What can I say about this behemoth of a film? Finding words for something like The Great Beauty is an extraordinarily difficult task. I could list an entire dictionary of terms to explain what I felt about The Great Beauty – complex, hilarious, meaningful, brilliant, twisted. It is a film unlike any you will ever…
Inside Out (2015)
There is no doubt that animated films are some of the most brilliant and innovative pieces of filmmaking around. At the forefront of that is obviously Disney, who have ruled the animated world for nearly 100 years – can you honestly believe that Mickey Mouse has almost been around for an entire century? However, in…
The Hunger Games – Mockingjay: Part 2 (2015)
It is very daunting for me to actually criticize this film. The Hunger Games franchise has such a rabid fanbase, that praise it beyond belief. That isn’t without reason – the Hunger Games are a unique and very interesting story, and the films stick to the tone of the books perfectly. The only problem is…
The Final Girls (2015)
Its becoming a bit of a trend for me to only review horror comedy films lately, but can you blame me? I think there is no better way of showing a director’s skill than through having him or her be able to balance the two most contradictory genres in film history. It is odd to…
Looking for Richard (1996)
I’d like to ask you all a question – what does William Shakespeare mean to you? Do you think he is simply an ancient goon of a writer whose work is overblown, boring and difficult? Or are you like me, where you think Shakespeare is possibly the greatest writer of all time? That isn’t to…
88th Academy Award Predictions
So its November, which means it is time for my very first Academy Award predictions. I know that many people think that film awards are not a true reflection of excellence in the film industry, but that very negative view distracts from the fact that we all know that film awards don’t always show the…
Excision (2012)
Excision is one of the most bizarre, grotesque and gory films I have ever seen…and I loved it. I am not someone who particularly likes gory body horror films, but Excision was a wonderfully strange film that is a brilliant combination of gruesome horror and teen comedy, and achieves all it tries to attempt without…
An Appreciation of…Jack Lemmon (1925 – 2001)
The concept of the greatest actor of all time is a complex one. Choosing the greatest actress of all time is very easy – not many will stray from Katharine Hepburn or Bette Davis. But the greatest actor of all time is a whole different process. One needs to consider the traits that made so…
The End of the Tour (2015)
My love of books predates my love of cinema, and something I have noticed is the almost complete lack of films about writers. We have so many biopics of musicians, athletes and performers, but very rarely films about authors, which is a shame because, in some ways, they are some of the most interesting people…
Youth (2015)
About a year ago (I actually remember the date, 11 August 2014 – a tragic day in cinema), I saw a film called This Must Be the Place. It was a dark comedy about a rock star confronting his past and going to try and avenge the death of his father, and of course it…
The Postmodern Pelican 