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Official Secrets (2019) Review
Official Secrets (2019) Director: Gavin Hood Screenwriters: Gregory Bernstein, Sara Bernstein, Gavin Hood Starring: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans, Ralph Fiennes, Katherine Kelly, Indira Varma, MyAnna Buring, Tamsin Greig, Shaun Dooley Keira Knightley is the lead of a star-studded British cast for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Eye in the Sky director Gavin Hood’s retrospective reevaluation of…
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Gemini Man (2019) Review
Gemini Man (2019) Director: Ang Lee Screenwriter: David Benioff, Billy Ray, Darren Lemke Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong October is an unusual month to release an action movie, but 2018’s Venom showed that there’s money to be made. Paramount’s Gemini Man was released alongside the animated rendition of The Addams…
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Honey Boy (2019) Review
Honey Boy (2019) Director: Alma Har’el Screenwriter: Shia LaBeouf Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, FKA Twigs To Honey Boy, with love. On paper Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy might not have worked. The semi-autobiographical film, written by and starring Shia LaBeouf, and chronicling his childhood and ten week court ordered rehab stint, could easily have…
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The Irishman (2019) Review
The Irishman (2019) Director: Martin Scorsese Screenwriter: Steven Zaillian Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Stephen Graham, Anna Paquin, Ray Romano, Jesse Plemons, Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Jack Huston A thrilling, nostalgic and self-retrospective gangster movie from a directorial master of the form, The Irishman, based on the novel “I Heard You Paint Houses”…
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Portrait of A Lady on Fire (2019) Review
Portrait of A Lady on Fire (2019) Director: Céline Sciamma Screenwriter: Céline Sciamma Starring: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami “I’m saying that there’ll be good things too.” “You’re saying that every now and then I’ll be consoled.” Celine Sciamma has reconvened with the medium of cinema to offer another masterpiece, her Queer Palm winner and Palme…
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Joker (2019) Review
Joker (2019) Director: Todd Phillips Screenwriter: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Marc Maron “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?” After all the fan fare, the genre-crushing award wins,…
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The Last Tree (2019) Review
The Last Tree (2019) Director: Shola Amoo Screenwriter: Shola Amoo Starring: Sam Adewunmi, Denise Black, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Nicholas Pinnock Shola Amoo, who received a warm critical reception for his feature debut A Moving Image (2016), returns to the big screen with another socially conscious and particularly british piece, this time examining the underprivileged youth of the…
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The Farewell (2019) Review
The Farewell (2019) Director: Lulu Wang Screenwriter: Lulu Wang Starring: Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma, Lu Hong At first glance, The Farewell looks like typical indie-family-dramedy fare; we’re presented with an oddball creative protagonist who has a complicated relationship with her family, and thus a comedy of awkwardness and an unconventional examination of…
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Ad Astra (2019) Review
Ad Astra (2019) Director: James Gray Screenwriters: James Gray, Ethan Gross Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland In the darkness of space and with the contrast of its blackness against the bright colours of Earth in Sunlight, an experienced space engineer who holds rapport with his co-workers steps out onto what…
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1st Summoning (2019) Review
1st Summoning (2019) Director: Raymond Wood Screenwriter: Chris Piner Starring: Hayley Lovitt, Jason MacDonald, Teddy Cole, Brook Todd, Ace Harney Warning: This review spoils a bad movie so you don’t have to watch it. Horror is a relatively easy genre to break into. Since the success of films like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and…