REVIEW: Old (2021)
A mind-twister, indeed, when strange things of the M. Night Shyamalan kind also exist beyond Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Entranced and thus inspired by the premise of the graphic novel Sandcastle written by Pierre-Oscar Lévy and drawn by Frederick Peeters, Old sees the filmmaker travel to…
REVIEW: Kandisha (2021)
It was a shock to the system to realise how, before the yet-set rollout of their novel and anticipated The Deep House, French filmmaking duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury have another film for horror fans — Kandisha. Perhaps with the extreme brains behind the…
REVIEW: Broken Diamonds (2021)
The thing about so many ‘mental health movies’ is that they ultimately resort to extreme examples of behaviours or situations in order to build and maintain drama. But, for so many people with mental health issues, there isn’t anything particularly cinematic about the day to…
New Trailer For Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Released
– A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, “Dune” tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of…
Latest Reviews
REVIEW: The Last Letter From Your Lover (2021)
A cosy romance may be the last thing you would expect as a follow up to the hedonistic Never Goin Back (2018) from director Augustine Frizzell, but it’s good that a new director is already showing range, especially when you consider that she’s also directed…
REVIEW: Old (2021)
A mind-twister, indeed, when strange things of the M. Night Shyamalan kind also exist beyond Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Entranced and thus inspired by the premise of the graphic novel Sandcastle written by Pierre-Oscar Lévy and drawn by Frederick Peeters, Old sees the filmmaker travel to…
REVIEW: Kandisha (2021)
It was a shock to the system to realise how, before the yet-set rollout of their novel and anticipated The Deep House, French filmmaking duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury have another film for horror fans — Kandisha. Perhaps with the extreme brains behind the…
REVIEW: Broken Diamonds (2021)
The thing about so many ‘mental health movies’ is that they ultimately resort to extreme examples of behaviours or situations in order to build and maintain drama. But, for so many people with mental health issues, there isn’t anything particularly cinematic about the day to…
REVIEW: Eyimofe (2021)
In the vibrant, bustling streets of Lagos, nothing comes easily or cheaply; the relentless nature of life and all its obstacles shapes this quietly stirring debut by Nigerian twin-brother directors Arie and Chuko Esiri. Eyimofe (This is my Desire) follows the loosely intertwined lives of…
REVIEW: Bye Bye Morons (2021)
You couldn’t blame somebody for expressing puzzlement over the fact that Bye Bye Morons (2020), a zany, lightweight comedy, managed to win seven César Awards. Perhaps the French love their farces more than most, but it’s hard to imagine a world in which this was…
REVIEW: Settlers (2021)
Space adventures with a notable focus on family drama have been no stranger to the cinematic screen over the last decade. It’s a subgenre that’s seen many successes including, but not limited to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and James Gray’s Ad Astra. I suppose after the…
REVIEW: I Never Cry (2021)
If you live within the UK, you’ll have no doubt seen more than a handful of inflammatory headlines about Eastern European migrant workers. Whilst much of the skewed narrative centres around the jobs they are “taking”, very little is said about the harsh realities of…
Latest Features
No Sudden Move and Soderbergh’s Prolific Post-Retirement Period
After making Behind the Candelabra in 2013, Steven Soderbergh expressed frustration with the film industry and ‘retired,’ spending the next few years on a TV show – The Knick – instead. In 2017 he came out of retirement with aplomb and has gone on to…
A Journey Through Ryan Gosling’s Filmography – Part 1: 2000 – 2010
As part of the JumpCut Charity Initiative this year I decided to marathon the filmography of JumpCut’s unofficial official mascot, Academy Award-nominee Ryan Gosling, in order to rectify my blindspots in his career so far. Shockingly, I hadn’t seen much of his earlier work and…
Spectacular Spectacular – ‘Moulin Rouge!’ at 20
At the very first Moulin Rouge test screening, 20th Century Fox did not tell the audience that the film was a musical. Studio executives were worried. Looking back, it feels impossible that anyone would have worried about Moulin Rouge. It was the final installment of…
Hampton v Hollywood
As ever, this year’s Academy Awards consisted of a strange celebration of trauma from the perspective of the elite, from the trial of Brock Turner in Promising Young Woman to the murder of George Floyd in Two Distant Strangers. The collective agony of the masses…
TCMFF 2021: Humphrey Bogart and Jimmy Stewart in early Anti-Fascist Works
Black Legion (1937) and The Mortal Storm (1940) It is always fascinating and astonishing to look at works of art that come out of war time or political turmoil while the events are still ongoing. If you look at the war films made during World War…
“Somebody’s Gotta Save Our Skins!”: On Star Wars’ Death Star Escape Sequence
From space battles to superhuman fistfights, adventure has become one of the most prevalent elements for sculpting blockbuster entertainment. Big-budget spectacle was arguably kicked off by George Lucas’ original Stars Wars, and while its macro-structure depends on some winning storytelling archetypes to anchor its visionary…
It’s Called Fashion, Look it Up!
As today is the first Monday in May, we should be enjoying the red carpet photographs from the Met Gala, one of the biggest fashion events of the year. Unfortunately last year’s event, which had one of the most exciting sounding concepts in years –…
The Queer Question Mark – Should Straight Actors Play Gay?
In a welcome change of pace, the 93rd Academy Award nominations featured some of the most diverse choices in recent Oscar history. However, the acting nominations continued to contribute to a well-established trend, namely straight performers being nominated for their portrayals of queer characters. Some…