Beast Movie Review
After its entire pride is decimated by a group of marauding poachers, a lion goes rogue and became the beast of the film’s title. He sweeps through the area surrounding his den disposing of almost all of its human inhabitants. This massive creature is relentless in its aggression and ferociousness.
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Into this cauldron steps Dr Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) and his two young daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Jeffries). The Samuels are joined on this ...
Nope Movie Review
The film starts with a fictitious reenactment involving a real-life chimpanzeeTV star named Travis who infamously mauled a friend of its owner. This event makes more sense as the story evolves. All the events in the first reel have connections and consequences to actions that take place as the film progresses.
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Jordan Peele who wrote, produced and directed the film always builds many layers of meaning into his work and this is among his more deeply nuanced projec...
Bullet Train Movie Review
The set-up reads simply on paper but in practice continues to reveal multiple plot lines and characters until the very last moments of the film. It first focuses on Brad Pitt’s character Ladybug, a reluctant criminal who spouts a stream of zen-like sayings that wouldn’t look out of place on someone’s kitchen tea towel.
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As things progress we meet an ever eclectic mob of killers and crooks and each has something new to offer backstory-wise. There is also a ...
Scandinavian Film Festival: Nordic By Nature Movie Review
The restaurant became internationally known when it won its first Michelin star in 2017. It also only serves 30 diners a night but still has nine chefs and five waiters. The film focuses on head chef Poul Andrias Ziska. His views on sourcing and preparing food are informed by the harsh landscape of the Faroe Islands.
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The film uses an unflinching approach to depicting how Ziska deals with livestock and marine animals. This includes the butchering of a sheep and the ...
Official Competition Movie Review
Humberto Suárez (José Luis Gómez) is a very rich maven of the pharmaceutical industry that wants to create something to be remembered by and figures why not make a film. His complete lack of experience poses not problem. He buys the rights to a book he’s never read and hires famous director Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz).
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Cuevas is a world class eccentric and she hires matinee idol Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) and world class thespian Iván Torres (Oscar ...
Where the Crawdads Sing Movie Review
When American writer/zoologist Delia Owens’ debut novel solo nine-teen million copies and topped The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers List a film version was inevitable. The book follows the life and times of Kya Clark played by Daisy Edgar-Jones (Cold Feet and Ear Of The Worlds). Her life is one filled with extreme hardship.
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As the youngest member of a family led by an abusive father played with believable ferocity by Garret Dillahunt, she has to endure all ...
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time Movie Review
Arriving over a decade after the author’s passing in 2007 comes writer/producer/documentarian Robert B. Weide’s loving tribute to the man. Known to most through his work on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Weide’s decades-long friendship with Vonnegut gives him a wide-ranged view into his life and times. He provides a warts and all overview.
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As irreverent as Vonnegut’s books were, Unstuck in Time is a fairly straightforward look at his life. It’s told linearly and ...
Thor: Love and Thunder Movie Review
The results are a mixed bunch, to say the least. The breezy Antipodean humour of the previous film is almost entirely missing. The jokes feel formulaic and forced and the hit ratio of laughs to groans is quite low. There are some funny bits like Thor’s naked butt rocking some tramp stamps and Russell Crow’s hammy appearance as Zeus that do help to spice things up.
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As oft times in these endeavours, it’s the lack of imagination in the script that keeps things ...
Minions: The Rise of Gru Movie Review
Young Gru (Steve Carell) who the Minions call “little boss” still lives at home with his mother Marlena (Julie Andrews) and a large gaggle of his little yellow buddies. They have barged in on him and are overrunning his basement. Gru is in the midst of finding his evil bearing.
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When a job interview goes bad Gru gets sticky-fingered with a precious medallion and sets into motion a crazy chain of events. These include ancient legends discovered, moments of ...
Elvis Movie Review
This is a cautionary tale of adulation, addiction and excess with one casting that makes complete sense and one that doesn’t. Austin Butler is excellent as Presley and the camera loves him. Tom Hanks on the other hand seems an odd choice. It’s almost impossible to see him as a villain and the affectation he uses for the voice and the prosthetics used are off-putting. He looks like a sixties-era TV Batman baddie.
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Butler is riveting as the younger Presley and ...
