Blade Runner 2049
(Dir: Denis Villeneuve)
80/100

 


The Meyerowitz Stories
(Dir: Noah Baumbach)
65/100
Although for the most part this is impeccably directed it feels overlong and tends to lose its way amid a myriad of abstractions and wandering impressionism. Leto's scene and the final fight seem out of place, but the film taken as a whole is something you could easily be entranced with, given the right state of mind. This is the kind of film that is apt to grow on you over time.
This is competently put together, but the writing felt quite forced much of the time - just actors delivering monologues and exposition, and some scenes seemed a bit contrived. Most of the film comes off as quite stagey. Of the main players Stiller and Sandler fair the best, but Emma Thompson handles her part awkwardly. From a narrative point of view there's really not much going on, and certainly nothing new.
  Brawl In Cell Block 99
(Dir: S. Craig Zahler)

75/100

Mother!
(Dir: Darren Aronofsy)
70/100
Brutal and lunk headed, but well made and lots of fun once you get on the same wavelength as the material. Think Shawshank Redemption meets OldBoy. Vince Vaughn is very watchable as a human juggernaut bent on protecting his family while surrounded by various levels of villainy, of which Don Johnson is the most fun. Zahler has a keen sense of tone; serving up grittiness, outrageous action or humour as required, and in a way that consistently works. Highly enjoyable.
An allegorical tale of God and Gaia, the creation and destruction of the world, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel etc etc. To hell with all that biblical stuff though. If you just take this as a cinematic depiction of a woman's pre-natal anxiety, paranoia, jealousy and post-natal depression taken to hysterical heights you can enjoy this just fine, because on a technical level it's great.
  Call Me By Your Name
(Dir: Luca Guadagnino)

60/100
  Okja
(Dir: Bong Joon-ho)

10/100
It's nice to look at, but that's the Italian Riviera for you. The performances are good and it's a fine script with a few powerful and well realized scenes, so it has all the credentials to be a great film. However, at its heart it's not much more than a generic coming of age tale of love and loss. It's not bad by any means, but there's nothing original about it other than the fact that the two leads are the same sex, and that really isn't original these days.
I cringed through most of this film, and barely made it to the end. It fails as a satire because it's so heavy-handed, as a comedy because it's not funny, and as a drama because it's so cartoonish. An Seo-hyun is ok, but the English speaking cast either struggle noticeably with the terrible script, or ham it up something fierce, and Jake Gyllenhaal should be thoroughly ashamed of his ridiculous performance. Bong Joon-ho is capable of so much more than this juvenile fiasco.
  Darkest Hour
(Dir: Joe Wright)

50/100
  On The Beach At Night Alone
(Dir: Hong Sang-soo)

90/100
Much of this film consists of clunky exposition with the sole purpose of preparing the viewer for the next rousing speech in parliament - speeches anyone interested has heard many times already. And while Oldman's performance is good, it feels more like an idealized impersonation rather than a real person most of the time, and he isn't helped by a script that reeks of hero worship - which, considering how much of a polarizing a character Winston Churchill was seems a bit inappropriate.
With each new film Hong Sang-soo dips his toes a little farther in terms of refining his technique or expanding his narrative horizons, and this is another solid entry into his canon. It features a great performance by Kim Min-hee and the usual naturalism in the writing and scenario. This time around we're thrown for a loop once in a while when the odd (presumably metaphorical) character pops into the frame for a bit then vanishes back into the protagonist's jumbled memories. Nicely done.
  Dunkirk
(Dir: Christopher Nolan)

55/100
  The Other Side of Hope
(Dir: Aki Kaurismaki)

85/100
A strangely sterile war film with a bunch of young kids moping around not doing much of anything and not an enemy in sight. None of the characters are more than sketches, and the set-pieces have no meaning beyond an attempt to generate cinematic tension for its own sake. The whole film simply feels like a montage of clips from all the war films you've seen over the years.
Aki Kaurismäki pokes and prods at the subject of immigration and the plight of refugees again, managing to find humour in the most unlikely places, and optimism that the downtrodden will always find a way to get by, no matter how grim the situation. The film is full of people doing the right thing by their fellow man in the face of an uncaring system. And the brilliantly stripped down way he conveys information to the audience is a joy to watch.
  The Florida Project
(Dir: Sean Baker)

