978) vs Halloween (2018)
Night Shift (Ночная Смена) (2018, Russia) Directed by Marius Vaisberg. Featuring Vladimir Yaglych, Pavel Derevyanko, Kseniya Teplova, Natalya Bardo and Anna Mikhaylovskaya. Night Shift (or pronounced Nochnaya Smena in Russian) is a slap-stick comedy set in St. Petersburg, Russia. The multiple script writers appear to have taken the basic premise (and a few particular scenes) … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Night Shift (Ночная Смена) and Peppermint
