The Hate U Give (★★★★★) starts out as a culture-clash story. Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) lives in a poor, mostly black neighbourhood and attends a private high school with wealthy, mostly white kids. Narrated by Starr, she tells how she has two different versions of herself to deal with her twin lives. She explains that the […]
Can You Ever Forgive Me (★★★★★) Melissa McCarthy is brilliant as American author Lee Israel. Making her name in the 1970s and 1980s for writing biographies of famous people such as Katharine Hepburn and Estée Lauder, her books no longer sell. Unemployed, drinking whiskey for breakfast with her cat for company, she admits to liking […]
McQueen (★★★★★) Writer/director Peter Ettedgui doesn’t shy away from the dark side in his powerful documentary of fashion’s bad boy. With a childhood effected by abuse, Lee Alexander McQueen was famous for spectacular and controversial fashion shows such as ‘Highland Rape’ and ‘McQueen’s Theatre of Cruelty’. Always pushing boundaries, McQueen wanted people to feel emotion, […]
Tully (★ ★ ★ ★ ½) Eleven years after the unforgettable film Juno, director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody delve into the nightmare that is motherhood. Charlize Theron is Marlo, a mother of three which includes an awkward daughter, a son whose special needs are demanding and disruptive and a howling new-born. While husband Drew […]
A Quiet Place (★★★★★) is one of the scariest horror films ever made. When you see it, make sure you turn off your mobile phone, don’t take any popcorn or food that will make a noise and don’t talk. The opening scenes are in complete silence. Evelyn and Lee Abbot (real-life married couple Emily Blunt […]
Sometimes we see films that draw us in while viewing them, but then tarnish when thinking about them afterwards. Sometimes a film can be annoying and confusing but on contemplation reveals complex and interesting layers. Then sometimes we laugh all the way through a film, only to be grounded later on by the weight of […]
The ancient walking, talking tree (voiced by Liam Neeson) in A Monster Calls (★★★★★) might be a monster to some children, but Conor (Lewis MacDougall) is twelve and has to deal with some grown-up things in his life. Apart from having bullying classmates, his mother (Felicity Jones) is very ill. His father (Toby Kebbell) has […]
Our past lives within us. Our life experiences not only form our identities but inform us which identity is best to present to others. The shadows left by society’s construction and labelling of difference as deviance are still with us, and three films this month tell personal stories of those marginalised by what Michael Foucault […]
January sees some interesting animated feature films that are not just for kids. Adults as well as children can enjoy Sing (G), Moana (PG) and Ballerina (G) in air conditioned comfort. And even though there is a weighting towards female protagonists, these films are not just for girls. Characters in these three films are diverse […]
Looking for a reason to escape this never-ending summer heat? Lezly Herbert has got you covered with her reviews of the latest flicks at the cinema. Spear (M) Directed by Stephen Page Since 1991, Stephen Page, who also co-wrote the film, has been artistic director of the leading indigenous dance group – Sydney-based Bangarra […]
