For the global press conference for Jackpot!, director Paul Feig mentioned that he ultimately took on the film because it was the “Jackie Chan movie (he) always wanted to make.” And it’s in that spirit that this comedic actioner is best viewed, where the two genres co-exist as one and the same and the silliness…
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Whilst by no means is Justin Baldoni‘s It Ends with Us making light of its central domestic violence thematic, Christy Hall‘s script adaptation of Colleen Hoover‘s novel is unable to entirely find the momentum needed to keep such a story emotionally engaging across its testing 130 minutes. With its Pinterest-like lens on romanticising its Boston…
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We’ve seen buddy heist comedies before, especially when the perpetrators are a fair bit on the amateur side, but that doesn’t make them necessarily less enjoyable. There is a beauty to the comfort of familiarity, and not every film needs to have something profound to say or gut-wrench you to emotional oblivion, especially in this…
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Whilst Detained can’t always escape its low budget, B-movie atmosphere, props must be given to co-writer/director Felipe Mucci for having a clear destination in mind to guide his film whenever it threatens to write itself into a corner. Co-written with Jeremy Palmer, Detained banks a lot of its narrative on coincidence, and it certainly asks…
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Continuing his directorial trajectory where every other film is one that doesn’t quite land with the masses, Trap, despite an intriguing set up and some delicious work from a committed Josh Hartnett, isn’t the top-tier M. Night Shyamalan that some might be expecting. Whilst he has certain films throughout his career that are either universally…
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Reuniting some 20+ plus years after their critically mauled, much forgotten, product-of-its-time comedic thriller Head Over Heels, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter, both actors who never really maintained their late 90s, early 2000s hype, topline another comedic thriller of sorts in The Girl in the Pool; except, the comedy here is presumably unintentional. Breaking…
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Looking at a film like In A Violent Nature from the surface, it’s easy to link Chris Nash‘s slasher to something like the Friday the 13th series. His creation here – the non-verbal, physically imposing Johnny – is akin to Jason Vorhees in his stature and seeming penchant for walking after his victims over a…
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Continuing his run of releasing movies at a breakneck speed – his fourth directorial effort in three years, with another in post-production – Guy Ritchie‘s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare very much sits in his wheelhouse, for better or worse. Though a tighter focus on its narrative would’ve ultimately benefitted this brash “based on a…
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Going into something like Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s difficult to not have a certain expectation as to how it will both stand on its own accord and play as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Five, which, so far, has been a considerably mixed bag; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels both…
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The type of dialogue-driven feature that would make screenwriter Aaron Sorkin beam with pride, The Way We Speak is a talky, compelling drama that speaks to the power of one’s conviction in their beliefs and, more importantly, respecting another’s differing opinion. Written and directed by Ian Ebright, the film centres itself around Simon Harrington (Patrick…
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On the surface there’s a certain Silence of the Lambs-ness to Osgood Perkins‘ wildly unnerving Longlegs. But the more this serial killer thriller reveals, religious undertones spring forth to announce itself as a film, and with a haunting central figure, that’s far enough removed from Jonathan Demme’s aforementioned genre classic to earn its own personality….
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Given that Jim Weir and Jack Clark‘s frighteningly uncomfortable Birdeater is an Australian chiller set in the outback (at least for the majority of its running time), audiences are justified in thinking it could fall in line with other brutality-in-the-bush titles like Picnic at Hanging Rock or even Wolf Creek. The more accurate comparison though…
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Given the ambition he showed with his Mad Max-meets-Dawn of the Dead B-grade genre piece Wyrmwood (and its respective sequel), it makes sense that Australian director Kiah Roache-Turner would continue his genre mash-ups for his follow-up. What proves surprising, however, is that for Sting, an ode to the creature feature (and, fittingly, Australia’s fear of…
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As Yorgos Lanthimos built up his profile with more mainstream-inclined audiences over the years – blending his unique storytelling vision with noticeable, A-list talent – the filmmaker viscerally tells them to essentially f*ck off with Kinds of Kindness, a 164-minute blackly comic, absurdist, and boundary-pushing surrealist drama that makes his previous oddity, last year’s award-winning…
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The natural disaster film received something of an elevation back in 1996 with the release of Twister. With a high-calibre collection of talent on hand, both behind the scenes (it was produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Jan de Bont, off a screenplay penned by Jurassic Park scribe Michael Crichton) and in front of the…
