Sunday night, or rather very early Monday morning in the UK, saw the climax of yet another long awards season for the movie industry. Oscar had decided to bring it forward a few weeks this year, meaning all the big awards were squashed into a shorter time frame, and the whole exhausting bandwagon had hurtled … Continue reading 92nd Academy Awards
As part of my project to compile a coffee table book called 21st Century cinema: 200 Unmissable Films, I have found it interesting, but not surprising, that almost 10% of the list since the year 2000 are animated features. It is an art form that Pixar and Disney especially, but many smaller studios, are excelling … Continue reading Coco
In the search for a way to watch the 92nd Academy Awards live from Hollywood tonight I was led to a subscription for Now TV, which is basically the online platform for Sky Cinema. And there I found all the missing films I had yet to see from last year that aren't available "free" on … Continue reading Bohemian Rhapsody
So, I am writing a coffee table book that selects the 200 top films of 2000 - 2019. Called, predictably, 21st Century Cinema: 200 Unmissable films. It uses a system of rating I devised called The Decinemal, which takes the ten categories by which a film can be rated (Direction, Script, Design, Lead Acting, Support … Continue reading 3 Idiots
Kirk Douglas 1916 - 2020 The dimple-chinned legend of silver screen that was Issur Danielovitch, aka Kirk Douglas, passed away on February 5th at the ripe old age of 103. After serving as a communications officer in the American Navy in WWII, he undertook a prestigious stage career in New York, before being picked up … Continue reading 12 of the Best… Kirk Douglas Films
I despised this film so much, I can barely bring myself to look at Adam Sandler's face ever again! I mean, I hated everything about it. Half a day after seeing it I am still feeling somewhat nauseous, and full of disbelief that it has been subject to such attention and favourable reviews. Objectively, it … Continue reading Uncut Gems
There are a swathe of European film-makers like Luca Guadagnino and Paolo Sorrentino that have the skill to make every image they print to film look like a work of art, giving you the feeling you are on the most idyllic holiday you ever had. Watching a largely silent image of a beautiful lake or … Continue reading Call Me By Your Name
To say I found this hard to watch could not be more understated. Any adult that has risked their whole life on a true love that runs its course and then fails must surely feel the same. It happens to most of us once or twice in a lifetime, and resonates forever. Such is the … Continue reading Marriage Story
It took me over a month to get around to seeing this last night at the cinema. Not because I didn't want to see the end of the new trilogy and say goodbye to it in style, but because I feared it just wouldn't be very good. Put simply, it isn't very good. Some parts, … Continue reading The Rise of Skywalker
January can be a hard month. Brexit is coming, the Bills are piling high, it's freezing cold, dark, and everything feels uphill. There is only one solution: Go to your happy place! As always, this list is a starting point in the conversation, not a definitive rundown. Please feel free to comment and suggest something … Continue reading 12 of the best… Feel Good Movies.
The Wasteland 