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I saw a stack of movies towards the end of last year, and didn't get to talk about them. Some of them I don't feel like are worth talking about that much, or I'm not particularly interested in talking about (ahem, Star Wars ), but here are some thoughts on some of those films: Doctor Sleep (MA15+) I like director Mike Flanagan's work, but when I heard that he was going to be helming Doctor Sleep , a film that needed to either serve as a sequel to Kubrick's classic The Shining , an adaptation of Stephen King's novel that continues the story of his own original vision of The Shining , or both (!), I was a little sceptical. My experience of Flanagan has always been one of admiration of the control he has over his craft and the visual elements of his filmmaking more so than the structural story elements and his handling of thematic elements. But having seen Doctor Sleep  and subsequently Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House series and Gerald's Game ,...

It's not often that you get to do a retrospective of a decade of cinema, and so there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity at making a list of my favourites of the decade. There are so many great movies to choose from, and remember that this is my list of personal favourites, not an objective look at the most important or successful films of the decade. A lot of these come down to personal taste, and so a lot of great movies that just weren't for me ( Boyhood, Leviathan and The Wolf of Wall Street immediately come to mind) don't appear here.  Before I dive into my list and explain why these are my personal favourite movies of the decade, here are a few that just didn't make it, and could well have done on any other day. This is a list that changes constantly, so not only could these movies have easily made it onto my list, there are plenty of others that don't appear hear at all that also could have found their place on this list. So before you complai...

Midsommar (R18+) Director: Ari Aster Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter Duration: 147 minutes I really cannot understand how Midsommar got a wide release in theatres - it is the antithesis of what lucrative films are about in today's cinema landscape, and goes out of its way to make the audience feel as uncomfortable and disorientated as possible. It is was honestly a joy to see something as wild, bold and horrific as this on a multiplex screen. In a time when superhero films are causing people like Martin Scorsese expound their elitist views on cinema, contributing to a generally untrue feeling that cinema is dying or changing form at the very least, one can only point to Ari Aster as one of the directors working today that prove those people very wrong.  Coming off of last year's wonderful but flawed Hereditary , Midsommar is a completely different beast, but one that is a much more cohesive whole with a better sense of internal logic and structu...

High Life (MA15+) Director: Claire Denis Starring: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin Duration: 113 minutes High Life comes from French filmmaker Clair Denis as her first English language film, and stars Robert Pattinson in yet another role that cements him as one of the most important actors of our generation. The film is almost impossible to describe effectively beyond the bare bones of its mechanics - the IMDb plot description simply reads "a father and his daughter struggle to survive in deep space where they live in isolation", and to be fair that is probably the most that you'd want to give away about High Life . It is not your typically Hollywood space adventure. It is slow, ethereal, surreal and at times frustrating. It is aggressively experimental and will no doubt leave casual viewers baffled, likely bored. By the time the plot begins to unravel in its meandering way with no regard for linear structure (perhaps something to do with black ...

In a continuation of a series I did a while ago where I ranked artists' discographies, and in anticipation of Tenet which comes out next year some time, here is my ranking of all of Christopher Nolan's feature films, from Following to Dunkirk. Heads up, there are potential spoilers ahead for all of Christopher Nolan's films. 10) The Dark Knight Rises (M) It is the mark of a great filmmaker when something as monumentally entertaining as The Dark Knight Rises comes in as their bottom ranked film. But there are no two ways about it - Rises is too long, and there are plot holes that are impossible to ignore beyond the first viewing. Unlike a lot of people, it is not the ending that I have issues with - you have to respect the choice to swing for the fences so hard in the finale of one of the greatest and most iconic trilogies of our time. Upon scratching the surface it is the lack of depth to be found in its philosophical and political aspirations, and the aforementioned plo...