★★★★☆ It’s been a busy year for Jeff Nichols. His Midnight Special received its premiere in Berlin back in February and now his fourth feature, Loving, arrives at Cannes. Playing in competition, it should confirm Nichols’ reputation as a mature filmmaker of great tact and intelligence. Richard Loving (an immense Continue Reading
★★★★☆ There are a lot countries which are apparently no longer for old men. However, despite treading some familiar territory, British director David Mackenzie’s new film Hell or High Water proves itself a brilliantly executed, sharply written genre gem. The Texas Midland Bank is about to open when two masked Continue Reading
★★★★★ Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place is the newest addition to the Criterion Collection, a magnificently dark noir thriller comprising one of Humphrey Bogart’s signature roles. Bogart plays Dixon ‘Dix’ Steele, a grouchy, hot-tempered Hollywood screenwriter who finds himself the prime suspect in a murder case. The magnetic Gloria Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Hired to Kill, the cult film from notorious Greek director, disgraced journalist and purveyor of bottom- of-the-barrel trash TV, Nico Mastorakis, cannot, for most viewers, be recommended in good conscience. A bargain bin clone of 1985’s Commando, Hired to Kill boasts performances bad enough to make even Arnie wince, Continue Reading
★★★★☆ When Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) first stepped into the ring, onto the screen, and into the hearts and minds of cinema audiences back in 1976’s Rocky, few would have predicted him making it to the seventh round. Even fewer would imagine that he’d still be holding his own (a Continue Reading