Suburbicon (2017)
George Clooney, a regular Coens collaborator, knows the notes but he can’t master the music with his latest film, Suburbicon.
15 Reasons why X-Men: Apocalypse Sucked
My estimable colleague Jono Winter recently posted a favourable – if tentatively favourable – review of X-Men: Apocalypse on this site. As a steadfast fan of (most) of the X-Men films, I found time in my overseas holiday to fit in a (Croatian-subtitled) screening of the film and, regrettably, I can’t concur with his positive…
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
I enjoyed this flick—but then again, I’m an X-Men disciple who worships at the altar of film series progenitor, Bryan Singer. Ordinary film-goers who don’t know their Wolverines from their Cyclopses may be inclined to mutter ‘X-Meh’ when leaving the theatre. And understandably so as, on this occasion, Singer fails to find cohesion with a…
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…
The Slash Awakens: Why Finn and Poe Should Hook Up in the Next Star Wars Movie
More writing for Junkee! Here I make the uncontestable argument that Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) should really hook up in the next Star Wars movie. Read the case for Finn/Poe here!
Critical Dissent: Debating Ex Machina with Alex Heeney
Alex Garland’s Ex Machina is one of those films that’s going to provoke a lot of questions whether you like or dislike it. I was mostly in the “like” camp – giving it 3.5 stars and generally praising its merits in my review for The Essential – but this instalment isn’t going to be so…
Ex Machina (2015)
Alex Garland’s work as a novelist (The Beach, Coma) and screenwriter (28 Days Later, Sunshine) is, at its best, defined by a careful command of tone balanced with obvious intelligence. It should not come as a surprise that Ex Machina, Garland’s first time behind the director’s chair, demonstrates these qualities in abundance. This sparse sci-fi…
Critical Dissent: Debating A Most Violent Year with Stephen A Russell
A Most Violent Year, the third film from Oscar-nominated director J.C. Chandor, has received a generally positive reaction from the critical community, earning 90% on Rotten Tomatoes (if you care about that kinda thing) along with a Best Supporting Actress (Drama) Golden Globe nom for Jessica Chastain. I was certainly in the “generally positive” camp…
A Most Violent Year (2014)
On the surface, A Most Violent Year is markedly different from Chandor’s first two features – about Wall Street and the ocean, respectively – but it shares with them a disinterest in traditional dramaturgy; these films are political statements first, stories second. Margin Call was an excoriation of self-interested capitalism on the cusp of devastation,…
The Two Faces of January (2014)
The Two Faces of January is set in 1962, but it could just have easily been made in the same year, or even a decade earlier. The film – from Drive screenwriter Hossein Amini – is a close facsimile of the thrillers of half a century ago, to the point where it could be a…
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