fbpx

Dune: Part Two – movie review

The second installment in Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic 1965 sci-fi novel picks up where Dune (2021) left off. In this chapter, the exiled Duke of House Atreides, Paul (Timothy Chalamet) establishes himself as a leader. You may remember that in Part One, basically the whole House Atreides was massacred by the evil…

Read More

Wonka – movie review

The youngest generation possibly hasn’t experienced either Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka, dating back 52 years and 18 years respectively. So, now they have their own Wonka and the singing, dancing Timothee Chalamet makes a good fist of it in the title role. Willy Wonka is charming and effusive as the magic man…

Read More

Bones and All – movie review

Luca Guadagnino is a singular filmmaker. After three intimate dramas in I am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015) and Call Me By Your Name (2017), he pivoted to the blood-soaked remake of Suspiria (2018). Now he’s back with Bones and All, a film that merges his gentle, lyrical style with another hefty dose of…

Read More

The French Dispatch – movie review

Are you into French culture? How about classic American writing of the 1950s and ’60s? Haute cuisine? Student politics? Post-modern art? Balloon-assisted crime? Chess? If you said yes to any of those, chances are you’ll love Wes Anderson’s new film, The French Dispatch. Anderson is, let’s face it, a divisive filmmaker. In my experience, few…

Read More

Dune – movie review

As cultural touchstones go, few are as storied – or problematic – as Dune. Frank Herbert’s dense 1965 novel was (and is still) regarded as a breakthrough in the sci-fi genre, spawning a sometimes-fanatical following. The book was often considered unfilmable – something reinforced by Alejandro Jodorowsky’s failed attempt at it in the 1970s. Then…

Read More

Little Women – movie review

Quite the epic, Little Women – directed by Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) – is a moving adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s award-winning novel. The story unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March (Saoirse Ronan), reflects on her fictional life.   It is the tale of four young women – sisters Jo, a writer, Meg…

Read More

The King – movie review

Prince Hal (Timothee Chalamet) was never destined to become king of England. He was a playboy, drunkard and womaniser, and his tyrannical father Henry VI (Ben Mendelsohn) passed him over in the line of succession for his younger brother Thomas (Dean-Charles Chapman). But England at that time was a land in chaos, divided by years…

Read More

Lady Bird – movie review

I’m a big fan of Greta Gerwig. Along with the likes of Brit Marling and Natalie Portman, she’s part of the vanguard of women filmmakers who can literally do it all. As well as 40 acting credits, she has 10 writing credits under her belt. Now she makes her solo directorial debut with Lady Bird. This…

Read More

Call Me By Your Name – movie review

Call Me By Your Name is a sensitive coming-of-age story. Set in Crema, a sun-drenched rural part of Italy, it deals with themes of desire, repressed sexuality and identity.  James Ivory, best known for his work with the late Ishmail Merchant provides the script. He’s adapted Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name. Elio Perlman (Timothee…

Read More