Review: Troop Zero (2020) – A Little Determination

Viola Davis, McKenna Grace and Milan Ray in Troop Zero There is an unwavering optimism in directing duo Bert & Bertie's Troop Zero. This 70s set dream of a picture is an inclusive, kind and magical film that constantly surprises, not only due to some impressive child actors but thanks to a script that manages …

Review: The Lovebirds (2020) – Relationships Can Be Funny

Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani in The Lovebirds The Lovebirds was originally headed straight into cinemas, a big brash comedy for the big screen. However recent times have sent it direct into home-viewing via Netflix. That might be why it in some ways feels bolder than their usual comedy efforts, a film that finds cringe …

Review: The Half Of It (2020) – Small Town Identity

2020, at least when it comes to high school, coming of age dramas seems to be the year of identity and loneliness. First there was Disney's Stargirl, a drama about the difficulties in knowing yourself at such a young age and the courage that it takes just to be you. Director Alice Wu, in her …

Review: Lost Girls (2020) – Clear, Cold & Clinical

Liz Garbus' Lost Girls is a dramatization of a real New York crime and the shockingly blundered investigation that it brought about. Garbus' past filmography has been solely devoted to documentary filmmaking and this Amy Ryan starring film plays at times in a clinical fashion, a retelling of facts for a captive audience, it manages …

Review: Extraction (2020) – One Big Trick

Extraction is perfect for the Netflix brand, a high action 'blockbuster' that has the appearance of something risque. A film with intense violence, an ambitious filming style and a team directly linked to Avengers: Endgame, a film that instantly adds an invested audience. Starring Chris Hemsworth and embracing a foreign locale, it seems to have …

Review: Love Wedding Repeat (2020) -Play It Safe

Strangely enough, when thinking about how to start talking about Dean Craig's Love Wedding Repeat I kept coming back to The Sunset Limited. A 2011 HBO movie directed by Tommy Lee Jones, it takes place in one room with two men pontificating on everything from religion to morality as one man tries to save the …

Review: Blow The Man Down (2020) – Compromise or Compromised?

Writing and directing duo Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy's low budget indie Blow the Man Down might be an incongruous blend of Coen brothers humour and Tarantino-esque spite but deep within the rotten core that makes up this black comedy crime caper is an utterly relatable question. Do we do bad things for the …

Review: In the Line of Duty (2020) – Protect and Stream

The Aaron Eckhart starring In the Line of Duty begins, innocently enough with a montage of a man in control, one who for all intents and purposes seems a tad anal, the kind of person you'd hate to know because they always think they are right. Over the course of the film however this persona …

Review: Stargirl (2020) – Why So Cynical?

Stargirl, based off the best selling book by author Jerry Spinelli, starts by welcoming you to its world by admitting its flaws. Bleak skies with grey tinted clouds and empty streets accompany an opening monologue that plays to the notion of conforming, of hiding away from not only people but the creativity that socialising often …

Opinion: Cinemas v View on Demand – A History

  In the last few days a brewing conflict over how audiences consume content has boiled over thanks to some questionable language used by Universal CEO Jeff Shell when explaining the viability of PVOD (Premium View on Demand) after the success of the entirely online release of Trolls: World Tour. While these comments, which I …