0/100
  Phantom Thread
(Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson)

90/100
Two hours spent in the company of intensely annoying bratty kids and trailer trash moms who have no regard for anyone around them? No thanks. Within twenty minutes I was hoping the lot of them would die, knowing that they weren't going to, and that nothing was going to change for the next ninety. And nothing did. And then it signed off with one of the most ridiculously inept endings I've ever seen. I want my two hours back, and I didn't even have any plans this evening.
This film is the inverse of Anderson's There Will Be Blood. It's meticulously staged and acted, and delves deeper into the psyche of its protagonist - a more three dimensional character than There Will Be Blood's aptly named Daniel Plainview. And while observing an introverted tailor with an oedipal complex slowly unravel is not as viscerally exhilarating as watching an avaricious oil baron's relentless rise to power, it is nevertheless intriguing in its own intricate and slightly twisted way.
  Get Out
(Dir: Jordan Peele)

60/100
  The Post
(Dir: Steven Spielberg)

40/100
Aside from the out of place humour whenever the protagonist's tubby friend is oncscreen this is a relentless and supremely unsubtle satire on race relations in modern day America that could have been great if it hadn't been so preachy and gone so far over the top that it can't really qualify as something meant to be taken seriously. As it is it's a slickly directed horror flick featuring a believable central performance and some tense scenes, but suffers from getting sillier as it progresses.
This film has a top line director, a grade A cast and it's about an interesting historical event, so on paper it should be a winner. However, hiring proficient talent seems to be as much effort as Spielberg was willing to put into this. Everyone's doing just enough to make sure everything functions properly, like a boring quartz watch. There's no tension, no excitement, no risks. Generic filmmaking for a paycheck and nothing more.
  The Hero
(Dir: Brett Haley)

60/100
  Raw
(Dir: Julia Ducournau)

80/100
It's not exactly original, but it is worth watching for Sam Elliott if nothing else. However everything else ticks along nicely enough. The love interest angle is a little forced and there are a couple of unintentionally awkward scenes but aside from that this is an engaging and unpretentious character study that should work well as long as you don't go into it expecting a masterpiece. It's easy going and unassuming, and sometimes that's just fine.
A twisted coming of age story, this film offers a visceral experience for those who buy into the central premise and are willing to run with it. It starts off slowly, with long takes and carefully composed shots, but quickly becomes more chaotic, mirroring the protagonist's life spinning out of control. What's constant throughout the film though is it's intensity - which makes it a very compelling experience, as does the strong central performance, effective score and assured direction. Raw may not be for everyone, but it certainly stands out from the crowd.
  I Don't Feel At Home...
(Dir: Blair Macon)

60/100
  The Shape of Water
(Dir: Guillermo del Toro)

60/100
There's nothing really remarkable about this film, and it does tend to push the quirky angle a little too hard at times but both leads are quite agreeable, Christine Woods lights up the screen for a few minutes and the story progresses at a reasonable clip so it's certainly not a chore to sit through. It's a solid directorial debut from Blair, and I'd watch a second from him based on this because there's definitely potential here.
Beauty & The Beast with a Splash of E.T. It features a hodge-podge of government conspiracies, torture, repressed homosexuality, cold war politics and human on alien sex. This is just chrome though - at it's heart it's still Beauty and The Beast, so don't expect anything too original. It's a handsome film to be sure, and Sally Hawkins gives a fantastic performance, but it still has Marvel sensibilities, the characters are drawn with a broad brush and the plotting is loose to say the least.
  It
(Dir: Andy Muschietti)

50/100
  T2: Trainspotting
(Dir: Danny Boyle)