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The authenticity of the moon landing has always been something that’s long plagued history. And whilst a straightforward narrative around the Apollo 11 project would undoubtedly be intriguing, it’s an entirely safer bet to allude to such a longstanding conspiracy with a surrounding story, rather than court controversy with anything direct. And it’s with such…
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Back in March of 2022, Ti West birthed a horror trilogy the genre didn’t know it needed. X, a 1970s-set porn shoot-turned-massacre tale, indulged in its dirty aesthetic, before its 1918-set prequel, Pearl, arrived mere months later, similarly revelling in its own unique temperament, one that came across like The Wizard of Oz on a…
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After tarnishing the one-two punch of 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop and it’s 1987 sequel with the 1994 threequel – one that even the film’s stars have turned against over the years – the Eddie Murphy-led franchise seemed permanently laid to rest. Though there’s been considerable chatter in the three decades since its release, the third…
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Inspired by Danny Lyon‘s 1967 photo book The Bikeriders, Jeff Nichols‘ name-same drama revels in both the greasy masculinity and surprising vulnerability of its titular collective – a motorcycle club known as The Vandals – tracking their rise and evolution between 1965 and 1973. Lyon’s idea for the book was to “record and glorify the…
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Given that Rachel House so consistently makes an impression on screen with her oft-deadpan delivery, it stands to reason that her move behind the camera garner significant interest too. Though the regular Taika Waititi collaborator has a slew of short films under her belt, The Mountain stands as her debut in feature filmmaking, with the…
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“Live Free or Die” So says the state motto of New Hampshire, something that some people take a little too seriously, especially those within the realms of Nate Dushku‘s Birder, a grisly, queer thriller centred around an enigmatic serial killer and the nudist camp he preys upon. The “birder” of the title introduces himself as…
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Thanks to the rise of cryptocurrency – and the emphasis that anyone’s voice can now be heard through a variety of social media outlets – scammers have a platform and a mainstream presence. They were never exactly a hidden, unknown collective, but there’s perhaps a prominence surrounding them now, and as the opening title card…
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Pablo Picasso is an undisputed icon of modern art. The co-founder of the cubist movement, his legacy stretches to thousands of paintings. Now, a new docufilm, Picasso: A Rebel in Paris, offers a portrait of a complex artist that is told in a straight-forward and linear way. Simona Risi directs, and Iranian actress, Mina Kavani of…
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When Ally (Rachel Paulson) excitedly calls her bestie, Jess (Capri Campeau), in the morning-after scenario of a pinch-me like hook-up, she can’t quite believe herself when she announces that in her bed is a bona fide rockstar. Better than hooking up with the high-school teacher she was obsessed with, and “gayer than Rihanna”, Ally’s bed…
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The basic narrative at the core of Restless – asking how far one would go to maintain peace in your own home – is perhaps one of the most relatable, and it’s because of that potential familiarity that Jed Hart‘s dread-drenched thriller is all the more chilling. Whether it’s happened directly to us or we…
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There’s a subtlety and quietness to Darkest Miriam that continually laces this sad, yet captivating drama, with Britt Lower‘s haunting central performance adding a poetry to proceedings that beautifully captures those watching. In a Toronto neighbourhood, Miriam (Lower) lives a quiet life as a librarian, seemingly content with her daily routine of shuffling through the…
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Whilst there’s no doubt that Megan Stalter is a talented comedienne (“Hi Gay!”, anyone?), the type of social-media-sketch-performer-turned-feature-actress trajectory isn’t always a guaranteed translation for both their respective humour and an audience’s positive reaction. Thankfully, her starring role in Cora Bora is a more dramatic transition for the actress, displaying a vulnerable, shaded, even confidence-lacking…
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As much as Vincent Grashaw‘s Bang Bang revels in the alpha masculinity that oft dominates the boxing industry and the men it produces, this hard drama laces its narrative with a sadness and humanity that consistently brings the film above its gruff exterior. And much of that belongs to the impeccable Tim Blake Nelson, leading…
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A character losing themself to nature in order to find solitude or correct the course of their life is not a road seldom travelled on screen. And in the case of The Outrun, it’s the windswept Orkney Islands off the northeastern coast of Scotland that serve as a place of rejuvenation for Rona (Saoirse Ronan,…
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The prospect of being stuck in a cab for 90 minutes with a driver that isn’t afraid to wax lyrical about the dynamics of men and women doesn’t exactly sound like the most pleasant experience. And whilst that it is the entire premise of Christy Hall‘s conversation-provoking Daddio, audiences pre-empting their annoyance at such a…
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