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A Thousand and One
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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Teyana Taylor's work will linger with me for for the rest of 2023. It is a performance of remarkable specificity and audaciousness with a closing shot that stays on her face – expressive, trenchant, complex and incredibly moving. Just like the film.
Posted Feb 12, 2023
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Fairyland
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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McNairy is excellent in a performance that I hope convinces the world of his inimitable gifts, but too much of the film around him in “Fairyland” is hazily formless, moving from scene to scene with a listless ambience that is too indistinct to register.
Posted Feb 12, 2023
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Scrapper
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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Regan has enough trust in the smallness of her story that "Scrapper" never feels the need to substantiate itself with an aesthetic approach that’s counterintuitive to the ambivalence of these people. Instead, it is intrepidly vivid in its smallness.
Posted Feb 12, 2023
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Shayda
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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Each moment of the film owes itself to the herculean work of Zar Amir Ebrahimi at the centre as Shayda, in a decisive performance that’s both quiet and intense especially when the centre becomes slightly hazy as it moves towards its climaxes.
Posted Feb 12, 2023
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Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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This documentary is not a lesson. It is, instead, an earnest expression of love. Distinct. Imperfect. Elusive. Fragile. Tender. Sad. Elliptical. Fractured. Steady. Perceptive. Lyrical. Each recitation of a poem from Giovanni feels like a welcome balm.
Posted Feb 12, 2023
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Against the Tide
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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"Against the Tide" often looks pristine (gorgeous tableaus and compelling sound design) but its approach to its subjects often feels overdetermined and effortful in a way that makes this a more frustratingly opaque experience than an illuminating one.
Posted Feb 12, 2023
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Beyond Utopia
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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It is best when it lets the emotions of the North Korean defectors take precedence, it is less adept when its critique of North Korea becomes enmeshed with an incurious contrast of American capitalism as heroic, eliding the specificity of the survivors
Posted Feb 12, 2023
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The Persian Version
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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What could be a full-throated celebration of culture ends up feeling more ponderous than joyous. "The Persian Version” flirts with themes that could or should be exacting and affecting but then buries them in a scattershot dramaturgical approach.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Magazine Dreams
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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Perhaps “Magazine Dreams”, in its monotony and repetitiousness, is imitating its protagonist, but it still feels too and empty and tedious. It is earnest but also incurious and unrevealing about itself, burying its myriad concerns in empty bombast.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Fair Play
(2023)
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Andrew Kendall
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It feels profoundly sad, that in our thirst for coherent adult dramas that mix real-world dynamics with sexual interplay that we are calling something as detached as the tedious interpersonal mechanics of “Fair Play” an erotic thriller.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Saint Omer
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Throughout the course of “Saint Omer”, Diop asks much of her audience – their attention, their commitment, their willingness to surrender to the stretches of the story. And we are happy to commit attention to the film’s sharp acuity.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Holy Spider
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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This is not a whodunit, but something more methodical and melancholier. Without the suspense of the who, or any doubt as to the why, “Holy Spider” feels incredibly taut and intelligent about the how.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Argentina, 1985
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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The funnier moments hit harder than the serious ones, and that is not necessarily a bad thing but makes for a curious oddity when the film reaches its final act, and the atrocities of the dictatorship are discussed in full.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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All the money in the world, and “Glass Onion” never feels meaningfully engaged in any aesthetically definitive approach to a mystery instead it is overwhelmed by a strangely incurious approach to the people, the locales and itself.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Babylon
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Babylon lurches from moment to moment. It is full of half-ideas but lacking in the imagination to do much with it. Instead, it feigns jocularity while feeling unspontaneous and unnatural in its convulsions, too studied and tedious to excite.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Avatar: The Way of Water
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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In The Way of Water Cameron seems to be joyously beckoning for us to step into his mind and into a new world, so that even in the elegiac tone of the ending there is level of sweet kindness that feels new even for him.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Till
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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There is enough here in craft to emphasise Chukwu’s gifts. Even when the language of the film feels too knowing or on the nose, Till also feels actively engaged in thinking through dynamics of how history plays out on film.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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The Good Nurse
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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The Good Nurse is suffused in shades of tedious grey. Its visual language too indistinct and colourless to register as little more than a play by play of events, rather than a film that is astute about the dynamics of its crimes.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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Amsterdam
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Amsterdam presents itself as a work of collaborative trust (thematically, but also formally, but also philosophically) so that discrete sections which threaten to strain credulity on their own, feel woven together with care and thoughtfulness.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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She Said
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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She Said feels so nimble in craft, but also thoughtful in spite of its initially surprising approach. Schrader has directed a film that is generous and decisive with genuine awareness of the work of journalism that feels so sharp without being officious.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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The Fabelmans
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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The film is sprawling, and sometimes diffuse, but so very empathic and real even when it plays like fantasy.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
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The Wonder
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Lelio has gifted Pugh with a role that is likely to prove as definitive in her career. Even as the film earns its title from the would-be wonder of the miracle child, it offers us its own wonder of Florence Pugh’s interminable gifts as a performer.
