Reviews 1094 results

Seriously Red Movie Review

When a story is built around a person finding their way in life, it’s always more engaging if you feel empathetic towards that person and it is here that Seriously Red presents several challenges. Had the character of Red been a man their behaviour would be easy to dismiss as boorish and guilty of moments of toxic masculinity.   //   Flipping the script around to the female gender diffuses some of this but it’s still problematic. Within the context of those limitat...

She Said Movie Review

Change the gender and almost all of the victims in She Said could have been soldiers returning from war. They have been so traumatised by the harm done to them that just the mention of the name Weinstein brings a visceral reaction. Their PTSD is overtly visible.   //   Equal parts enthralling and appalling, The film illustrates the abuses of power that were protected by faceless people on high that have left all of its victims scarred for life. The evil spectre of Harvey ...

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Movie Review

There is sadness in both remembrance and storyline but the emotional content feels respectful and expansive. Introducing an entirely new race of people and having them be both friend and foe helps to defy expectations.   //   This is far and away one of the most character-driven Marvel films and it challenges the audience with a thoughtful but somewhat leisurely first few reels. When it kicks into gear, there are some well-paced and expertly executed action sequences. ...

The Mousetrap Theatre Review

Originally written by Agatha Christie as a present to Queen Mary, it was first broadcast on the wireless in 1947. At that time it was called Three Blind Mice. It eventually had its London Westend debut in 1952   //   The play is filled with your standard stage characters, the nasty upper-crust lady, the ditsy blonde, the arty type and the gumshoe to name a few. It’s to the written word’s worth that those well-known prototypes can still be fun to spend the night ...

Armageddon Time Movie Review

Writing that mirrors real life accurately is so difficult. The text here is so free of imposed conventions and false facades, it makes you realise how infrequently we are given words this eloquent and free of contrivances.   //   Six-grader Paul Graff (Repeta) lives with his Jewish family in Queens, New York in the eighties. He is a sensitive child whose talents lay outside conventional scholastic ability. He only connects with his grandfather (Hopkins) who supports his ...

British Film Festival: Lancaster Movie Review

In the early forties there was no certainty that Hitler and the Nazis would be defeated and Britain was on the precipice of defeat. The German bombing of England was relentless and lasted eight months. This led to the death of 43.000 poor souls. The RAF Spitfires ultimately saved the day but there was cause to retaliate and thus the need for a bomber with greater capabilities.   //   There were bombers in the fleet and also in production but they were inadequate for the ...

Bros Movie Review

So many topics get skewered in the cause of making the audience laugh. Gender politics are used as fodder for humour as well as the difficulty in connecting in a world where everyone is linked by an electronic device. And through it all, one thing remains clear, gay dating can be every bit as messy as the heterosexual version. //   Most of the elements that make up successful rom-coms get played out here. Bobby (Billy Eichner) meets boy Aaron (Luke Macfarlane), falls for boy, ...

The Woman King Movie Review

Viola Davis is mesmerising as General Nanisca who commands the all-female group of warriors, known as the Agojie, Davis plays the leader with a sense of great strength and resolve. This is tempered by an underlining sense of sadness. As the story progresses we discover the cause of that sorrow.   //   When Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) a headstrong girl that is given up after her father cannot control her errant ways becomes part of the warrior tribe, she brings the usually stoic ...

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Movie Review

Underlining the frivolities is some consistent commentary on the class system and the vanity and entitlement that the upper classes feel they are entitled to. Through it all, the down-to-earth nature and honesty of Mrs Harris (Lesley Manville) shines through. Set in post-World War II England. Mrs Harris ekes out a living cleaning the houses of the well-to-do.   //   Her husband has been missing since the war and she works hard to make a living but she still has dreams. ...

The Possessed Movie Review

He or maybe she will always be a great bad guy or gal to put in a film and The Possessed rocks that notion hard. From old Beelzebub’s frequent visits to suburban homes to playing musical chairs in a noisy nightclub, the evil presence always packs a solid punch. A gory misshaped drooling bloody punch.   //   Jacob Chandler (John Jarratt) and his nephew Liam (Lincoln Lewis) have a successful side-hustle preforming exorcisms. When Liam’s new nightclub DJ girlfriend ...