A screen drenched in pastel colours, oddly symmetrical compositions that recall childhood dioramas, zany off-kilter characters and obtuse dialogue, yes, it’s time for another Wes Anderson film. Some adore the droll humour, the oblique storylines, the monotone voices and the blank faces staring at the camera that typify his movies. Others, like myself, admire his visual artistry and maverick spirit
Read moreAfter a mere 13 years comes the first of apparently many sequels to James Cameron’s Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time. I had mixed feelings about the 2009 original which depicted the giant blue alien Na’vi people’s battle to preserve their home world of Pandora from greedy, destructive earth forces. While its central science fiction concept of people’s
Read moreWhile it’s filled with vivid, inventive images and while it touches on important themes such as family conflict, same sex relationships and environmental preservation, the Disney animated fantasy, Strange World isn’t as engaging as it might have been. It seems as if the filmmakers weren’t sure if they wanted to create an old school sci fi adventure like Journey To
Read moreGonzo sci fi comedy/drama Something in the Dirt sits at the low-budget, DIY end of the movie making spectrum. This is both a blessing and a curse as the film has a raw, freewheeling energy but also feels unfocused and leaves us with the gnawing sense that the opportunity for a much more interesting film has been missed. This is,
Read moreWriter/director Jordan Peele’s intriguingly off-kilter, socially conscious, genre-splicing horror films, Get Out and Us have been some of Hollywood’s more interesting offerings of recent years. They weren’t for everyone, though, as the plots of those films, especially Us, were a little murky and at times made us feel we were watching a jumble of ideas rather than a coherent story.
Read moreWith a guaranteed worldwide audience but also an amazingly finicky, near-fundamentalist fan base, helming a Star Wars film must be a very tantalising and yet daunting prospect for any director. After directing the mostly loved The Force Awakens, JJ Abrams takes back the reins from Rian Johnson who gave us the intriguingly off-beat but ultimately silly, The Last Jedi. With
Read more