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4/5
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How to Blow Up a Pipeline
(2022)
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David Hughes
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A film that isn’t quite the call to action it might have been. Still, its message resonates – and its bomb-setting scenes are as nail-biting as cinema’s best bomb disposals.
Posted Mar 20, 2023
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4/5
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I'M FINE (Thanks for Asking)
(2021)
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Emma Steen
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This is a refreshingly realistic story about resilience, familial love and adversity.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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4/5
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Subject
(2022)
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Ian Freer
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The film is at its best exploring the knotty issues that infuse documentary practices.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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3/5
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Champions
(2023)
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Philip De Semlyen
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A cheering watch.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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3/5
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Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
(2019)
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Sahir Avik D'souza
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[This] coming-of-age story is sweet and warm, if a bit predictable.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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3/5
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Creed III
(2023)
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Kambole Campbell
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Creed III is much more sure-footed in presenting a fascinating emotional struggle for its title character as well as a physical one, even if it ends up diminishing its most subversive plot threads.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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2/5
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Scream VI
(2023)
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Philip De Semlyen
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Even in those well-executed gnarlier moments and winky character beats, Scream VI feels a lot more dated than the genre it’s deconstructing.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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4/5
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Meet Me in the Bathroom
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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Beyond the music, Meet Me in the Bathroom makes a compelling study of the whole idea of a scene.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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|
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Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
(1992)
|
Time Out Staff
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Visually remarkable, but with a gallon of Sherman syrup poured over it.
Posted Mar 07, 2023
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5/5
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Crossroads
(1976)
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Keith Uhlich
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A 36-minute masterpiece.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
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3/5
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Disco and Atomic War
(2009)
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Keith Uhlich
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The fancifulness of this whimsical documentary wears out its welcome, and you often wish the film would treat its subject with a bit more seriousness.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
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3/5
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Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
(2009)
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Keith Uhlich
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Chazelle doesn’t succumb to easy sentiment. If anything, he moves too far in the other direction, aiming for a wizened ambiguity that doesn’t entirely come off.
Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Femme
(2023)
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Stephen A. Russell
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Murky morality abounds in the exhilarating Femme. It’s a credit to the filmmakers that this cat-and-mouse game takes such intriguing turns.
Posted Feb 22, 2023
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Passages
(2023)
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Stephen A. Russell
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It's sexy, sad and so very French
Posted Feb 21, 2023
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2/5
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
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Olly Richards
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Marvel’s mini-hero is back in a movie that’s all scale, no fun.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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4/5
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Blue Jean
(2022)
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Hanna Flint
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Blue Jean is a non-judgmental tale of self-acceptance, intergenerational solidarity and sapphic power.
Posted Feb 13, 2023
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4/5
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Infinity Pool
(2023)
|
Ed Gibbs
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It’s one hell of a twisted ride with a troupe of truly awful characters as our guide. It’s damn-near unmissable and, from a safe distance, addictive as all hell.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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4/5
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Joyland
(2022)
|
Kaleem Aftab
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Joyland’s quiet power comes not through melodrama, which Sadiq scrupulously avoids, but its deep affection for its characters. It’s a modern tale of changing gender roles and the patriarchal crisis that could just as easily have taken place in New York.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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3/5
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Plane
(2023)
|
Olly Richards
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This is just the kind of tosh you want it to be. Brisk, easy, brutish. It has explosions, punch-ups, shoot-outs and more than one bit where someone gets smacked in the face with a big hammer. How much more could you reasonably ask? It’s a blast.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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3/5
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Alice, Darling
(2022)
|
Anna Smith
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It’s a believable portrayal of the impact of gaslighting and brainwashing: Alice’s conviction that she’s at fault will resonate with many audiences.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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5/5
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EO
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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Polish arthouse veteran Jerzy Skolimowski, who has scratched out such dark depictions of the human soul as 1970’s psychosexual shocker Deep End, hasn’t lost his edge down the years. He directs with endless compassion but zero sentimentality.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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4/5
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All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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It’s full of fly-on-the-wall reportage of Goldin’s campaign to take down the corrupt, venal Sacklers. They are hateful people and you’re invited to share her righteous fury.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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4/5
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Enys Men
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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Are its cultish mysteries for everyone? Undoubtedly not. But if there’s a place in your heart for dark, folky mind-benders that plug into the cosmic energy of remote, oceanic terrain, you should take a trip across Jenkin’s freaky landscape asap.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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4/5
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M3GAN
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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M3GAN rollicks along with all the slickness and shocks you’d expect from a film produced by Insidious’s James Wan. It always keeps you in on the joke -- and it’s a killer joke.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
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3/5
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Happiest Season
(2020)
|
Paula Akpan
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Happiest Season is exciting, although perhaps less as a festive romcom than as a sign of things to come: stories that centre queer experiences.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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3/5
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Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
(2022)
|
Paula Akpan
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A carousel of Whitney Houston’s best bits is brought to life by Ackie, who manages to embody the star’s mannerisms without letting the deified legacy of Houston, or the lacking physical resemblance, swallow her up.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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4/5
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Women Talking
(2022)
|
Anna Bogutskaya
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Women Talking imagines female emancipation as an honest, raging, caring experience.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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3/5
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The Pale Blue Eye
(2022)
|
Olly Richards
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Its plot is riddled with holes and its ending is overcooked, but it’s packed with terrific actors and achieves the light chill of a Christmas ghost story. Not one Poe would have been proud to write, but perhaps the sort of thing he’d read on holiday.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Tár
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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It’s the refreshing treatise underpinning this provocative, often uncomfortable but always mesmerising character study. That people are messy and complicated and should always be understood, if not excused.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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3/5
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Inside Job
(2010)
|
Keith Uhlich
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It’s fun to watch the bastards squirm. Yet the film doesn’t follow through on the righteous indignation it stirs up.
