In recent years Greta Gerwig has begun to make good on her early promise, moving beyond the mumblecore trappings of her early acting work on film. Impressive turns in Jackie and 20th Century Women have demonstrated her increasing maturity and now, behind the camera, she has produced a wonderful and gentle bildungsroman, Lady Bird. Saoirse Ronan is the irrepressible … Continue reading Lady Bird
Black Panther arrives on a wave of cultural fervour, and has so far been met rapturously by both audiences and critics. The importance and worthiness of its success cannot be underestimated and should not be devalued. The film is not the movement, however, and Black Panther is only slightly above par for the Marvel course. Its original aesthetics … Continue reading Black Panther
Guillermo del Toro has pulled off that rare feat, mainstream critical acclaim for a pure and simple genre film. The Shape of Water is a fairy tale, a charming and arresting fable of love and fate, and one can only hope that its awards success triggers more such delightful experiments to be financed. Of course, for del … Continue reading The Shape of Water
If Phantom Thread is really to be Daniel Day-Lewis's final film, he has signed off with a suitably superb performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's latest exploration of power and relationships. This is a challenging and multi-faceted picture. Reynolds Woodcock, Day-Lewis's latest inhabited persona, is a celebrated and dedicated dressmaker to the 1950s elite in Bloomsbury. He lives … Continue reading Phantom Thread
Aardman Animations hold a special place in the hearts of British cinema-goers, or so one suspects. Their films are typically excellent, and quintessential in execution and humour. With Early Man they have served up a solid but unexceptional outing, and have been bizarrely stitched up by their marketing team. Watching a trailer for Early Man after having seen … Continue reading Early Man
This year's awards season of releases has seemed at times to demonstrate a grand Hollywood collusion to chart the many ills of America. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Post, Downsizing - all have lambasted different elements of American society, lamenting its decline. Richard Linklater has built a reputation on subtler explorations than these films, and Last Flag Flying is another … Continue reading Last Flag Flying
All of a sudden, without warning, Alexander Payne has dropped a clanger. After the quiet, consistent success of his previous films from Sideways to Nebraska, his latest effort is a mess, pure and simple. Downsizing is a confused and confusing film, naively nostalgic and structurally lazy. Matt Damon is Payne's everyman hero, playing Paul Safranek, a workplace physiotherapist who observes … Continue reading Downsizing
