Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
When I first heard about a sequel to Sicario – one of my favourite films of 2015 – my first thought was ‘why does this need to exist?’ Having seen the film, I don’t have a satisfactory answer to that question.
Deadpool 2 Is Nowhere Near as Funny as it Thinks it is
By all rights, Deadpool 2 should have been a vast improvement on the first film. It’s not.
Why Avengers: Infinity War is a Different Kind of Marvel Movie
The divisive reaction to Avengers: Infinity War is explained by how it differs from its MCU forebears. Beware: spoilers!
The Ordinary Heroism of Only the Brave
Only the Brave does the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots justice by judiciously downplaying their greatness.
Hail, Caesar! Writes its Love Letter to Hollywood with a Poison Pen
If there’s one constant across the Coens’ intimidating filmography, it’s the brothers’ affection for cinema in all its forms. Right from their debut, Blood Simple – an intricately-plotted neo-noir – they’ve paid homage to Hollywood history, whether aping noir aesthetics (in both Blood Simple and The Man Who Wasn’t There) or gently parodying noir conventions…
The Best Films of 2015
As befitting the blood pact all movie bloggers must sign upon founding their website, what follows is a list of my favourite films of 2015. It’s been a strong year at the cinema, even if I felt it was a slight step down from last year (specifically, I didn’t see a single new film I…
Drafted Into the War on Drugs: Denis Villeneuve’s Tense Sicario
Trust Denis Villeneuve to take what could have been a fairly conventional drug war thriller and transform it into a hollowed-out horror movie. His latest film, Sicario is, at its core, a scathing indictment of modern American patriarchy. He pulled a similar trick with 2013’s underrated Prisoners, realising an unapologetically pulpy script as a deeply…
Everest’s Lofty Highs are Undermined by a Shaky Descent
What would it be like to summit Mount Everest? Even in this post-Hillary, commercialised world, where the opportunity is there for anyone of sufficient physical capabilities (not to mention a hefty bank balance), a mythical halo still engulfs the Tallest Mountain On Earth. I have a sneaking suspicion it’d be deeply disappointing. Not necessarily the experience…
Critical Dissent: Debating Inherent Vice with Yen Nguyen
It’s fair to say that Inherent Vice, the latest from American auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, is a divisive film. This adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s 2009 novel is a digressive, intoxicated journey through 1970s California as perpetually-stoned PI Larry Sportello – everyone just calls him “Doc” – (Joaquin Phoenix) stumbles into a world of neo-Nazis, property…
Inherent Vice (2014)
Inherent Vice is one of those rare examples of cinema where the experience of the audience is entirely aligned with the experience of the film’s protagonist. This achievement should celebrated when found in great horror films, that terrify and alienate you along with their characters, or classics like Goodfellas, which follows sharp-edged cocaine dynamism with…
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