This is pitched as the first gay love story from a major Hollywood studio. I don't know how true that claim is - but I do know this is a funny and sweet movie. When I was at University at the turn of the century, there was a guy in our halls named "Big Gay Gareth". He was my go-to guy when I had questions about the insidious homosexualist agenda. He was instrumental in helping me understand what was, at the time, termed the QUILTBAG world. There were such a bewildering array of terms,…
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I couldn't find this movie on any streaming service - but I took a flight to New Zealand an it was on the in-flight entertainment. Not the cheapest way to watch a film! Whina tells the true story of Josephina Cooper, a Maori woman fighting for her rights, and the rights of her people. The film doesn't sugar-coat the story. Whina was headstrong and, it would appear, sometimes a bit difficult to get along with. I've no idea how true to life it is, but the story is compelling and powerful. …
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This is a perfect movie. It's packed full of little in-jokes and fourth-wall-breaking asides. It is smart, funny, and incredibly well paced. Honestly, it doesn't have a duff moment in it. If you've never seen Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" - I strongly advise you to watch it before this film. No, you probably don't need to - but it adds to the metatextual delights. Is the "Whodunnit" aspect a bit obvious? Well, yes. But that's telegraphed in the opening minutes when one character…
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How many times can you go back to the well before it is completely dry? With Kevin Smith, it's always once more. I remember watching the original Clerks about a hundred years ago at university. It was a cheap a daring movie then - and remains a mainstay of what you can do if you give a bored kid a camera. Kevin Smith's movies are uneven. He writes an amazing script - but give him a cast of stars and a bazillion dollars and he falters. Give him a bunch of mates and slightly too little money…
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This is a delightfully funny movie - albeit riddled with implausibilities. It is tender in all the right places, silly where it needs to be, and ruthless in its exploration into the characters' psyches. Leo Grande is the male equivalent of the Manic-Dream-Pixie-Girl trope. But that's exactly what his character is paid to be. He isn't merely a one-dimensional sex-object - the client needs more than that. So he performs the role of "perfect man". Even when she is probing him to make sure he…
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Good news everyone! We've found a new way to monetize your childhood! That's the problem with being middle-aged. Your peers are now running the world and know exactly how to profit off you. Stranger Things is designed to tickle every part of your nostalgia gland and Derry Girls zaps you right in the feels. That expensive Lego set you wanted as a kid is now on sale again - and you can just about afford it! Every media property has been relentlessly focus-grouped until it can extract the…
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Well, this is an unexpected treat! What happens if you build a maze you can't get out of? How many people do you inadvertently drag in to your craziness? Are you responsible if they get hurt by the traps you set for yourself? Remember that 1990s horror movie "Cube"? This has exactly the same vibe. Except all the rooms are made of cardboard. And the deaths are… well, no spoilers - but funny. It is billed as a comedy-horror. But the horror isn't visceral - and the comedy is close to absurdist. …
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Is this the greatest cinematic masterpiece of all time? No. Did it have me laughing from start to finish? Yes! Want to know how good it is? Karen Gillan is the only actor in the world who can make me howl with laughter while she's out of focus! Seriously. OK, it isn't exactly original - get a bunch of famous mates to play up to stereotype and take the piss out of themselves. I don't care, it works brilliantly. It perfectly weaves in the British and American casts. Although Guz Khan is…
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Cyrano is deeply weird. As a retelling of the classic story goes, it hits all the right beats. And yet everything about it just feels… off. The actors speak their dialogue with the cadence of a Shakespearean play or Restoration comedy. But they speak modern English with some very laboured prose. The music is delightful. But the lyrics sound like they've been mistranslated from French and forced to fit the tunes. The comedy is broad and genuinely entertaining. But the bathos fatally blunts t…
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There is no point in remaking movies. I just don't understand why you would take something which was successful, beautiful, and critically acclaimed - and then go "I can do better!" What can a film-maker possibly add? There's a high likelihood that the remake will fall flat on its face or become the punchline to a joke. I'm sorry, but I just don't think great movies should be re-made when there are so many original stories to tell. And yet… Spielberg doesn't waste a single frame. He updates t…
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Does the world need yet another film of Macbeth? And this one doesn't even have a shtick like setting it in a space station. And - to make matters worse - it's filmed in black and white, with a 4:3 aspect ratio. What is this, the Snyder cut?!?! And yet… it is perfect. Joel Coen's direction shows exactly what can be accomplished with a set that looks like it is out of a 1960s BBC dramatisation. Sure, there are little touches of CGI here and there, but he demonstrates that he is at the peak of h…
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I loved this movie but, the more I reflect on it, the less I like it. There's no doubt that Frances McDormand deserves every accolade - she's one of those rare actors who can completely inhabit a character and makes the screen light up. Chloé Zhao's direction is subtle and sublime, giving us a tender and touching portrait of a community cast adrift. I always find it hard watching stories featuring people who continually make poor decisions. And I find it even more upsetting when you can see …
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