Owen Wilson Matrix-esque drama Bliss is a dark dose of reality February 4, 2021 In the past decade, Owen Wilson has been more prominent as a sofa salesman than he has as a movie star. Since his early 2010s peak as a mild-mannered comedy lead, he’s popped up in underwhelming sequels (Zoolander 2, Cars 3), and had a supporting role in wholesome hit 2017’s Wonder, but nothing that sticks [...]
A Glitch In The Matrix – reality docu is a stoners’ paradise February 4, 2021 Premiering at this week’s Sundance Film Festival, A Glitch In The Matrix ponders a very large idea: what if what we perceive as reality is in fact a computer simulation? Talking to academics, artists, and hardcore believers discuss the various clues around us that suggest not all is as it seems. Director Rodney Ascher’s Room [...]
Malcolm & Marie review – Zendaya saves clunky lockdown drama February 4, 2021 Unusual times call for unusual methods. With filming on their TV series Euphoria halted due to the COVID-19 lockdown, creator Sam Levinson and Emmy winning star Zendaya got together and filmed this relationship drama entirely contained within one building, with cast and crew isolating in order to work together safely. Told over the course of [...]
WandaVision Episode 4 review – Marvel fills in the gaps. January 29, 2021 Up to this point, WandaVision has revelled in the enigmatic nature of its plot. We’ve been given only threads of what is happening, and who’s behind it. Last week ‘Geraldine’ (Teyonah Parris) cracked Wanda’s reality by mentioning that Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) brother was killed by Ultron. Infuriated, Wanda threw Geraldine out of their sitcom world [...]
Synchronic review – A bleak but unique sci-fi January 28, 2021 One of the very few advantages of the current global situation is many people’s ability to catch up on the content they might have missed, or challenge themselves with something different. Of the many choices coming your way in the next twelve months, few can boast to be as different as Synchronic. Avenger Anthony Mackie [...]
The Dig – Mulligan and Fiennes shine in gentle period drama January 28, 2021 The true story of the Sutton Hoo excavation gets the Netflix treatment in a handsome period drama The Dig, an awards hopeful that quietly works its way into your affections. The story takes place in idyllic Suffolk in 1939. Wealthy widow Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires softly spoken excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to investigate [...]
Twist review – Sky’s Dickens update is not so Artful January 28, 2021 Like Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, Oliver Twist is a character that seems to have been reimagined a number of ways over the years on the big screen. As well as the standard dramatisations of Dickens’ classic, there’s the beloved 60s musical Oliver!; animated hit Oliver & Company; and, er, a version set in the New [...]
WandaVision Episode 3 review: a not-so-groovy 70s episode January 22, 2021 SPOILER WARNING: this review contains spoilers for all current episodes of WandaVision. Disney+’s WandaVision opened up with a double bill of episodes last week, presumably to introduce what is quite a trippy concept if you’re not Marvel literate. Avenger Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and her android lover Vision (Paul Bettany) are living in literal sitcom bliss [...]
Schemers review – Dave Mclean biopic is a flat B-Side January 21, 2021 Biopics that feature their subjects are not a new thing – Muhammad Ali and radio host Howard Stern both played themselves in the stories of their lives. However, they are rarely followed by rave reviews. Schemers is based on the early breakthrough of Dave Mclean, a music promoter who went on to work with some [...]
White Tiger review – a thrilling adaptation of the best-seller January 20, 2021 Netflix’s film output can be a mixed bag. The streaming giant sinks a lot of money into expensive, star driven vehicles that are average at best (see last year’s Rebecca, Hillbilly Elegy, and The Midnight Sky). However, it has also provided a platform for interesting stories that in ordinary times may have struggled for breathing [...]
