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Film

  • FILM REVIEW: Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano’s The Extraordinary

    FILM REVIEW: Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano’s The Extraordinary

    I procrastinate. I am world-class at it. It has taken me nearly two hours to write these few words. I found a recent quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson “Do the thing and you will have the power”. I am trying to incorporate this idea into every fibre of my being, with mixed success, but life…

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  • Film Review: KNIVES OUT

    Film Review: KNIVES OUT

    “Maybe it all means something” ruminated Ransom Drysdale (Chris Evans) after contemplating the moments he shared with his grandfather before his death. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out whodunit is full of moments where you ask your self does that piece of information, does that camera shot, does that costume choice, does that mean something? It felt…

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  • Film Review: The Good Liar

    Film Review: The Good Liar

    I am, unfortunately, on Tinder and Bumble, so when The Good Liar  (dir. Bill Condon) started with the two main characters, Roy Courtney (Sir Ian McKellen) and Betty McLeish (Dame Helen Mirren), purposefully filling out their online profiles incorrectly, I thought maybe this film might be treading on some familiar territory for me; because I…

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  • Film Review: Ford vs Ferrari

    Film Review: Ford vs Ferrari

    Ford vs Ferrari (dir. James Mangold) tells the story of the epic battle between Ford and Ferrari for victory in the gruelling 24 hours Le Mans race in 1966. Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) is a genius designer and is tasked with the turning Ford, who is known for mass-producing boring cars, into an organisation that…

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  • Film Review: Bellbird

    Film Review: Bellbird

    The question of art and its validity has been debated for most of the human experience. To some, it seems indulgent when there are more pressing practical issues to face. Plato wrote in his book The Republic that there was no place in society for poets as they were essentially lying and lying is inherently…

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  • Film Review: Danger Close

    Film Review: Danger Close

    I went to university in the US and the scars of the Vietnam war still linger. The best class I went to was a Vietnam history class where a Vietnam Vet came and spoke. The greatest way I could explain the experience is that no one moved.  For an hour and a half, he spoke…

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  • Film Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

    Film Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

    My mother has always said that I am too romantic. Not in a cheesy Hollywood way of grand gestures of love, as any previous girlfriend can attest, but in an idealistic way of hoping that the world and the people in it would act in a way to be their best selves.  The Portrait of…

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  • Movie Review: Awkwafina stars in The Farewell

    Movie Review: Awkwafina stars in The Farewell

    It is easy to make the argument that The Farewell (dir. Lulu Wang) is the sister film to 2018’s super successful if somewhat saccharine Crazy Rich Asians. The obvious bridging element is Awkwafina, who was a scene-stealer in Crazy Rich Asians and the morose lead in The Farewell. I think it is an oversimplification to…

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  • Film Review: The Kitchen

    Film Review: The Kitchen

    In 1887, Lord Acton wrote the now-famous line “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Robert A. Caro, who has written and researched extensively around the dynamics of power doesn’t think that axiom still works. In his book Passage of Power, he wrote “I don’t believe its always true any more… What I…

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  • Film Review: Luc Besson’s ANNA

    Film Review: Luc Besson’s ANNA

    Full disclosure, I did the motion capture for Valerian in the film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets by Luc Besson. It was fun to work with him, he’s super French. I am a big fan of Léon: The Professional and The Fifth Element so I was really looking forward to seeing his…

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