Category: Film
My collected writing on one of my greatest passions: film. I was a film critic in my undergraduate days (trivia: that’s how I met my wife!) but I now take a more philosophical approach to thinking and writing about films I see.
-
The Souvenir
Hogg | 2019 | UK, USA Second viewing. I wrote this last time and frankly, nothing has changed: Exceptionally lovely, despite treading dark and painful water. Honor Swinton Byrne navigates the highs and lows deftly, guiding us toward a magical moment in the penultimate shot that I dare not spoil for fear of undercutting its power.
-
Back to the Future
Zemeckis | 1985 | USA Umpteenth viewing. Still my favourite movie of all time; it captured my imagination when I was a kid and never let me go. The final two lines even provided the introduction to my PhD thesis. Fox and Lloyd are inimitably iconic in their roles; the music is perfect and timeless […]
-
Blue Velvet
Lynch | 1986 | USA Singularly oneiric, as is all of his work. I am drawn to cinema in part because it indulges my inner voyeur, and this film knows that we all have that same perversion. After having discovered him hiding in her closet the night before, Dorothy tells Jeffrey that she looked for […]
-
Happy Death Day
Landon | 2017 | USA Second viewing. I was well overdue to revisit this one, being the underrated and under-appreciated gem it is. Jessica Rothe understands the assignment — I’m not exaggerating when I say her performance is one of my favourites in recent memory. Elsewhere, craft shines through to remind you that movies are […]
-
Borderline
Warden | 2025 | Canada, USA Nicely proves the point that horror comedy requires a deft and precise blend of elements to work by, well, not striking that balance. Still, Samara Weaving turned up for work and managed to be funny by being openly annoyed by the proceedings.
-
Wild at Heart
Lynch | 1990 | USA I loved everything about this, except that it ended. Here we have Lynch’s love for The Wizard of Oz rendered textually, and to touching effect. One cannot help but think of Raising Arizona, but why wouldn’t one want to think of Raising Arizona? Casts a spell and you smile as […]
-
Anora
Baker | 2024 | USA | 35mm Third watch – one final spin in cinemas. Rare is the film that I adore at first blush but which gets better with each repeated watch. A remarkable achievement built on nuance and detail. I will revisit it frequently for the rest of my life.
-
Companion
Hancock | 2025 | USA Sophie Thatcher is a tremendous physical actor. To modify an old Kevin Smith joke: I would watch her play the shark in Jaws. The rest of the movie isn’t so good BUT it comes very close to examining the uselessness of demarcating where memories start and stop being “real”, and it’s […]
-
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Gudegast | 2025 | USA Once I got past my fury over this not being called ‘2 Den 2 Thieves’, I could just sit back and enjoy Gerry Butler (who I unironically love). Movies of this ilk are car commercials pretending to tell a story. Don’t ask me to explain further.
-
The Brutalist
Corbet | 2024 | UK, USA | 70mm I had the great pleasure of seeing the only 70mm print in Australia. We are constantly handcuffed to our expectations, and it’s an aspect of humanity I find ceaselessly compelling. I try to be above it but therein are expectations nonetheless. And so I feel alive. This movie […]