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Category Archives: Review in Brief
Review in Brief: The Sea Beast
If you had to deliver THE SEA BEAST as an elevator pitch, it would be PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN meets HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, though this beautiful animation on Netflix is easily as fun as the former and as … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Animation, Chris Williams, Family Film, Jared Harris, Karl Urban, Netflix, The Sea Beast, Zaris-Angel Hator
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Review in Brief: Red Rocket (2021)
Following TANGERINE and THE FLORIDA PROJECT, Sean Baker has delivered another sun-kissed tragicomic deconstruction of the American Dream focussed on another marginalised community. Moving from shining the spotlight on the experiences of trans sex workers to hotel homeless in his … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Comedy, Drama, Red Rocket, Sean Baker, Simon Rex, Suzanna Son
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Review in Brief: RRR (2022)
SS Rajamouli’s RRR will get a reaction from you, that’s for sure. Never mind the latest from Marvel, DC or Tom Cruise, this is the big film with the most awesome imagery of 2022 and it’s not even close. Said … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Action, Blockbuster, Bollywood, NT Rama Rao Jr, Ram Charam, RRR, SS Rajamouli, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: X (2022)
You think X is just going to be another in a long line of TEXAS CHAINSAW riffs, and while it certainly wears that influence proudly it undoubtedly treads its own ground as well. Rural Texas, 1979 and a group of … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Horror, Jenna Ortega, Mia Goth, Pearl, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ti West, X
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Review in Brief: Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
The cinema of kindness is always the most affecting for me, and Cooper Raiff’s Cha Cha Real Smooth is a doozy in that regard. Films that cause tears to start flowing but not in a calculated and cynical way, instead … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Cha Cha Real Smooth, Comedy, Cooper Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Drama
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Review in Brief: Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)
DOMINION is in the awkward position of being both a little too complicated for kids and a little too stupid for adults. You get your dinosaur action (involving both old and new prehistoric beasties) in spades and the original trio … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Who’d have guessed a legacy sequel to TOP GUN would be this damn good? MAVERICK sees, well, Maverick (Tom Cruise) reluctantly return to the Top Gun flight school to train the next generation of superior naval aviators, including the son … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Action, Joseph Kosinski, Miles Teller, Thriller, Tom Cruise, Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick, Val Kilmer
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Review in Brief: The Sadness (2021)
Remember the first time you saw THE RAID? Remember that feeling of being completely floored by the sheer artistry of its ultraviolence? Well, Taiwanese horror THE SADNESS conjures up that same feeling, but with even more extreme imagery and through … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Berant Zhu, Horror, Regina Lei, Rob Jabbaz, The Sadness, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Flee (2021)
FLEE, an animated memoir/documentary telling of Afghan migrant Amin’s remarkable journey, is some powerful stuff. I’ve heard some people find the animation somehow alienating, that it lessons Amin’s story but I just don’t agree. The style of the animation, almost … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Animation, Documentary, Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Oscars, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: The House (2022)
THE HOUSE is an unexpected, twisted delight and is unlikely to be unseated as the most striking animated feature of 2022 until ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE arrives towards the end of the year. This is an anthology of stories revolving around … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review, Review in Brief
Tagged Animation, Emma De Swaef, Jarvis Cocker, Marc James Roels, Mia Goth, Netflix, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Paloma Baeza, The House
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