Thunder Force (2021)

When it comes to the career and performances of Melissa McCarthy, my personal relationship with the actress seems to be very much a case of one step forward, two steps back. She’s hit plenty of cinematic highs (for me) with the likes of Bridesmaids, The Heat and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, hell, I even…

Concrete Cowboy (2021)

One of the things that I love most in cinema is when a film invites me into a world or subculture that I had previously known nothing about. It’s one thing to watch a documentary and be given a very A-Z style education on a subject, but it’s an entirely different feeling when you are…

The Father (2020)

When the time comes to make one’s way through the annual bunch of Oscar nominated films, I treat the task very much like Pokemon, I gotta catch ’em all! My task for this year is nearly complete, with one of the few ‘major category’ films still to check off the list being Florian Zeller’s The…

Cherry (2021)

Whilst logging into Netflix and Amazon Prime to watch original content is almost second nature to me now at this point, something I had never done until this week was watching any kind of original film programming on Apple TV+. What better to pop my platform cherry with, then, than a film actually called Cherry?…

The World To Come (2020)

Another day, another lesbian period romance. At least that’s how it has felt for the last couple of years, but I’m not complaining! From Ammonite to Vita & Virginia to Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and beyond, this particular sub genre seems to be having quite a high profile renaissance of late, and for…

Raya And The Last Dragon (2021)

It feels impossible to think about those heady days of BC (before corona) cinema, but I only realised today that since the start of the pandemic we haven’t haven’t had a new release from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Pixar bookended 2020 with Onward and Soul, but you have to go back to Frozen II in…

The Mauritanian (2021)

It’s not something that I have had the chance to really talk about in the time I’ve been writing this blog, but I absolutely, unequivocally, love Jodie Foster. From Bugsy Malone to Taxi Driver to The Silence Of The Lambs and more, Foster has always been one of my favourites, and with more of her…

Minari (2020)

Those who are invested in film discourse online will be able to tell you about the interesting discussions that Minari has produced this awards season. Despite being an American made movie, about a very American experience, the picture was designated to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Golden Globes on the account of…

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

When it comes to American jazz and swing music, there are few greater icons than Billie Holiday. A magnetic, generational talent whose personal vices and struggles only served to further her legend, Holiday has been the subject of critically acclaimed works before, most notably Lady Sings The Blues starring Diana Ross in 1972. Most of…

I Care A Lot (2020)

I can’t be the only person who thinks that Rosamund Pike is one of the most underrated actresses of her generation. It’s been seven years since she made herself a real household name (despite being around since the early 2000s) in Gone Girl, but for me much of her most interesting work has come in…