Polite Society review: A bold and interesting film debut April 28, 2023 Bridgerton actor Priya Kansara plays Ria, a young woman from a traditional British-Asian family with the less-than-traditional dream of being a stunt woman. Older sister Lena (Ritu Arya) helps her with her passion, but that bond seems to be in jeopardy when she embarks on a whirlwind romance with the family-approved Salim (Akshay Khanna). Enlisting [...]
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: Another cosy British drama April 28, 2023 Having stolen art to highlight the plight of the elderly in The Duke, Jim Broadbent is back being a lovable eccentric in this adaptation of Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. He plays the title role of Harold, a retired man lacking purpose until he receives a letter from an old friend in [...]
Air film review: Ben Affleck’s feel-good Nike movie April 27, 2023 Good Will Hunting besties Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reteam for the story behind the Air Jordan shoe, a product that still is the gold standard among sneaker heads but had a rocky road to infamy. This biopic follows Sonny Vaccaro (Damon), an executive at the struggling Nike brand who believes he has found basketball’s [...]
Little Richard: I Am Everything– A stunning documentary about an overlooked legend April 27, 2023 Throughout history, those who created great movements are rarely the ones who enjoyed the benefits. Little Richard: I Am Everything is a stunning documentary about a singer, but also a meditation about how cultural history is manicured. Told through archive footage and talking head interviews, it’s about the life of Richard Wayne Penniman, the singer [...]
The Mario movie plays it safe, but gives us decent nostalgia – review April 25, 2023 After his one-time rival Sonic became a box office hit, it seemed inevitable that Nintendo mascot Mario would get his own movie. Illumination, the animation studio behind Minions, will be hoping this animated adaptation fares better than the 1993 live action disaster with Bob Hoskins. Taking inspiration from 40 plus years of gaming history, The [...]
Sick of Myself film review: Self-obsession made into an artform April 21, 2023 Self-obsession is made into a literal artform in Sick of Myself, a new jet-black comedy from Norway. Kristine Kujath Thorp plays Signe, a shallow young woman who is jealous of her boyfriend Thomas’ (Eirik Sæther) sudden success as a modern artist. After a tragedy at work gains her the attention she craves, Signe puts her [...]
A Clever Woman review: A small film that asks big questions April 21, 2023 The Isle of Wight is the unlikely setting for an emotional goodbye in independent British drama A Clever Woman. Josie Lawrence and Tanya Myers play Dot and Phoebe, sisters who are both performance artists and arriving at the house of their recently deceased mother. Charged with clearing the place, memories begin to flood the rooms, [...]
Missing: Storm Reid stars in chilling look at the power of internet April 21, 2023 As smart phones have become a predominant part of our lives, Hollywood has attempted to make screen time cinematic. A variation of the found footage style of the late 90s, films like 2014’s Unfriended and 2018’s Searching tell a story through laptop and phone screens. The trend continues with Missing, a standalone sequel to Searching, [...]
Nic Cage brings comedy bite to Dracula movie Renfield April 13, 2023 It’s that special time of year when Nicolas Cage stars in a film so batshit crazy it just might work. This time he plays Dracula with enough scenery-chewing to make Hammer Horror look like The Shining. He’s joined by Nicholas Hoult in the title role of Renfield, Dracula’s “familiar”, who is given some of the [...]
Suzume review: Your Name director returns with new masterpiece April 13, 2023 Japanese animation can often be unfairly categorised as a niche genre, meant for the arthouses but not the multiplex. Disproving this point, Suzume arrives on these shores already a blockbuster. Its director, Makoto Shinkai, is an animation veteran who has found international success in the last few years with 2016’s Your Name and 2019’s Weathering [...]