Ever since Twilight (2008) made it desirable for teenagers to be in complicated relationships, the teen-films that have followed continue to up the dramatic relationship ante.
Shazam! has an exclamation mark in its title for a reason – it’s fun, full of energy and a barrel of laughs.
The attention of cat lovers has been captured twice this month in films that draw-out the docile and wild nature of the beast.
Before the start of horror-genre film Us, a studio opening credit containing a hypnotic teacup animation that references Jordan Peele’s debut film Get Out (2017) is seen. This referral to previous work recognises Peele’s ability to deliver on iconography and is a testament to the driving power of Peele’s brand, which despite having only directed one film in his career has already garnered him accolades and recognition as an auteur horror director.
With the vaguest of childhood memories, I walked into the live-action remake of Dumbo prepared for a tale about an odd little elephant in a sad situation. I had forgotten just how sad the story of Dumbo the flying elephant really is and Tim Burton’s CGI baby elephant pulls hard on the heartstrings.
I grew up in the golden era of sick-lit films. Ansel Elgort with his constant un-smoked cigarette as a metaphor in The Fault in Our Stars (2014)? The conceived-as-a-bone-marrow-donor-for-her-terminally-ill-sister Anna and the subsequent tragic outcome in My Sister’s Keeper (2009)? Give me, give me, give me.
Karyn Kusama’s film Destroyer highlights an ongoing trend of Australian actors working in Hollywood that are unable to disguise their accents (see 2018’s Mary Queen of Scots and anything Sam Worthington).
Suppose you had the option in a game of Scrabble to play the word SACCHARINE or ANARCHIC. Saccharine, meaning excessively sweet and sentimental, and anarchic, much to do with lacking control over circumstances, are both worth more than 15 points but also summarise the range of emotions experienced by Bill Nighy and company in the 2019 British drama-comedy, Sometimes Always Never.
Captain Marvel doesn’t break any new ground in the superhero genre, however, it’s one hell of an enjoyable ride.
Everybody Knows further proves why Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is the master of family-centred, tension-filled dramas, even if it’s his most Hollywood-ized work yet.
From recent releases such as The Rider (2017) and Thoroughbreds (2018), and even as far back as The Godfather (1972), there is an obsession in filmmaking to have horses die to serve metaphoric purposes.
Oscar-winning director Neil Jordan’s latest, Greta, is a genre-piece that offers up some silly thrills that for the most part, work for entertainment’s sake.
