I Care A Lot review – Rosamund Pike’s cold-blooded masterclass February 19, 2021 In these tough times, many of us have turned to movies that lift us up, and remind us that there is some good in the world. Despite its title, I Care A Lot is not one of those films. Rosamund Pike plays Marla Grayson, who makes a living from becoming the legal guardian of elderly [...]
Pelé review – the football legend tells his own story February 18, 2021 With Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo all releasing official life stories in recent years, it seems fitting that Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, should get in on the action. The three-time world cup winner is no stranger to self-promotion, having put his name to everything from computer games to Viagra, [...]
To Olivia review – Roald Dahl biopic is a little bit too cosy February 18, 2021 Despite the number of adaptations of his work, To Olivia is the first major portrayal of author Roald Dahl on screen. Hugh Bonneville plays Dahl in the period after the death of his daughter Olivia, and the growing divide between he and his wife, American movie star Patricia Neal (Keeley Hawes). Battling through mental health [...]
WandaVision Episode 6 review – a spooky special February 12, 2021 *** WARNING: This review contains spoilers for all current episodes of WandaVision *** Episode 5 of WandaVision was a huge info dump, as events both sides of The Hex began to run parallel to each other. Episode 6 has its own share of explainers, but we do get a big departure in terms of aesthetic. [...]
The TV shows that kept us sane through lockdown February 12, 2021 As we approach the anniversary of the first lockdown, it’s becoming hard to remember a time when we did anything besides working all day in our pyjamas and settling down for yet another evening of TV. More than ever, the things that we have watched have helped to define and reflect the public mood, either [...]
PVT Chat review – a murky story of online obsession February 11, 2021 Subcultures and obsession are explored in PVT Chat, starring Peter Vack as Jack, a lonely New Yorker living in a crumbling studio apartment. He spends his nights frittering money on online Blackjack, then spunking more on sexual encounters with Cam Girls. He becomes particularly enamoured with one West Coast dominatrix named Scarlet (Uncut Gems’ Julia [...]
Dragon Rider review – familiar animated family fun February 11, 2021 While most of the industry has scrambled to find a release strategy during the pandemic, animated family films have thrived thanks to captive audiences and a need for home-based entertainment. According to rating compiler Neilsen, Pixar’s Soul was the most watched content over the Christmas period, while films like Trolls World Tour and Scoob benefitted [...]
The Little Things – Washington can’t save detective yarn February 10, 2021 Director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Saving Mr Banks) brings a long gestating project to the big screen. The Little Things was written by the filmmaker in 1993, originally intended for Steven Spielberg to direct. Nearly three decades later, the story sees the light of day with Denzel Washington and Remi Malek on the [...]
Paul Greengrass’ News of The World is a warm-hearted Western February 10, 2021 The publicity for western News of The World has been relatively subdued – while the film had a modest cinema release in The States, it comes straight to Netflix internationally. As such, many people might see the film in their streaming queues and wonder if there’s an old Tom Hanks movie that passed them by. [...]
WandaVision Episode 5: Huge reveals in biggest episode yet February 5, 2021 ** Warning: This review contains spoilers for the current episode of WandaVision ** Last week’s WandaVision welcomed us back to the real world, where we met the real Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and saw organisation SWORD’s attempts to breach Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) reality. We’ll admit, it wasn’t our favourite, becoming a bit of a familiar [...]
