The worst movies of 2021: 10 films that made us cover our eyes December 28, 2021 Everyone focuses on best-of lists at the end of the year, but what about the ones that truly sucked? Hundreds of movies launched this year across cinemas and streaming services, and inevitably there are a few that fell well below expectation. Here are 2021’s worst movies that had me choking on my popcorn… Chaos Walking [...]
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: A flawed but warm biopic December 25, 2021 It’s awards season, and thus it’s an inevitability that there’s a biopic of a tortured genius hoping for Oscar gold. The genius in question is Louis Wain, a Victorian artist famous for his surreal paintings of cats, the popularity of which went some way to making them more common as house pets. Fresh from Spider-Man: [...]
The Tragedy of Macbeth: Washington and McDormand on Oscar form December 24, 2021 A Shakespeare adaptation from The Coen Brothers would have been sure to spark excitement, but there’s a twist to The Tragedy of Macbeth that leaves a few questions in the air. That’s because, while Joel Coen is directing the film, Ethan is not involved, the first time the brothers haven’t worked together. Carter Burwell, The [...]
The Matrix Ressurections: Just take the Blue Pill and skip this one December 23, 2021 You might be wondering why the long-awaited return of The Matrix is being released midweek, a few days before Christmas, lost in the shadow of Spider-man. While people of a certain age will remember the 1999 original as a game changer, 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions ended the trilogy on a sour note, with a historically [...]
Join the yacht club: Why sailing around Croatia is the ultimate luxury break December 20, 2021 As out of office messages go, it was a good one. “I will be on a private yacht in Croatia for most of this week, I will get back to you as soon as possible”. Having not sailed on anything more exotic than the Isle of Wight ferry, I had no idea what to expect [...]
The Lost Daughter: Maggie Gyllenhaal shows she can direct, too December 18, 2021 Twenty years on from her breakthrough role in Secretary, star Maggie Gyllenhaal directs and writes her first feature. It seems like a natural progression for the actor, who has largely stuck with independent dramas and interesting blockbusters (The Dark Knight, World Trade Center). The Lost Daughter stars Olivia Colman as Leda, an academic in her [...]
Lamb film review: Another unsettling horror from A24 December 11, 2021 The term Sheeple is given a whole new context in Lamb, the directorial debut from Valdimar Jóhannsson, co-written with Björk collaborator Sjón. Maria and Ingvar (Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason) are the owners of a farm in Iceland, whose quiet existence is disturbed when one of their sheep give birth to a human child [...]
Being the Ricardos review: Aaron Sorkin’s I Love Lucy biopic is too tame December 10, 2021 Most people reading this won’t have been born when US sitcom I Love Lucy went off air in 1957. How- ever, it’s an evergreen institution to Americans, entertaining generations (as recently as 2011, 40m people worldwide watched re-runs). A movie about the show, or a biopic of star Lucille Ball, has been rumoured for some [...]
Cumberbatch shines in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog December 6, 2021 It’s always interesting to see what Marvel stars do in-between saving the world. Tom Holland showed his dark side in Cherry; Brie Larson made legal drama Just mercy; and Chris Hemsworth mixed more action with ads for the Dubai Expo. Before he sends us to The Multiverse as Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be [...]
The Hand of God review: Childhood memories and Maradona obsessions December 3, 2021 Awards season can often be a time when great directors get reflective. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma became an Oscar contender two years ago, while Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari have both won acclaim in recent years as films based partly on the filmmaker’s experiences. It’s a tricky path to take, however, sometimes [...]