40/100
As King adaptations go this is above average - the kids are all watchable, and it's probably just the right amount of scary for those who normally balk at horror films due to their being too intense. As straight up horror movies go though it's pretty weak sauce. But it's decent at what it's trying to do - think Stand By Me with a few creepy moments and some slick jump scares thrown in and you'd be on the right track.
Like the older but not much wiser characters here, this sequel is just a faded version of the original, and although it's not terrible, and it's kind of fun to see what became of Rentboy and the gang, any novelty wears off fairly quickly and we're left with what feels like a rather generic and contrived cash grab, once again proving that good films should be left well alone.
  John Wick 2
(Dir: Chad Stahelski)

70/100
    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing
(Dir: Martin McDonagh)

80/100
It's more of the same really - enjoyable enough, well choreographed and slick. Even within it's own freakishly disconnected world this one doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's cool and frenetic enough for that to seem somehow irrelevant. Hard to see it stretching to a third outing without wearing out it's welcome though.
The premise of this film is intriguing enough to draw you in and the performances will keep you watching. McDonagh brings the best out of the leads due to the care and attention devoted to characterisation, and although the subject matter is grim the overall tone here is darkly humorous. Some of it feels a little contrived, but everything hangs together in the end, to produce a solid and engrossing drama with a hearty helping of cynicism and a sly wink to the pleasures of the absurd.
  The Killing of A Sacred Deer
(Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos)

80/100
  The Villainess
(Dir: Jung Byung-gil)

40/100
Precisely directed and deliberately paced, this is fascinating in the same way as witnessing a terrible accident involving strangers is. The purposely stiff dialogue and focus on awkward social interactions makes everything weirdly off-kilter and is very effective at keeping the viewer on the back foot for most of the movie, and what it lacks in credibility it more than makes up for in technical virtuosity.
Most of the action in this movie is edited in a confusing way with frequently annoying camerawork. The screenplay is quite confusing too, with lots of unannounced flashbacks making the film feel overlong. It's pretty cliched and silly, and on top of all that the romance was superfluous. The acting is okay, and some of the action scenes are good - the opening sequence is excellent - so points for trying, but overall this is a bit of a mess.
  Lady Bird
(Dir: Greta Gerwig)

10/100
  Wonder Wheel
(Dir: Woody Allen)

70/100
Could I care any less about this obnoxious, entitled little brat? No, I could not. Nor could I bring myself to care about the stereotypical supporting characters; the doting father, the overly critical nit-picky mother, the fat school friend etc. In fact it's hard to find anything noteworthy about this banal, cliche-ridden film that has nothing at all original to say about anything, and says it in the most bland way imaginable.
Woody Allen's movies can be broadly split into either funny or serious, with a few hybrids along the way. This is one of the hybrids and it works quite well. The writing is solid as usual; the two main performances - Kate Winslet and James Belushi - are both very good, and there are enough amusing scenes peppered throughout to lighten the tone. And talking of tone it looks gorgeous. One of Woody's better late era efforts.
  Logan
(Dir: James Mangold)

85/100
    You Were Never Really Here
(Dir: Lynne Ramsey)

95/100
'Logan' abandons most superhero tropes in favor of a more realistic approach, which I for one appreciated. It suffers from some of the same problems inherent to the genre - most notably the one-dimensional antagonists, and the fact that every problem is solved by violence, but this violence is entertainingly gritty. and Hugh Jackman is very watchable. The movie is competently directed, features some effective set pieces, and as an added bonus everyone's dead by the end. I appreciated that too.
Lynne Ramsey knows exactly what she wants this film to do and how to most effectively get it done. It's set in a world full of apathy, decay and corruption and the protagonist's perception of past, present and fantasy often merge in jarring ways. It brilliantly combines a gruesome subject matter with a visceral and believable central performance, an unsettling score, and some inventive camerawork to produce one of the most intense and engrossing films in recent memory.
  Logan Lucky
(Dir: Steven Soderbergh)

60/100
   
It's overlong, there are too many indulgent and often embarrassing scenes with the kid, Swank and MacFarlane are a bit cringey, and the product placement is tiresome. On the plus side you have Craig, Driver and Yoakam, it's occasionally quite funny and Soderbergh handles the heist very well - which you'd expect after three Ocean films. A mixed bag, but the total amount of fun to be had outweighs the annoyances in the end.