This is a murder mystery with more twists than a 1960s dancefloor. It’s definitely gripping, and superbly acted, though I’ll not deny it is also frustrating; as we try to work out who in the movie is being played before the realisation hits that it could well be us. A man has been murdered on… The Third Murder Read More
Sweet Country 4.5 stars
There’s little lighthearted in Warwick Thornton’s tale about Sam, an Aboriginal man on the run for killing a white man in self-defence, though humour does occasionally break through. Archie, brought along by the group of white men hunting Sam, is bemused that he should somehow be able to track someone through a barren landscape miles from… Sweet Country Read More
New Trailer For “The Third Murder”: Not So Much A Whodunnit As A HeSaysHeDidIt
*** My review of The Third Murder is now live *** The Third Murder follows a top lawyer who defends a murder-robbery suspect previously jailed for another murder decades previously. The man admits his guilt to this new crime, and faces the death penalty, but soon the lawyer starts to wonder if his client is… New Trailer For “The Third Murder”: Not So Much A Whodunnit As A HeSaysHeDidIt Read More
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 3.5 stars
“You join the gang, you’re culpable,” says Mildred to her local pastor who has come to berate her for holding the local police force to account. She draws parallels between LA gang members being found guilty of crimes they didn’t commit because of group culpability, and joining a church where members are abusing altar boys…. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Read More
Suburbicon 2.5 stars
Like the name of Suburbicon itself, the 1950s housing development where this story is set, this is a film made up of two separate elements that just don’t fit together. The 1950s period details are fun: the opening credits’ living breathing Suburbicon sales brochure, and the bold-patterned office fixtures and fittings, more than the oft-used… Suburbicon Read More
Sweet Virginia – 1 Minute Video Review Includes Video 4.5 stars
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Sweet Virginia 4.5 stars
It’s rare to find such a perfectly poised thriller as Sweet Virginia, where every character is so beautifully frayed by the realities of life and relationships. Almost everyone is at least slightly broken, and makes stupid mistakes. There is no saviour riding into town to save the day, and right to the end the story… Sweet Virginia Read More
Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun? (New York Film Festival 2017) 3 stars
A documentary murder mystery about the filmmaker’s family, set in lower Alabama. It’s an odd title as who fired the gun that killed Bill Spann, a 46 year old African American man in Dothan, Alabama that night in 1946, is not in doubt. It was director Travis Wilkerson’s great grandfather, SE Branch, in his convenience… Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun? (New York Film Festival 2017) Read More
Wind River 4 stars
Murdered women in movies are so often just a victim or a body, as the heroic investigator tracks down their killer. Actresses lie perfectly still, faces frozen in a death mask of fear, as other characters walk around them and talk over them. In Wind River, Natalie, a young Native American woman, has been found dead after a horrific sexual assault,… Wind River Read More
Burn After Reading – Video Review Includes Video 4.5 stars
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Lady Macbeth – 1 Minute Video Review Includes Video 5 stars
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Lady Macbeth 5 stars
Lady Macbeth certainly isn’t a Victorian morality play but you could probably call it a Victorian intersectionality play. It is also a not-very-cautionary tale about power, including the power of silence. New bride Katherine (who has been effectively sold to her husband’s family) is much more in control than her Shakespearean namesake, and more ruthless, always crushing any… Lady Macbeth Read More