Illustration by Thomas Durham 1999’s Star Wars: The Phantom Menace once held the title as the most anticipated film of a generation. Sixteen long-awaited years after Return of the Jedi plus leaps and bounds in special effects, yet it was ravaged by critics upon release. But did it ever really stand a chance? The Phantom Menace is one…
Continue reading ➞ Feature // In Defence Of: The Phantom Menace
I don’t know what it is about Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, but it seems that they can do no wrong. After helming The Lego Movie back in 2014, they continue to make monster hits that have won fans over, time and time again. Even the Academy has finally come around to their talents as 2018's Spider-Man:…
Continue reading ➞ Review // The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
With a double header of Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor nominations at the upcoming BAFTAs and Oscars, Can You Ever Forgive Me? features a wonderful against-type Melissa McCarthy and a never better Richard E. Grant, thick as thieves in their shady dealings of forged celebrity correspondence. Based on Israel's 2008 memoir, Marielle Heller (Transparent) directs…
Mary Queen of Scots is a sumptuous period tale of marriages, murders and betrayals, dramatically pitting the Catholic Scottish Monarch Mary of the House of Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) against her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), last of the Tudor monarchs of England. The film begins with Mary’s return to Scotland to assume her throne…
For a presidential sure-thing, Gary Hart is not a particularly well or fondly remembered name. In the race for democratic nomination in 1988, Hart spectacularly fell from grace - the true story of Jason Reitman’s new political thriller, The Front Runner. For those that don’t remember, Hart’s presidential run was cut short when The Miami…
Over the last few years, there have been a series of British film releases each January which achieve minor prospects in the awards season and which can be labelled as “shortbread tin cinema”, on account of their historical period aesthetic, lack of flashiness, and a sort of parochial attitude that only appeals to filmgoers over…
Illustration by Thomas Durham. The year began with The Shape of Water and ended with the cinematic debut of Aquaman while in-between was a veritable ocean of variously challenging, unconventional, intelligent and rousingly entertaining features – plus the floating turd of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The convergence of the global media landscape continued apace as…
