Lean on Pete (2017, A24, Curzon Artifical Eye, BFI and Film4) Directed by Andrew Haigh, based on a novel by Willy Vlautin, featuring Charlie Plummer, Chloë Sevigny, Travis Fimmel, Steve Zahn and Steve Buscemi Andrew Haigh has beautifully adapted Willy Vlautin’s brilliant and understated novel for the screen. Having read the book when it was … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Lean on Pete and Disobedience
Hereditary (2018 Paramount Pictures) Directed by Ari Aster; Featuring Toni Collette, Alex Wolf, Milly Shapiro & Gabriel Byrne '...a bottle of vodka and a pillow...' This is a cliché-heavy, B-grade, supernatural horror film, which is actually more funny than scary. But it is mostly boring. How did the writer/director ever convince some decent actors (Collette … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Hereditary (2018 Ari Aster)
Good Time (2017, A24, Elara Pictures & Rhea Films) Directed by Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie, featuring Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Jason Leigh Benny Safdie and Barkhad Abdi It is just too rare to find a film like Good Time these days. Independently stylish, original, creative story pitch, and taut, knife-edge action. There are no ground-breaking … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Good Time and Ideal Home
Red Sparrow (2018, 20th Century Fox and TSG Entertainment) Directed by Francis Lawrence, Featuring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons) Red Sparrow is a Russian spy thriller that tells the story of manipulation, power, survival and betrayal. The main character Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is a Russian ballerina who supports … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Red Sparrow and I, Tonya
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a good film. It isn’t great. It won’t change your life. It won’t make you a better person. Or a deeper thinker. Or a more considerate lover. But it WILL pass a couple of hours of entertaining escapism – set in the Star Wars Universe but not relying on … Continue reading Solo: A Star Wars Story – Stuck-up, Half-witted and Scruffy-looking But Still A Pretty Good Movie
Avengers: Infinity War (2018, Marvel Studios & Walt Disney Studios) Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, featuring Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch and Josh Brolin (and a heap of others). Avengers: Infinity War is a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero film, and a sequel to two previous Avengers films. This is a long … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story
‘I like cooking up extra ideas to add to the sets and costumes, and inventing an imaginary world. But what I'm more inspired by is something that happened to me or someone in my life who had a strong effect on me, or a novel, short story, play, or a movie where the characters moved … Continue reading Appraising the Art of Anderson. Wesley Wales Anderson
The Death of Stalin (2018, eOne films & Gaumont) Directed by Armando Iannucci, featuring Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Friend, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough, Dermot Crowley and Jeffrey Tambor The biting political and social satire of Armando Iannucci has struck a chord with many viewers from his breakthrough with The Day Today … Continue reading The Two Reviews: The Death of Stalin and Annihilation
Black Panther Directed by Ryan Googler. Featuring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia. Wright, Florence Kasumba, Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya, & Winston Duke. Black Panther is a great movie. It’s just fun. It’s stylish. I have listed most of the lead actors above, because all … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Black Panther (2018 Ryan Coogler)
There are certain rules, known only to a select few, by which it is possible to predict the quality of movies. The origin of these rules is often obscure and difficult to explain. One of the oldest rules is Rule 9: All Our Greatest Heroes Arrive Fully Formed. In fact this rule is so old … Continue reading Rule 9: All Our Greatest Heroes Arrive Fully Formed
Momentary Cinema 