Movie Reviews

Avatar: The Way of Water

79/100
As a visual spectacle, it's top notch. It's been a while since I put on the 3D glasses, so that was fun, but I'm not sure I'll ever want to sit through it again.
Reviewed on January 12, 2023

The Fabelmans

79/100
I can't remember a movie ever trying so desperately to win Best Picture. It'll probably work, and good luck to it, but it doesn't make it that enjoyable to watch or want to watch again.
Reviewed on January 9, 2023

Cha Cha Real Smooth

84/100
The type of little romantic dramedy that doesn't get made enough these days. Cooper Raiff is writing, directing and starring in these little indie gems and can't be far away from a breakthrough hit.
Reviewed on December 31, 2022

The Banshees of Inisherin

88/100
I doubt I'll ever love it as much as In Bruges, but it's pretty feckin' good. It might have been the free glass of Guinness Palace Nova gave me, but it made me miss spending all my time at The Tonsley.
Reviewed on December 4, 2022

The Barbarian

79/100
The first act was by far the strongest, but it gradually turned a bit too ridiculous. Made me wish they had've just made the smart little indie rom-com it started out as, rather than having to make it schlocky.
Reviewed on October 25, 2022

DC League of Super-Pets

75/100
I saw it with some kids that liked it more than me, which I thought was the point, but things like bleeped out swear words made me question that. It did almost get a tear out of me with the Ace backstory though.
Reviewed on October 25, 2022

Top Gun: Maverick

80/100
It's caught between trying to be a sequel or a remake, so it's more of a requel. The parts on land are a bit too corny and obvious, but the air parts are still great and manage to save it.
Reviewed on May 26, 2022

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

81/100
Much like Nick Cage's career, it starts out well worth watching but starts to get a bit ridiculous. I loved how in on the joke he was though and I'm really hoping this Nick Cage renaissance continues.
Reviewed on April 27, 2022

The Northman

59/100
Nah, that was too much of a struggle to get through. Some of the action was passable, but that style of dialogue is not for me.
Reviewed on April 27, 2022

X

73/100
It's probably my fault. I get so invested in the pre-horror set-up that I get disappointed when the horror part kicks in.
Reviewed on April 20, 2022

Everything Everywhere All At Once

86/100
Tough to get a movie made these days, so if you want to make a family drama, it also has to be an action blockbuster about multiverses. It's done brilliantly here, maybe too ambitious. Hopefully it doesn't encourage all movies to try it.
Reviewed on April 20, 2022

The Batman

62/100
You'd be better off setting up two tvs next to each other, one with Batman Returns and the other with Se7en, as it'd save you 50 minutes. What annoyed me the most was in a movie soooo long, the time between the riddle and the solution was always way too short.
Reviewed on March 11, 2022

Flee

80/100
The animation helps soften hearing all the hardships he had to go through. Great choice, as otherwise it'd be very bleak. It went very close to getting a tears bonus.
Reviewed on March 8, 2022

Drive My Car

81/100
Would it have killed them to show a bit more emotion? Great movie, but I found it's stoicism frustrating at times.
Reviewed on March 8, 2022

Belfast

75/100
The movie is fine, and maybe it's just because he reminded me of Max, but I felt like they could've focused on the kids a bit more than the adults.
Reviewed on February 11, 2022

Jackass Forever

80/100
Often hilarious, sometimes scary, but always making me feel like it's possible to never grow up if you don't want to.
Reviewed on February 11, 2022

West Side Story

40/100
Why bother remaking it like that? You could make an updated version or something more like real life. Anything. How this piece of shit is paying $3 to win best picture is beyond me.
Reviewed on February 2, 2022

King Richard

88/100
Genius storytelling. Best tennis movie ever, easily surpassing the McEnroe bits of Borg vs McEnroe and even beats the tennis scene in Bachelor Party.
Reviewed on January 30, 2022

Licorice Pizza

72/100
Ripped off Almost Famous in weird ways, including melding the William and Lester Bangs characters into one. Felt like a 6 episode series, but someone couldn't be bothered putting in opening/closing titles on each so they just left it as a movie.
Reviewed on January 19, 2022

The Rescue

85/100
Great doco from the makers of Free Solo. Reminds me a bit of Touching the Void. So good I can't be bothered watching Thirteen Lives.
Reviewed on January 15, 2022

Red Rocket

80/100
What Cobra Kai would be like if it was based on Boogie Nights instead. I liked it, but the character arc was too much of a sine wave, when I was really hoping for tangent.
Reviewed on January 12, 2022

The Alpinist

84/100
Mountain Climbing doco's are fast becoming my favourite genre. It's almost like a sequel to Free Solo, which I'd definitely recommend you watch first.
Reviewed on December 31, 2021

Spider-Man : No Way Home

76/100
Fantastic idea and has some really cool moments, but it's like a greatest hits album. Nice to have all the songs in one spot, but you've heard all the good ones and you can't fast forward the boring ones.
Reviewed on December 23, 2021

The French Dispatch

70/100
Bottle Rocket is one of my favourite movies ever, but I feel like every Wes Anderson movie that comes out I'm less in on the joke. I'm way out at the moment.
Reviewed on December 14, 2021

The Worst Person in the World

82/100
Like binge watching a Norwegian season of Love Life with shorter episodes. More little laughs than tears, but I think I would've preferred a full length tv show version to flesh it out more.
Reviewed on December 14, 2021

The Many Saints of Newark

70/100
Too loosely connected to consider it a prequel. It's more of a so-so standalone movie that's sprinkled with impressions of characters from the Sopranos. Bonus points for giving me a reason to rewatch the show, but it doesn't add anything to it.
Reviewed on November 7, 2021

Nitram

73/100
I thought Snowtown was great, but it was very hard to recommend or want to watch again. This is pretty similar, but not as good. I would've liked to hear more Mess Hall style music than Mikado.
Reviewed on October 2, 2021

Riders of Justice

84/100
It's got Mads Mikkelsen in it, so of course I'm gonna think it's great. Kinda like Taken with an often Fargo-ish sense of humour.
Reviewed on October 2, 2021

The Killing of Two Lovers

81/100
It's got a low-key sense of dread that creates maximum tension. Sort of like an episode of Rectify crossed with Blue Ruin.
Reviewed on September 21, 2021

Nine Days

89/100
Simply brilliant. Fans of slow-burning, philosophical movies like Ex Machina should definitely check it out. Works like the opposite of Inside Out. They shoulda called it Outside In!
Reviewed on September 7, 2021