It’s an uncomfortable topic for comedy but Taika Waititi’s satire of the Hitler Youth has moral purpose that it exudes throughout. An exploration of how young children can be courted by fascism is always a worthwhile story to tell as, beneath the slapstick and fantasy of this film, the sinister powers of indoctrination at play in 1940s Germany feel as relevant as ever. It may … Continue reading Jojo Rabbit: “It’s definitely not a good time to be a Nazi”

Horrifying, obviously. Let’s get that out of the way. All the retching and pouncing and affectionate purring of fuzzy cheeks rubbed against one another. Just horrifying. But once you start to slowly acclimatise to the hallucination boiling your neurons across the 120 minute psychological experiment, I suppose then you start to think of plot. It follows the classic 3 act structure: 1st, the protagonist is … Continue reading Cats: Tails from the Uncanny Valley

“It’s all been leading to this.” A phrase that every piece of marketing material for a multimillion dollar franchise seems to have used this year. Whether it’s Game of Thrones, The Avengers or Star Wars, the message seems to be: you watched all the others, so you may as well watch this last one. And so I did. I watched the Rise of Skywalker because … Continue reading The Rise of (the Return of the Revenge of the Sith Jedi) Skywalker

Rian Jonson’s back after babysitting a divisive Star Wars outing, ready to have another brain child of his own. The result is a delicious homage to the whodunnit genre, with an all-star cast to play his rabble of over-privileged suspects. Even though it acts as a patchwork of all the ace detective stories you’ve seen and read, it’s hugely exciting to see someone introduce something … Continue reading Knives Out: My House, My Mess, My Review

It’s a story that demands to be told. Harriet Tubman is one of the most famous liberators of slaves in America, acting both as a political activist for the Abolitionist cause and a symbol of freedom for those still in chains. Delivering an honest and compelling account of such an important figure in American history is a daunting task. Director Kasi Lemmons uses this to … Continue reading Harriet

I suppose being stuck in Marylebone station for half an hour is a good enough reason to share my thoughts on this balloon film. We begin with the compulsory street urchin running excitedly through a bright day in 19th century London, clambering over railings and doffing his flat cap as he scampers. His destination: a balloon launch and all the pageantry it boasts. James Glashier … Continue reading Highly Flyin’ Red(mayne) Balloons: The Aeronauts

I was sort of expecting an ITV Drama on speed. The suburban setting with scandal and conspiracy woven through it certainly gave that impression. I’m not sure what my fellow cinema-goers were expecting but Roy (Sir Ian McKellen) and Betty’s (Helen Mirren) bemused response to the violence and sensationalism of watching Inglorious Bastards onscreen mustn’t have been too dissimilar to that of the elderly lunchtime … Continue reading The Good Liar ft. Good Actors

Writer of The Day Today, Brasseye and Four Lions Chris Morris is back and this time he’s angry. His new satire follows the antics of the FBI based on a wave of true stories of their manufacturing of domestic terror threats in the U.S.. At the centre of this particular plot is the fictional Star of Six commune, led by eccentric leader Moses Al Shabazz … Continue reading The Day Shall Come

This is not a review of the Black Keys album featuring such classics as “Lonely Boy” and “Little Black Submarine”. Nor is it of the newly opened Mexican restaurant in Urmston where my friend Emily works. However, coincidentally, the day that Emily’s new workplace opened to the public also saw the Netflix release of the Breaking Bad spin-off of the same name: El Camino. Starring … Continue reading El Camino. Not the Album. Or the Restaurant.

[SPOILER FREE, although you all seem like you’ve probably seen it already] I went into this film already exhausted by it, if I’m honest. A few articles and interviews, and the social media responses to them, have poisoned the well of discussion a bit. We already went through all this with Suicide Squad a couple of years ago: the bizarre frenzy that surrounds this role … Continue reading Alright, fine: Joker