Author Archives: Sam S-P
Review: Midsommar (2019)
MIDSOMMAR is a trip, and no mistake. Two features in and Ari Aster is already an aesthetically and thematically distinctive auteur, but is still capable of shocking us all. In an effort to overcome her grief after a family tragedy, … Continue reading
Review in Brief: The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
I didn’t entirely get the shower of praise that greeted Joe Cornish’s directorial debut, tower block invasion ATTACK THE BLOCK, but he’s clearly a distinct talent. It’s surprising how little of Arthurian legend he needed to change to make this … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Last Breath (2019)
There’s some really good non-fiction on Netflix. I had to watch LAST BREATH in three sittings to avoid bringing on an anxiety attack, it’s that intense. As told by the survivors, this documentary with reconstructed elements follows a 2012 deep … Continue reading
Review: Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
I always feel a bit sorry for the Marvel movies that directly follow an AVENGERS because of the expectation that they’ll be the same scale. They never can or will be, so they have to be different. Unlike last time … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Vice (2018)
Reminder: a compelling protagonist doesn’t have to likeable, or good, they just have to be interesting. Dick Chaney was, and remains, an evil bastard, but he and his rise to power behind the throne is fascinating nonetheless. Adam McKay approaches … Continue reading
60s Review: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
When author Terry Pratchett wrote about his time working as a publicist for a nuclear plant, he described how he came to realise that there’s no funnier phrase than “two completely independent failsafe systems”. The extent to which everything goes … Continue reading
Chernobyl: Audience Adulation vs Critical Consenus
According to the IMDb, HBO/Sky’s miniseries CHERNOBYL is now the most critically acclaimed TV show of all time. It’s in all the trailers now: “9.6/10”. This does not matter. I’m not one of those “who cares what the critics think?” … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Green Book (2018)
I can’t say GREEN BOOK is a bad film, it’s too competent. But it’s a very ordinary Best Picture winner. To its credit, the realities of being a touring black musician of any calibre during this period are not ignored. … Continue reading
Review: Toy Story 4 (2019)
How many really good fourth movies are there? After STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME and, depending on your 80s tolerance, ROCKY IV, I’m drawing a blank. TOY STORY 4 did not need to be a thing, and yet it … Continue reading
SSP Thinks Film 