• Schism: Me , Myself, and Authenticity

    Schism: Me , Myself, and Authenticity

    ★★★½

    Not a great plot-driven piece but a really well filmed one, and enough interesting structure to get the mix right between intrigue and revelation. Enjoyed it!

  • 8 Mile

    8 Mile

    ★★★

    I thought I remembered this film pretty well but there was so much I had forgotten, not least just how good Eminem is. 

    For me he’s easily one of the most intelligent lyricists to ever exist. So while this film isn’t spectacular, he’s just a hugely watchable guy.

  • John Wick: Chapter 4

    John Wick: Chapter 4

    ★★★★

    This is so weird, but this exact thing happened to my friend Martin once.

  • Rushmore

    Rushmore

    ★★★★

    VERY Wes Anderson. So how you’ll feel about it will have a lot to do with how you feel about that statement.

  • STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie

    STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie

    ★★★½

    Actually not wild about a lot of this style; the archive footage schtick only lands once or twice for me. What stands out though is the indefatigable brilliance of the central subject. What an amazing, beautiful, tragic, story. Michael J. Fox is a true legend.

  • Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

    ★★★

    I’ve read so many reviews that say something along the lines of “this is a breath of fresh air from the usual IP video game adaptations and does something totally new.”

    Well, no it isn’t and no it doesn’t. It’s alright, for sure, though it spends at least 30 minutes too long on exposition that doesn’t really help the energy of the film. Once it gets going it’s quite fun, and I enjoyed it fine, but if people think this is a revolutionary step forward in movies and fantasy adaptations, that suggests just how stale the MCU has become.

  • Rubber Soul

    Rubber Soul

    ★★½

    Interesting, in its way, but given that both these interviews are fairly widely available in audio format with the ACTUAL John Lennon, I don't really see why you'd watch this.

    John's proclivity to change his mind, not to mention his caprice and general sense of fun, means that listening to two interviews 10 years apart make him seem like a contradictory character, but then he always was that. Listening to two interviews 10 minutes apart would probably give the same…

  • Bulbbul

    Bulbbul

    ★★★½

    Visually stunning, if a little shy on plot coherence from time to time, but overall a very enjoyable film with some brutal darkness at its heart. Thank you Mayra!

  • Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

    Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

    ★★★½

    Imagine if Bridgerton had been…well, good.

  • Women Talking

    Women Talking

    ★★★★

    Not without problems, the dialogue is sometimes a bit crowbar feminist and there’s not an awful lot happening as a visual spectacle, which isn’t helped by the colour grading making it look like a permanently washed out piece of fog - but none of these things are the point. The point is that the women are talking and the men need to be listening. The actors here are brilliant, all of them. 

    Also, most random and disingenuous use of ‘Daydream Believer’ ever, surely?

  • The Mother

    The Mother

    ★★½

    Jennifer Lopez is a really good actress, so I think it’s a shame she’s only been given roles like this to chew on for the most part of her career. That said, she does manage to elevate a relatively bland movie into being a bit better than that.

    Lopez plays ‘the mother’, and basically kicks a whole load of ass while trying to teach her daughter how to be a real chip off the old (Jenny from the) block. It’s relatively charming but doesn’t do anything particularly new.

  • Rosemary's Baby

    Rosemary's Baby

    ★★★★

    “Mia Farrow’s son terrifies people in Hollywood” cinematic universe part 1.