…but also so long they named it twice. One pandemic. Two national lockdowns. Three release dates for No Time To Die. It’s quite fitting that my first and last reviews of 2020 were about family: Little Women, a story about holding on to yourself and your identity, whatever life throws at you; and The Midnight… 2020: That Was The Year That Wasn’t… Read More
The Sarah Awards, 2019! What a difference a year makes
Nominated by me, voted for by me. Might tweet myself about my terrible takes later. December 2020: this has been sitting in my Drafts for about 50 weeks – though as 2019 feels like five minutes ago and my summer lockdown bread-making and home schooling like sometime during WW2, does time even have any meaning any… The Sarah Awards, 2019! What a difference a year makes Read More
2020 vision – 2019 in review
I’ll be making that joke all year so you’d better get used to it. But what a year it’s been! (It’s actually the law that all annual round-up articles start like that so don’t email me.) During 2019 several things happened: Like, you know, stuff. But most importantly, I was in the same room as… 2020 vision – 2019 in review Read More
2019: The Ones To Watch (And Then Watch)
What a year for movies 2019 is promising to be – the new (and final) John Wick instalment appears in May, and Gerard Butler’s Angel Has Fallen is out in August. That title makes it sound like a sequel to Constantine, but never mind – if it can top Mike Banning jogging away from a… 2019: The Ones To Watch (And Then Watch) Read More
2018: The Good The Bad & The Ugly (But Mostly Good)
Well that went quick! It seems like no time since I was writing my 2018 To-Watch list and thinking how long it was until Aquaman was coming out. And in some ways, not a whole amount has changed in the past 12 months. We’re still in the EU (just), and we still haven’t seen Replicas…. 2018: The Good The Bad & The Ugly (But Mostly Good) Read More
Top 20 Movie Reviews from 2017
I’d never have thought, as I sat in a New York screening room watching Super Dark Times back in September, that it would turn out to be my most popular review of 2017. Or that the overwrought 1996 Keanu Reeves vehicle Chain Reaction would deliver more traffic this year than Edgar Wright’s critically acclaimed, soundtrack-driven heist… Top 20 Movie Reviews from 2017 Read More
My 2017 Movie Moments
Don’t worry, 2017 is the year, not the amount – there are only 10 on my list. In the cinema I started January with La La Land, and finished December with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. And in between I reviewed well over 100 films – in cinemas and screening rooms, on Netflix, Amazon, Shudder… My 2017 Movie Moments Read More
2017 Round-Up: Cinema & The C-Word
Movieland 2017 has given us some terrific performances, amazing stories, breathtaking cinematography and moving scores. You can read about that shit anywhere though. So instead let’s concentrate our cinematic analysis of 2017 on things beginning with the letter C. C Is For Christopher (Plummer) After months of allegations about sexual abuse and harassment carried out… 2017 Round-Up: Cinema & The C-Word Read More
2016 – The Year We Didn’t Know If A “Best Of” Film List Was Numerical or Alphabetical
Ah yes, Arrival. Anyway I can assure you this is an in-order, 1st to 10th best, numerical list which by chance happens to be almost… ALMOST, alphabetical. 1. Arrival What “best of” film list this end-of-year won’t have Arrival at the top? Maybe one written by Cillian Murphy. It’s really hard to talk about Arrival without spoiler-ing – so… 2016 – The Year We Didn’t Know If A “Best Of” Film List Was Numerical or Alphabetical Read More
My Worst Films of 2016 But Not Including Gods of Egypt Because It’s Suffered Enough
Luckily for me I love a bad film. Most of these weren’t awful (Home Alone 4 will always be my line-in-the-sand for cinematic awfulness) but they were, in some way, disappointing. And it cost me ten quid to see each one. 1. Batman v Superman – Dawn of Justice BVS sounds like a yeast infection doesn’t it. I’m guessing watching… My Worst Films of 2016 But Not Including Gods of Egypt Because It’s Suffered Enough Read More
2016’s Best Supporting Props
Let’s face it, without props films would just be naked people in a room with no furniture and no carpets. Actually that probably is a film already, but it’ll be Danish with subtitles and probably won an award from some made-up festival somewhere. But we need at least one “Best of 2016” list that doesn’t have… 2016’s Best Supporting Props Read More