Unless you’ve been living in a coffin for the past hundred years, pretty much everyone alive knows the legend of Count Dracula, as told by Bram Stoker. For decades, vampire lore has been spun into televisions shows and countless movies, often remaking the exact same scenario over and over again. Enter: Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula […]
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A popular singer anxiously waits for her medical test results in this charming yet reflective drama that remains one of Varda’s best-known works from the French New Wave era.
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I often wonder whether Franz Kafka realised that his writing would have such an enormous impact on global culture – not only have his works been formative in the creation of entire literary movements, the very mention of his name evokes particular images and ideas, such as the frustrations of navigating the bureaucracy, endless hallways […]
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Greetings again from the darkness. There may have been a movie that surprised me more than this one during 2024, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of one. My expectations were low for a film based on the true story of a British boy band pop star whose music I wasn’t […]
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One of the main problems when it comes to remaking huge, unsubtle sci-fi action movies from the 80s and 90s is that they tend to lose the bolshy personality and razor wit that made them so distinctive in the first place. Take both Robocop and Total Recall for example: two undisputed bangers from Paul Verhoven […]
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Writer/Director: David O. Russell Co-writer: Eric Warren Singer Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper ‘Powerful Period Piece’ In an awards season filled with movies about serious subjects, intense edge-of-the-seat thrillers and dark comedies, “American Hustle” stands out like a bright lightbulb. Yet neither because of the stylish time-period that it aims to capture […]
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Jennifer Lawrence already had a billion-dollar franchise, an Academy Award, and worldwide acclaim to her name before turning 30. Now fully transitioned into adult roles, Lynne Ramsey’s singular and challenging Die My Love might be the defining performance of Lawrence’s career.
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Jennifer Lawrence is a force of nature in #DieMyLove, a tumultuous tale of postpartum depression. The portrayal is effective, albeit frustrating (rightfully so). But I wish there was more of a script & a story to hold it all together. Particularly as things start to fall apart.
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By John Dyke The New Wave’s Rebellion Mindset François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows isn’t just a story about a boy who keeps getting into trouble; it’s a film that feels like rebellion. Shot in 1959 at the height of the French New Wave, it broke almost every rule of traditional filmmaking. Instead of traditional sets […]
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Nuremberg was a historical drama film featuring the trial of the Nazis at Nuremberg. After the end of World War II, the US government, along with France, USSR and Great Britain, placed the remaining Nazi leaders on trial. This was based on the 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai. The basis of the movie […]
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Quirky imprint A24 released this Peter Strickland opus in the U.S, now screening (Nov 2025) on the BBC iplayer; for fans of his previous ventures post 2009’s Katalin Varga, like Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke of Burgundy, it proved an enticing prospect. While Ben Wheatley’s output has been variable (Rebecca, In The Earth, Free […]
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Colin Farrell brings every bit of his charisma and charm to his latest film, “Ballad of a Small Player”, a perplexing psychological drama that has so much going for it starting with it’s fully committed star. It’s directed by Edward Berger who is coming off of back-to-back Best Picture Oscar nominations for “All Quiet on […]
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The mind of Guillermo del Toro finds creative connections in a powerhouse effort which includes wonders of cinematic imagination unlike any other. From the worlds of Pan’s Labyrinth, The Orphanage, and Pinocchio, he creates new meaning with Frankenstein, one where an emergence of lights evolves, but the political aspects regarding humanistic value fall in the middle. To provide context, this is not your common Halloween-type Frankenstein film. This one has a storyline with emphasis which gives the monster meaning.
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