Inclined to Opine

Some films leave you with an overwhelming impression, often condensed into a single word. In this case, I am left with "strange"; what a strange, strange film this is. The story is seemingly small whilst containing unbearable emotions, and it reaches its conclusion twistedly, the culmination of a slow burn. It is 2h hours of almost continuous, unrelenting build-up, the tension palpable in my posture whilst watching. Having said that, I confess myself let down by the ending, which felt anti-climatic and quasi rushed, not proportional to the mounting feeling of dread that had preceded it. Not knowing the book, it's difficult to judge how successful an adaptation this is but I will say the storytelling was excellent. Not only was dialogue laden with subtext and layers of meaning, but all the characters' interactions rang true. Johnny Greenwood's score is spine-chilling and beautiful, underpinning the ever-present tension, and feels simultaneously appropriate for the ...

Dear Lin-Manuel Miranda. I have ranted against your poor composing skills, your excruciatingly bad acting, and your inability to sing, along with slamming your weak lyrics and the immense hubris of repeatedly casting yourself as the lead in your own musicals. And I stand by all I have said. But credit where credit is due: this film you have directed is brilliant. The directing is superb, showing a true understanding of how to tell a story through the musical medium whilst being innovative and original. Every single cast member delivered a rock-solid performance, telling me you know how to coax the best out of your actors and are savvy when picking final takes. Above all, your passion for musical theatre permeates every single scene and the film feels like a love letter to the art form. Bravo, thank you, and please keep directing as I feel you have finally found what you excel at. I had never heard of the musical tick, tick...BOOM! before the film and have yet to watch Rent so this was ...

Due to Covid and a succession of reschedules and cancellations, I’ve had two years for the hype for this show to grow. Add to that the fact that I loved the film, and expectations were at an all time high when I finally found myself in the theatre, an almost impossible standard for the play to live up to. But live up to it, it did. Life of Pi is a beautiful tale that questions the nature of faith and belief, that blurs the line between truth and imagination. We are left asking ourselves which version of the story we choose to believe, and whether that choice means that they can’t both be true simultaneously. I could argue that one is factually accurate whilst the other emotionally true but we’re here for a review, not a philosophical discussion! The production is absolutely astounding; rarely have I witnessed such a cinematic theatre experience. The stage was ingenious, effortlessly switching from zoo to hospital room to ship to market to lifeboat, more often than not without the actor...

A common criticism of certain types of film is that they are too clever for their own good. Adam McKay's previous work, Vice, received such comments and filmmakers like Chris Nolan hear it for most of their output. And I usually disagree, complimenting the audacity of the storytelling. But watching Don't Look Up, the phrase kept repeating itself in my head over and over, it just tries to be too clever. The premise is sound: take the disaster movie trope, parody it, offer social commentary and criticism of current politics, and get people thinking. But the first rule of a spoof is that it must be funny and this film fails to deliver. With the exception of Cate Blanchett's morning show presenter - who is spot-on and brilliant - all the characters are poor caricatures: exaggerated and unbelievable so that they don't ring true, but not pushed far enough to be humorous. The film also suffers from one of the aspects it's trying to make fun of, the huge star cast, making i...

Let’s start at the end this time, shall we? This is objectively not a good musical. Transitions between scenes and numbers are awkward, songs often feel forced, and the dialogue is not improved by being spoken before a live audience rather than immortalised through film. In an attempt to beef up the movie’s 100 minute run-time, extra scenes have been added along with a political perspective the original - an 80’s product through and through despite the supposed 1963 timestamp - blissfully ignores. Though this awareness of the topics of the time is welcome, the new moments feel very much tacked on whilst being little more than vignettes, no real depth shown. Along with this, the choice to keep the first half quite close to the source material culminating with the characters' first night together, meant that the second half had very little plot left to work with, causing severe pacing issues. The performers were all more than competent, two of the main singers (Samuel Bailey as Billy...

I must confess, this was a strange film viewing experience for me. When I first saw the trailer for the film, I had no interest in watching as it seemed low quality Oscar-bait and the basic premise angered me. Why anger, you ask? Because I saw it as taking one of the most astounding sports personalities ever, an athlete who has broken down barriers and set new records, a role model for females everywhere, and making her story all about a man. So it was with this mindset that I reluctantly sat down to watch the movie now that it has been nominated in several of the main categories. Not exactly an unbiased starting position... Unfortunately, the film did little to allay my fears and proved itself to be movie-making by recipe: make sure you have the right ingredients, mix them just so and voilà, the Oscars come sniffing! Will Smith is competent in his portrayal of Richard Williams but nothing more, his middle-of-the-road interpretation of the man leaving us wondering whether we're mea...