Tag Archives: 2018

Thunder Road (2018)

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Ross Birks

I was a big fan of the original short this is based on so I’m very happy to report that Jim Cummings lives up to the promise of those initial twelve minutes and then some. A perfectly pitched cringe comedy featuring some … Continue reading →

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Set It Up (2018)

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Ross Birks

A delightfully old-school rom-com amplified by its quartet of charming and attractive leads and knowing screenplay. The fact it feels so bright and sitcommy keeps reminding you this was made for Netflix and not a proper big screen, but the … Continue reading →

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Mandy (2018)

Posted on September 15, 2018 by Ross Birks

A psychotronic potion so committed to its own combination of high/low/trash/art aesthetics, it’s no wonder us carnivorous cinephiles eat this up like a hallucinogen-tinged three course dinner. Cosmatos’ loyalty to his own metronomic sense of drone pacing might turn a … Continue reading →

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Slice (2018)

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Ross Birks

Slice attempts to draw a high-concept universe that never really comes together. It feels indebted to EC comics as much as it does 80s horror-comedies like Ghostbusters which it cribs from freely. Weirdly though, it has a very cheap aesthetic with make-up effects … Continue reading →

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Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Ross Birks

Nowhere near as classy or as deliberately shot as the first Sicario, which had a visual elegance to offset any iffy screenplay quibbles. In fact, that very style led it to being at the top of my favourite movies of 2015. Day … Continue reading →

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Mosaic (2018)

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Ross Birks

For Soderbergh nuts like myself I suppose the main thrill of Mosaic (which I saw in its episodic version and not through the intended app) is seeing how he stages, blocks and edits scenes to fit the hectic shooting schedule. Yes it’s … Continue reading →

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Ready Player One (2018)

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Ross Birks

The Spielberg this most reminds me of is 1941. Like that film it’s absolutely choc-a-bloc with visual information and infinite content to the point where you just end up glazing over and unplugging from the action, barely engaging with it beyond … Continue reading →

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Mom and Dad (2018)

Posted on March 13, 2018 by Ross Birks

Being that this is directed by one half of the Neveldine/Taylor dynamic duo, it’s not surprising to find that Mom and Dadfeels like a Neveldine/Taylor sensory attack, just one that lands only half the damage. It’s fine though! The film’s primary … Continue reading →

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Mute (2018)

Posted on February 25, 2018 by Ross Birks

To echo a lot of the other criticisms (and in fact criticisms dating all the way back to early script reviews), Mute‘s neon-junk sci-fi setting never feels totally necessary to the plot or themes, but then again there’s no valid … Continue reading →

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Golden Exits (2018)

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Ross Birks

Another unmistakeable entry into the Alex Ross Perry canon aka “The Ongoing Dramas of Upper Class Assholes”. Perry mounts a mass ensemble but avoids an Altman-like sprawl by cleverly having them all pivot around Emily Browning’s Naomi. It’s a collage … Continue reading →

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