Category Archives: Review in Brief
Review in Brief: Archive (2020/21)
Indie sci-fi ARCHIVE wears its genre influences on its sleeve – MOON, EX MACHINA, SILENT RUNNING an iconic sequence lifted wholesale from GHOST IN THE SHELL. An engineer (Theo James) develops a series of increasingly sophisticated robot bodies to house … Continue reading
Review in Brief: One Night in Miami… (2020)
In 1964, Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown met at a Miami hotel and spent the night in Malcom X’s room. That’s what we know happened – director Regina King and writer Kemp Powers imagine what was … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Pieces of a Woman (2020)
While some of its speeches might be a little too mannered and stagey (if still gamely performed by the cast) PIECES OF A WOMAN still comes out on the captivating side. How grief corrupts and deforms people is not sugarcoated … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Whatever went on behind the scenes, however the slow implosion of the DCEU effected its final, flawed form, I absolutely get what director Patty Jenkins was going for with WONDER WOMAN 1984. It’s a big, goofy and outlandish comics Silver … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Time (2020)
TIME is a must-see documentary about injustice and inequality in the US penal system, one that makes you wonder how much longer urgently-needed reforms can be avoided if films like this keep getting made and scores of victimised citizens’ stories keep … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Babyteeth (2019/20)
With a premise that could have either been maudlin or saccharine (teenager with cancer falls for a bad boy) BABYTEETH instead ends up being bittersweet, often joyous and lyrical. This is musical filmmaking without actually being a musical with its … Continue reading
Review in Brief: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Aaron Sorkin’s greatest strengths as a writer and a filmmaker are also his greatest weaknesses, but he’s probably the kind of idealistic voice the world needs right now. This is never truer than in watching THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Mangrove (2020)
MANGROVE, Steve McQueen’s furious opening salvo in his SMALL AXE film anthology is powerful, poignant and essential Black British storytelling. The film remembers the Mangrove Nine and their very public 55 day trial for supposedly inciting a riot by protesting … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Possessor (2020)
We’re all just meat puppets really, that’s the message here. POSSESSOR is as stylish and extreme and disturbing as expected from Brandon Cronenberg, son of David, but it’s very much its own thing as well. Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Scare Me (2020)
SCARE ME is an absolute joy, full of mischief and creativity and completely different to every other horror anthology film out there. A simple enough premise – an aspiring horror writer waits out a power cut in an isolated cabin … Continue reading
SSP Thinks Film 