“This experiment could unleash chaos” remarks Donal Logue’s faceless news pundit about a third of the way through this unexpected, and frankly unnecessary addition to the Cloverfield saga. Though the first two films – 2008’s Cloverfield and 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane – didn’t share any direct DNA within their separate...
“The things you forget,” ruminates Lois Smith’s Marjorie mournfully towards the start of Michael Almereyda’s futuristic contemplation on memory and mortality. Now in her mid-80s, Marjorie suffers from a vascular form of dementia that causes her to regularly lose touch with the memories of her past. Living with her daughter...
A curious oddity in more ways than one, Downsizing heralds writer/director Alexander Payne’s return to original storytelling, his script here being the first since his debut feature, Citizen Ruth, to not be adapted from a novel. Like Ruth, Downsizing is a gutsy contemplation of American society, but one that’s unlikely...
The melancholic tones David Bowie mournfully set the mood for Jimmy Murakami’s revered adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ traumatic graphic novel. Originally released in 1986, when the world was gripped by the threat of nuclear war, When The Wind Blows was celebrated at the time for its humane consideration of a...
The critic Roger Ebert once said, “movies are like a machine that generates empathy”, which perhaps explains why so many of us feel compelled to turn towards the loving embrace of cinema to console us in times of great trouble. Yet somehow, in much the same way he has seemingly...
There was a time when the release of a new Pixar film was looked upon by critics and consumers alike as something of a cultural event. But recent years have proved there to be major chinks in the animation powerhouse’s creative armour; the shameless merchandising of the Cars franchise; the...
With Contributions From: Jim Mackney, Sam Inglis, Wyndham Hackett Pain, and Mike McNulty Editor's Intro 2017 was a year to remember, although perhaps not always for the right reasons: Trump, Brexit, the threat of war with North Korea… and let us not forget the ever-present fear that we may soon...
Hollywood may be slowly stumbling towards a more equal society, but the dearth in female representation both in front of and behind the camera remains plain to see. Indeed, it’s telling – and indeed quite troubling – that many end of year film lists remain almost exclusively populated by the...
One always relishes the opportunity at the end of each year to stop and think about all the films I’ve watched over the past 12 months; the ones that moved me; the ones that angered me; the ones that were so evocative, I found myself still reflecting on them weeks...