Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood Starring: Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, John Boyega Running Time: 135 minutes Learning that the Dora Milaje in Marvel’s Black Panther were inspired by real women warriors, the Agojie of the West African kingdom of Dahomey, was one motivation for director Gina Prince-Bythewood to work on The Woman King.…
Director: Olivia Wilde Starring: Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, Olivia Wilde, Kiki Layne Time: 121 minutes It’s such a head f*ck trying to evaluate art with a female protagonist, starring one of our most talented young stars, and to now have that performance completely overshadowed and undermined by the media circus surrounding…
Director: Tom George Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Sam Rockwell, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, David Oyewolo, Charlie Cooper, Harris Dickinson Running Time: 98 minutes The Mousetrap is an institution of the West End, an Agatha Christie murder mystery play that ran in London non-stop from the 1950s until a Covid-enforced pause. Murder mysteries can prompt curious contradictions…
Director: Michael Flatley Starring: Michael Flatley, Ian Beattie, Eric Roberts, Nicole Evans Riverdancing time: 90 minutes It was over four years ago now that word first went around about Blackbird, the spy thriller written by, directed by and starring Michael Flatley. Though he had no prior experience in filmmaking before this first feature, the Riverdance…
Nope encourages audiences to question the dynamics behind spectacle.
Director: David Leitch Starring: Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Andrew Koji Running Time: 126 minutes We must stop wacky neon action movies until we can figure out what’s going on. John Wick may have hundreds of broken and brutalised bodies left in his wake, but the greatest crime he and his…
In fact as in fiction, when bad things happen to women, unfortunately many reactions disproportionately focus on the actions or choices made by the victim. Alex Garland’s Men refreshingly and definitively pushes that focus back onto the perpetrators and enablers of violence and intimidation.
Director: Joe Kosinski Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connolly, Glen Powell Running Time: 121 minutes The original Top Gun is the kind of capital-A Action Movie that ruled the 80s and early 90s, a kind of visual hair metal and a perfect fit both for its director Tony Scott and for star…
Director: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quen, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Hong Running Time: 139 minutes Who knows what possibilities the multiverse holds? Expand the imagination beyond fan-casting cameos for a moment, and consider the many paths not taken, the decisions that you’ve agonised over, the hindsight that…
Director: Colm Bairéad Starring: Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett Running Time: 95 minutes In an Irish film industry that is marching ever further forwards it can be easy to scoff at stories that look back to the past. Our touchy subject tetchiness to the ‘diddly idle’ at times causes a wariness in exploring our…
