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With  American Animals  (2018), writer / director Bart Layton deploys techniques he introduced in his excellent documentary  The Imposter (2012) to create a biopic like no other, one that’s actually entertaining. The true-crime story itself is interesting – 4 college boys who devise a plan to steal and sell priceless books from a college library – yet in […]

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The Highwaymen, in which a pair of Texas Rangers come out of retirement to catch the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde is not your typical buddy cop movie.  Nor is it your standard Bonnie & Clyde fare. In fact, there’s a sense the film doesn’t quite know what it is. It is at its best when it is essentially […]

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Focusing on an “illegal” mission to steal a drug lord’s fortune, Triple Frontier (2019)  initially appears to be more than just your typical heist movie.  In setting up an assassination plot against a violent and oppressive criminal, things start to look especially interesting when it is revealed that our heroes’ motivations are essentially based on greed.  Yet the […]

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“Show don’t tell” is a well worn instruction in literary teaching and “Dramatise, don’t surmonize” is a version of the instruction, which has been issued to aspiring filmmakers who wish to convey a moral message.  but some films choose to neither show nor tell but rather to allow an audience to drawn their own conclusions.  Let’s call […]

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Several of the ingredients of a waste of celluloid can be found in Can You Ever Forgive Me.  Namely, a debut feature* from a relatively unknown female director** which is a Biography*** about an author no one remembers, starring Melissa McCarthy****.   Yet by casting against type, Director Marielle Heller has unearthed a performance from a comedic Actress […]

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Rapper / Producer Boots Riley’s directorial debut is evidence of a singular vision, years in the making which is completely unique in style.  Ostensibly a Comedy about the moral dangers of greed, Sorry To Bother You  sets out its stall early as a kind of dream-like hyper-reality which becomes increasingly twisted.   “From the sublime to the ridiculous” may […]

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Money Monster has an interesting premise.  The arrogant, show-off Anchor of a popular Financial TV show is taken hostage live on air by a viewer who followed the advice of the show to a ruinous end. Initially it seems there’s a chance to see something different here.  Chiefly, Clooney playing an unlikeable character.  Very soon however, the promise of […]

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Hi, Let me take your coat.  Sit down, relax. Would you like a glass of wine? So how was your day?  Sounds tedious.  Yeah, I can’t wait to Netflix and chill either.  I’m glad you mentioned it actually, I was thinking we might try something a little…’different’ tonight.  Now it’ll be uncomfortable at first, maybe even jarring.  Wait, hear me out. That’s just the […]

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It’s difficult to tell whether Gore Verbinski’s tongue is planted firmly in his cheek throughout A Cure For Wellness but given the film’s running time of 2 hours and 26 minutes, such a feat would likely require the meddling of a twisted surgeon. The film is true to its billing as a ‘Gothic’ thriller with […]