Posted Nov 14, 2022
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Black Adam
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Promises some interesting dynamics concerning anti-imperialism and power dynamics, but every attempt to tie it to larger plotty banalities of superhero urgencies feels clunky. It's at its best when it ignores any larger DC context.
Posted Nov 14, 2022
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My Policeman
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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My Policeman is an insipid slog of a film that feels like a liability for all involved but especially Styles as an actor, who fails to evoke the kind of passion two lovers (and the film’s title) should consider to be an object of such devotion.
Posted Oct 14, 2022
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The Greatest Beer Run Ever
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Every potential moment of clarity is interrupted by a knee-jerk swerve to the inane, as if Farrelly is uncomfortable with anything resembling discomfort or ambiguity. It’s all very well-intentioned and good-natured, but to what end?
Posted Oct 13, 2022
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All Quiet on the Western Front
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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All Quiet on the Western Front reveals its proficiency both as technical marvel and philosophical one. Bleakness is not just praxis, but it is the inherent ethos of this world. It is intentional and unsparing and unsubtle in its “war is hell” thesis
Posted Oct 13, 2022
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Catherine Called Birdy
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Catherine, Called Bird is light and lithe and is easily the most exuberantly fun thing that Dunham has created.
Posted Oct 13, 2022
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On the Come Up
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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On the Come Up is both slice-of-life-of-Black-America and teenaged-girl come-of-age story, carving out the contours of the space and the lives of this world with enough generosity that each moment feels rich and vibrant.
Posted Oct 13, 2022
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Don't Worry Darling
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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The initial charm of the visuals doesn’t go anywhere and Wilde’s approach to it feels insubstantial, all superficial flourishes with little underneath that feels genuinely interrogative or revealing or thoughtful. Great gowns, though. Beautiful gowns.
Posted Oct 11, 2022
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Bros
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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“Bros” becomes muddled; trapped between its critiques and its desires. It argues for a rejection of safe and easy, but feels disingenuousness when it ignores its complicity in the palatable. Bobby's annoyance overwhelms the romance and the comedy.
Posted Sep 30, 2022
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Elesin Oba: The King's Horseman
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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“The King’s Horseman” is carrying the weight of Soyinka’s legacy on its back, but this is confident and engaging work amidst the responsibility and Bandele is an expert director, especially of actors, directing Shaffy Bello to a note-perfect performance.
