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3/5
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Wish
(2023)
|
George Simpson
|
It feels like Disney were so focused on a paint-by-numbers tribute to their fantasy musical movies that they forgot to sprinkle on the magic. Despite this, there are aspects of Wish to be praised and enjoyed...
Posted Nov 27, 2023
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4/5
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Thanksgiving
(2023)
|
Fran Winston
|
It’s a simple premise and similar to what we’ve seen before - but Roth’s dedication to a more classical filmmaking style gives this a far more grounded feel than your usual slasher flick.
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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4/5
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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
It’s another heady mix of teen romance, glamorous frocks, dark comedy, gruesome slayings and social commentary.
Posted Nov 17, 2023
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5/5
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The Killer
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
[A] slick, brutal and utterly brilliant action movie.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
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4/5
|
Dream Scenario
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
As the film turns into a parable about online fame and cancel culture, the laughs begin to dry up. Still, this wildly original and genuinely nightmarish comedy really does stay with you.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
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1/5
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The Marvels
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Disney+ nuts should get something out of this mash-up but casual cinemagoers will wonder if Marvel has disappeared up its own black hole.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
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2/5
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The Marvels
(2023)
|
Lucas Hill-Paul
|
On paper, The Marvels could have been a harmonious coalition of three popular new characters, but its generic filter sandpapers away any verve or stylistic energy the three previous projects had.
Posted Nov 09, 2023
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4/5
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Nobody Has to Know
(2021)
|
Andy Lea
|
With the Isle of Lewis providing the beautifully desolate backdrop, there’s a palpable sense of yearning in every frame.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
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3/5
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Bottoms
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Not all the jokes work but Edebiri and Sennott have great comic timing, there are some sharp lines, and the unhinged energy is hard to resist.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
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2/5
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Five Nights at Freddy's
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
The monsters are beautifully designed by the Jim Henson Creature Shop, but this joyless shocker never whirs into life.
Posted Oct 27, 2023
|
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2/5
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Doctor Jekyll
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
The 2023 version errs way too far on the side of genteel respectability. It’s positively Victorian.
Posted Oct 27, 2023
|
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4/5
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The Pigeon Tunnel
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
This documentary basically shows two men chatting in a room... As those men are David Cornwell and talented filmmaker Errol Morris, this unpromising formula makes for riveting viewing.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
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5/5
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Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
|
Lucas Hill-Paul
|
Underneath DiCaprio’s initial charm is one of the best and slimiest performances of his career, a hapless Jordan Belfort with triple the grime.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
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3/5
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Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
It’s beautifully shot but the crime plot only kicks in on the two-hour mark when Jesse Plemons’ FBI agent turns up and the net begins to tighten.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
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4/5
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The Great Escaper
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Two wonderful performances have transformed this patriotic true story into a touching romance.
Posted Oct 11, 2023
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4/5
|
BlackBerry
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Pacy, well-acted, and brilliantly written, this boardroom farce pushes all right the buttons.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
|
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3/5
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The Old Oak
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Some scenes feel overly sentimental but it’s hard to remain unmoved by Loach’s optimism and his undimmed faith in the human spirit.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
|
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3/5
|
The Creator
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
My eyes popped during the action scenes but my cheeks remained bone dry during the supposedly heart-wrenching finale. Thin characters and one-note performances suggest Edwards is a lot better with pixels than people.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
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4/5
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The Creator
(2023)
|
Lucas Hill-Paul
|
There are also plenty of narrative shortcuts to arrive at an otherwise stirring third act - though all this admittedly doesn’t matter to an audience with tears in their eyes for a robot child without a soul.
Posted Sep 27, 2023
|
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4/5
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Dumb Money
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Gillespie manages to make this financial story tense, funny and surprisingly rousing.
Posted Sep 25, 2023
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4/5
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No One Will Save You
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
With spine-tingling horror and plenty of thrills, No One Will Save You is a disturbing sci-fi horror that demands lights off, phones away and eyes glued to the screen.
Posted Sep 25, 2023
|
|
1/5
|
Expend4bles
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Nothing here makes sense.
Posted Sep 25, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
The Lesson
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
There are some witty lines but the plot doesn’t veer far from its well-trodden path.
Posted Sep 25, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Flora and Son
(2023)
|
Lucas Hill-Paul
|
Flora and Son is the perfect showcase for her [Eve Hewson's] charming, naturalistic presence and the musical talent she’s clearly inherited from her famous dad.
Posted Sep 20, 2023
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4.5/5
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And Then Come the Nightjars
(2023)
|
Chris Riches
|
Films showing the dirt under the fingernails of rural British life are rare, which is maybe why this feels very natural, honest and almost shorn of unnecessary, extraneous characters that could hinder or come between the pair.
