REVIEW: Escape from Mogadishu (2021)
Korean cinema is experiencing something of a Golden Age. The floodgates have opened and an impressive coterie of Korean filmmakers have broken through into the mainstream. Director Seung-wan Ryoo bursts onto the scene with Escape from Mogadishu, a thrillingly humanitarian tale of unity. By its…
REVIEW: The Beekeeper (2020)
William McGregor’s latest documentary short is an enraging but impassioned observation of the battle between preserving rural heritage and urban colonialism, a battle that takes place on the mesmeric coast of Anglesey. McGregor has shown a fascination throughout his short but impressive career towards the…
REVIEW: The Invisible Man (2020)
‘Dark Universe’. The very phrase itself sends shivers down the spines of Universal studio executives who were once salivating at the prospect of rejuvenating the pre-code Monster movies for modern audiences, only for it to die as quickly as it was conceptualised. When The Mummy…
REVIEW: The Grudge (2020)
Takashi Shimizu’s supernatural-born horror franchise, which began in Japan in 2002 with Ju-On: The Grudge but was transnationally brought to Hollywood just two years later, supposedly died in 2015 with Ju-On: The Final Curse. Dampened by poor critical reactions but bolstered by somewhat of a…
The Despicable Invasion of Cinema? A Defence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
“Film is pop art. It is not whether it’s auteur cinema or not; that’s a false distinction. Cinema is cinema.” – Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve is a filmmaker who embraces what cinema is, and what cinema can achieve. He understands, through the synergetic style of…
REVIEW: Ad Astra (2019)
Director James Gray, who has made a name for himself with his grounded, New York-set dramas, reaches for the skies in Ad Astra, his Brad Pitt-leading Magnus Opus. He takes the run-of-the-mill space exploration movie and infuses enough creative and authorial expressivity to place it…
INTERVIEW: Eleanor Worthington-Cox Chats About Her First Leading Role And Working With Maxine Peake in ‘Gwen’
William McGregor’s feature-length debut Gwen also marks an exciting milestone for its young star Eleanor Worthington-Cox, who makes her debut in a leading role as the titular star. It’s a terrific performance, one I called ‘simply revelatory’ in my review of the film. With roles in The…
INTERVIEW: ‘Gwen’ Director William McGregor Talks About the Resonance of Folk-Horror
Folk-horror has had somewhat of a cinematic revival of late. With big-budget, studio-backed folk terrors like The Witch, Midsommar and Apostle all resonating well with audiences and critics alike, it comes as no surprise that up-and-coming independent filmmakers are being inspired by these fables and gravitating towards similar…
REVIEW: Gwen (2019)
Most known for his contributions to British television, ranging from BBC’s gothic costume-drama Poldark to Channel 4’s raucous teen-comedy Misfits, writer-director William McGregor makes his feature-length debut with Gwen; a slow-burning, candle-lit exploration of an implosive family unit set in rural, 19th Century Snowdonia. It’s…
REVIEW: X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
With the monumental success of Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame slowly coming to a halt, the monolithic finale to a franchise that has changed the landscape of the 21st Century blockbuster, it seems that 2019 is a bittersweet year for the superhero genre; a year where our…
REVIEW: Game of Thrones – Season 8, Episode 6: “The Iron Throne”
It’s here. The end of the road. The final ever episode of Game of Thrones. All men must die, and all shows must come to an end. Some reach their conclusion in emphatic fashion, some simply fizzle out into nothingness. Game of Thrones is the…
REVIEW: Game of Thrones – Season 8, Episode 5: “The Bells”
Well, there will be no complaints about darkness in this episode… The penultimate episode in Game of Thrones history has acquired a reputation for being the series best episode, an episode where shit goes down. There’s the infamous Red Wedding, the Battle of the Bastards,…
REVIEW: Game of Thrones – Season 8, Episode 3: “The Long Night”
It is finally here. The moment that fans have awaited with both dread and excitement. The living versus the dead. Ice versus fire. The long night is finally upon us. It is time for the battle of Winterfell. Following a grounded introduction to Game of…
