The Moon landing is a cultural touchstone in the US, so much so that it’s the topic of several big-name movies including Hidden Figures and First Man. Almost as pervasive as the event itself is the myth that someone (in some tellings, Stanley Kubrick) shot the whole thing on a sound stage. Now the two…
In director Bobby Farrelly’s Champions, Marcus (Woody Harrelson) is a basketball coach who dreams of a big future in the NBA. The problem is he has no filter. He says what he thinks, when he wants and doesn’t hold back. So he’s lost several jobs in the US and abroad. Now he’s an assistant to…
I find Ruben Östlund a polarising filmmaker. In my experience, you either “get” him or you don’t. While his 2014 film Force Majeure was well-received, his 2017 art world parody The Square left many cold. Even so, it picked up the Palme d’Or at Cannes; so obviously someone liked it. His latest film, Triangle of…
Special effects wizardry, violence and a dollop of humour drive Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The storyline is almost incidental, but split personalities are at the heart of it. Tom Hardy reprises his role as former journalist Eddie Brock, now host to bad alien symbiote Venom. When I say “host”, I mean that literally –…
I’m starting to suspect at some point during the 2020 lockdowns, a bunch of screenwriters all had the same idea: a highly trained assassin is redeemed through a connection with a child. Cut off from regular contacts, they all pitched this same idea – and many were accepted. That could explain the slew of movies…
Midway is a gripping, visually spectacular – if, at times, melodramatic – recreation of events leading up to the pivotal Battle of Midway that turned the tide against the Japanese in World War II. The film, based on real-life events, tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery…
Rob Reiner directs LBJ, a biopic on the emergence of Lyndon Baines Johnson (played by Woody Harrelson) following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The story pivots around the then-contentious bill for the Civil Rights Act. It deals with Johnson’s struggles to have the bill passed in the face of opposition from powerful Senator Richard…
Helmed by Ron Howard, Solo: A Star Wars Story combines double-crosses, action, humour and romance. This is the second break-out film in the Star Wars universe, the first being 2016’s Rogue One. Solo is the story of unpredictable – at time reckless – adventure-hound, scoundrel and maverick Han Solo. It follows his daring escapades within…
The Glass Castle is the film version of a true story that will baffle you. A film that balances between a romanticised comedy and a serious drama. It’s like an adventurous road-movie in which an apparently normal family travel around as nomads. But “apparently normal” is an understatement, because they lead a rather unusual life….
Irish playwright turned filmmaker Martin McDonagh has a great track record. His films including the black comedies In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. And now he gives us what is close to his best film yet, with the evocatively titled Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. This acerbic and blackly funny drama tackles revenge, justice, family and the secrets…