Posted Sep 30, 2022
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The Whale
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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“The Whale” is trapped in its own limited perspective. It cannot see beyond itself and feels stagnant, like Charlie's house. It is a woefully superficial rendering of a would-be tragic figure without the care and thought to stop and consider why, or how.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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The Woman King
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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The sheen of a lot of this invariably feels more Hollywoodesque than something truly Pan-African. “The Woman King” filters Africa through a very specific lens of Hollywood, but it’s personal and visceral enough that it's exuberance is irresistible.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Nanny
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Jusu’s debut is technically proficient, and the brief dream and horror sequences make me excited to see how she develops this skill.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Broker
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Kore-eda’s empathy manifests in a technical awareness of space and architecture that tricks you into thinking it’s emotionally removed but soon reveals itself to be his own kind of approach to empathy. "Broker" is clear-eyed but packs an emotional wallop.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Three Thousand Years of Longing
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Even when “Longing” touches on bits of strangeness. Miller is also gently, holding back - resisting overemphasis. Not in the sense of reticence, but in a kind of calmness that comes with clarity of vision. This is a singular piece of filmmaking.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Ali & Ava
(2021)
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Andrew Kendall
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This is the kind of socio-political work that many attempt, but often becomes too dulled in miserabilism. But "Ali and Ava" sees these people and through its eyes we see them too, with sincerity that resists cloyingness, simplification, or condescension.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Day Shift
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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When Netflix is dismissed as offering content to watch in the background rather than actual movies, “Day Shift” comes to mind. It’s not an atrocity but it’s so casual and careless about everything within its frame, it’s hard to know why to bother with it.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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DC League of Super-Pets
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Audiences deserve better than this craven attempt at merchandising disguised as a film: a soulless, soul-deadening, half-hearted approach to filmmaking and animation which inspires no confidence and instead only wallows in the worst of the medium.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Bullet Train
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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It's a shortcoming when a film set on a highspeed train seems to take no strategic visual approach to presenting that velocity onscreen. "Bullet Train" is not lazy enough to be 'by the numbers', but it never feels aesthetically thought out or engaging.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Elvis
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Baz Luhrmann and Elvis Presley should be a match made in showmanship heaven. But, "Elvis" is too incongruous. Luhrmann injects his flair, but less cogent and thoughtful. It is awash in its own ambivalence about what it wants to say, or why.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Certainly, much of this is confection laced, disarmingly and sweetly so. But it is a confection we are fully invested in because our faith in Manville never wavers. We believe in her, and so believe in the film - its modesty, its kindness and warmth.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Thor: Love and Thunder
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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Years after "Ragnarök", Waititi seems stuck in a facsimile of that same register to diminishing returns. What was previously fresh air has grown stale and “Love and Thunder" more dull and and unspectacular. Not quite godlike.
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Spiderhead
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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I’m not sure "Spiderhead" has a point. To have a point, the film would have something to say. And "Spiderhead" is empty [...], 107 minutes of nothingness
Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Fire Island
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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If only this “Pride and Prejudice” riff had as firm a handle on its own pride and prejudices. In line with its own lack of self-awareness, “Fire Island” reveals startling conventionality and even conservativeness in its political and aesthetic approach.
Posted Jun 26, 2022
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Lightyear
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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“Lightyear” is consistently, almost aggressively, uninspired. Its approach to its characters is devoid of much energy or anything resembling the cinematic magic one imagines would inspire childhood devotion.
Posted Jun 26, 2022
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The Northman
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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"The Northman" is winningly engaging at every turn and is best when it becomes an unabashed technical marvel. If it lacks the unpredictable looseness of “The Lighthouse” (Eggers’ best film) it offers clarity of vision with propulsive energy throughout.
Posted Jun 26, 2022
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Brave
(2012)
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Andrew Kendall
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At ten, “Brave” is less flashy and way more modest than the other Pixar and Disney films it sits against. But it is that gentleness and wonderfully specific earnestness that distinguish it for the better.
Posted Jun 26, 2022
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Top Gun: Maverick
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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There’s a sharper movie trapped somewhere inside the thrill of the spectacle; one that actually engages with the supporting cast and one that explores how Maverick's unchanging nature may be something to critique and evaluate rather than blindly yield to.
Posted May 29, 2022
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Everything Everywhere All at Once
(2022)
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Andrew Kendall
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The Daniels fall into the trap of thinking that reacting to a thing is the same as engaging with it, or truly working to interpret it. And it is that sentiment that guides the emotions of the film which often feel too superficial to cohere.
Posted May 22, 2022
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