Fight for what you believe in. Fight for decency. Fight for who you are. In fact, just fight. That is one, perhaps uncharitable, representation of Malcolm & Marie. This black-and-white two-hander focuses on an African-American filmmaker Malcolm (John David Washington) and his live-in partner Marie (Zendaya), a former drug addict. It’s 1 a.m. and they’ve…
Adapted from a 2012 graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, Days of the Bagnold Summer is a gently funny coming-of-age story. Sue Bagnold (Monica Doland) is a 52-year-old English librarian. She’s raising her son Daniel (Earl Cave) alone. Daniel, 15, is on school holidays and looking forward to travelling to the US to spend time with…
A slow burn drama with comedic elements, Minari weaves its magic over time. The film follows an immigrant family having a hard time of things. We’re in 1980s America. Jacob (Steven Yuen) is an accomplished chicken sexer who works fast, distinguishing the male chicks from the females. It’s a job he’s had for a decade,…
The Little Things is definitely not the movie I was expecting from director John Lee Hancock. After all, when you’ve got The Blind Side, Saving Mr Banks and The Founder on your resume, you might feel a little typecast. But Hancock breaks the mould here with a gritty crime thriller. And more than that, he…
Who was responsible for the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother? And why? Were the two young women convicted of his murder duped into supposedly pranking him when, instead, they were applying a deadly nerve agent known as VX? These questions are answered in the comprehensive and compelling documentary, Assassins. It…
Director Cesc Gay adapts his own play in The People Upstairs, a dry comedy whose dialogue-heavy approach sublimely reveals shifting relationship dynamics. The film takes place entirely in a modern, slick apartment occupied by long-time couple Ana (Griselda Siciliani) and Julio (Javier Cámara). After 15 years, their relationship has grown stale which manifests itself with…
Comedy movies are hard work. Time travel movies are even harder. So combining the two is a big ask. But Australian actor turned director Josh Lawson does a good job with the time-travelling rom-com Long Story Short. This agreeable film zips along – literally – to a crowd pleasing conclusion. The film’s clever title tells…
Danish drinking culture is put under the microscope in Another Round, the new feature from director Thomas Vinterberg, an adherent of Lars Von Trier’s Dogme school of filmmaking. Mads Mikkelsen reunites with Vinterberg, who directed him in The Hunt. That was a tense drama about a teacher falsely accused of molesting a student. Here plays…
Time and tide wait for no man, they say. In the sci-fi drama Synchronic, a chemist invents a time travel drug that sends people back. It has greatest impact on those with young minds. They’re the most inclined to be high … and what a trip it sends them on. Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis…
Wrong Turn amps up the consequences of taking, well, a wrong turn. The horror thriller keeps on coming at you even after the final credits start rolling, so don’t walk out too soon. Three young professional couples decide to take a hike in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. When they arrive in a backwater…