Posted Dec 18, 2022
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4/5
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Navalny
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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He isn’t flawless, and the film is damning of his realpolitik approach to coalition-building with some scummy far-right politicians, but he’s an inspiring figure for his sheer fearlessness in the face of tryanny.
Posted Dec 14, 2022
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4/5
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No Bears
(2022)
|
Greer McNally
|
In this startling work, [Jafar Panahi] places the responsibility on ordinary Iranians to act, even if it leads to heartbreak. Because, as with his latest deceptively sharp-edged meta drama, he knows that not every story can have a happy ending.
Posted Dec 14, 2022
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4/5
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Avatar: The Way of Water
(2022)
|
Philip De Semlyen
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‘The most dangerous thing about Pandora,’ someone muses sagely at one point, ‘is that you grow to love it too much.’ Jim Cameron disagrees. He can’t love this place enough – and it’s infectious.
Posted Dec 13, 2022
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4/5
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Bones and All
(2022)
|
Anna Bogutskaya
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The beauty [Luca Guadagnino] finds in the savagery of these two outsiders’ affliction merges with the sweetness of a story of first love. Is a heartthrob still a heartthrob if he’s soaked in blood? Here, the answer is yes.
Posted Nov 23, 2022
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4/5
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Utama
(2022)
|
David Hughes
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If you only see one film about Bolivian llama farmers this year, make it Utama.
Posted Nov 22, 2022
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4/5
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Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
(2022)
|
Olly Richards
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This is rich with macabre imagination and tiptoes between dreaminess and nightmarishness.
Posted Nov 22, 2022
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4/5
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Strange World
(2022)
|
Philip De Semlyen
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Kids will love its primary-coloured wonderland that teems with weird and wonderful beasts, and only the stoniest-hearted grown-up won’t be moved by its inclusive celebration of family across generations.
Posted Nov 22, 2022
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4/5
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Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
(2022)
|
Olly Richards
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Whether for little kids or very big ones, this Matilda is fantastically fun. Great songs, great performances and plenty of baddies to boo.
Posted Nov 22, 2022
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2/4
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My Policeman
(2022)
|
Hanna Flint
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It’s Styles over substance.
Posted Nov 16, 2022
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4/5
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The Swimmers
(2022)
|
Hanna Flint
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Not all heroes wear capes, some wear swimming caps – and The Swimmers is an empowering reminder that it is a human right to live safely, no matter where you come from.
Posted Nov 16, 2022
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4/5
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Nanny
(2022)
|
Sahir Avik D'souza
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Its feeling and its images stayed with me long after it ended.
Posted Nov 10, 2022
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4/5
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Causeway
(2022)
|
Anna Smith
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Causeway will offer plenty for fans of thoughtful, quality dramas that touch on humanity, trauma, connection and the kindness of strangers.
Posted Nov 09, 2022
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3/5
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Enola Holmes 2
(2022)
|
Philip De Semlyen
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A satisfyingly intricate, peppy addition to a year of whodunits.
Posted Nov 09, 2022
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4/5
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Watcher
(2022)
|
Anna Bogutskaya
|
Okuno's direction and Monroe's performance, together, create a simmering anxiety that never really relents.
Posted Nov 09, 2022
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2/5
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Hunt
(2022)
|
Philip De Semlyen
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Hunt is a film stuck entirely in fifth, racing from one sudden shootout to another at the expense of the labyrinthine plot.
Posted Nov 09, 2022
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4/5
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
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Philip De Semlyen
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This smart, sassy murder-mystery establishes Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc as a Poirot for the super-rich era.
Posted Nov 09, 2022
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2/5
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
(2022)
|
Philip De Semlyen
|
A mercurial sequel that can’t match its predecessor.
Posted Nov 09, 2022
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3/5
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The Forgiven
(2021)
|
Trevor Johnston
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The Forgiven takes the harder road, and actually proves more engrossing and haunting in retrospect than when you’re actually watching it. In an era of instant gratification, that, for all the film’s evident flaws, is still worth chin-stroking respect.
Posted Nov 03, 2022
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3/5
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Halloween Ends
(2022)
|
Philip De Semlyen
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If [Laurie Strode] is a pastiche of her original John Carpenter iteration, then so is the movie. But it’s just got enough fresh ideas, laughs (mostly intentional) and queasy jump scares to make for a raucous Friday night at the movies.
Posted Oct 17, 2022
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4/5
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Close
(2022)
|
Philip De Semlyen
|
To the pantheon of films about the pains of leaving childhood behind -- The 400 Blows, The Spirit of the Beehive, Rocks, The Go-Between, Boyhood et al -- we should find a spot for this beautiful elegy of lost innocence from Belgian director Lukas Dhont.
Posted Oct 17, 2022
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