Posted Sep 19, 2023
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4/5
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Cassandro
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
The film works as a family drama as well as a rousing underdog tale. Bernal body slams them both, holding us in his vice-like grip throughout.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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4/5
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A Haunting in Venice
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Horror nuts could find it a bit tame but Christie fans should welcome a fresh guessing game and devilish twists to the classic formula.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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4/5
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A Haunting in Venice
(2023)
|
Lucas Hill-Paul
|
Whodunnit purists might take offense at the brazen artistic license on display, but this brand-new story makes for edge-of-your-seat viewing.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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5/5
|
Past Lives
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Past Lives could battle Oppenheimer at the Oscars. It’s just as explosive.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
This tasty brew felt like it was on the turn when writer-star Nia Vardalos reheated it for a 2016 sequel. Now, it feels as stale as last week’s moussaka.
Posted Sep 07, 2023
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3/5
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Cobweb
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Creepy camerawork and sinister grown-ups keep the tension simmering away in the wonderfully creepy buildup.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
The Equalizer 3
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
The action scenes are horribly entertaining, but McCall is just as deadly with a withering smile.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Passages
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Slowly a slightly toxic relationship turns into something utterly venomous.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
|
|
2/4
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When a Man Loves a Woman
(1994)
|
Rachel Simpson
|
his film about alcoholism ring as true as some of previous films on the subject, like Days Of Wine And Roses in which Jack Lemmon went through a terrifying descent into hell.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
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3/5
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Mob Land
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
... Some crunchy dialogue and very dark twists add surprises to a familiar set-up.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
|
|
2/5
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Theater Camp
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
The songs aren’t as catchy, the lines aren’t as sharp and there are no mishaps with badly measured stage props. But a game cast delivers a few wry smiles and a couple of gentle cringes.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
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4/5
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The Blackening
(2022)
|
Andy Lea
|
This is mainly about a great cast and the laughs, which a razor-sharp script delivers by the bucketload.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
Blue Beetle
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
There are some mildly amusing moments but I’m not sure if Jaime’s eccentric uncle (George Lopez) and gun-toting granny (Adriana Barraza) freshen it up enough.
Posted Aug 18, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Strays
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
As the script resorts to increasingly laboured gags about humping and poo, you suspect Strays may have worked better as a sketch.
Posted Aug 18, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Somewhere in Queens
(2022)
|
Andy Lea
|
Romano is less interested in gags and more intent on mining the relationship between fathers and sons.
Posted Aug 18, 2023
|
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3/5
|
Blue Beetle
(2023)
|
Lucas Hill-Paul
|
Ángel Manuel Soto plays things safe with a breezy origin story that harkens back to Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man, with a little - but not enough - Cronenbergian body horror for good measure.
Posted Aug 17, 2023
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3/5
|
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Neill Blomkamp cuts through the cheese with remarkable high-speed driving sequences that demand to be watched on the big screen.
Posted Aug 11, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Red, White & Royal Blue
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Tony Award-winning playwright-turned-filmmaker Matthew Lopez whisks us off to a much-improved version of the real world.
Posted Aug 11, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Haunted Mansion
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
It won’t put the frighteners on Barbie but Disney’s spooky family comedy should keep tills ringing over the school holidays.
Posted Aug 11, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
|
Lucas Hill-Paul
|
Despite Blomkamp’s disinterested driving, the pivotal races are still rousing enough by the final lap that Mardenborough never becomes hard to root for.
Posted Aug 08, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Revoir Paris
(2022)
|
Andy Lea
|
This touching character study makes a trip to a quiet art-house cinema feel doubly satisfying.
Posted Aug 04, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
Maggie Moore(s)
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
The two [Jon Hamm and Tina Fey] spark off each other nicely but stirring romance into this brew doesn’t make it go down any more easily.
Posted Aug 04, 2023
|
|
1/5
|
Joy Ride
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
Wu and Cola show decent comic timing but they are in a constant battle with the script’s almost pathological need to shock.
Posted Aug 04, 2023
|
|
|
Oppenheimer
(2023)
|
Stefan Kyriazis
|
This is a powerful story of science and war, human achievement and human destructiveness, but it is the human relationships, betrayals, losses and loyalties that make the film come alive.
Posted Jul 25, 2023
|
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4/5
|
Barbie
(2023)
|
Andy Lea
|
The feminist parable doesn’t always make sense and some characters fail to come to life. But, after a raft of over-polished blockbusters, this messiness feels refreshing
Posted Jul 24, 2023
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