Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Becky Johnston, Roberto Bentivegna
Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, Jack Huston

The name ‘Gucci’ is synonymous with luxury, extravagance and flair. But behind the glamour, couture and high-end products is a dark story often relegated to the history books and swept under the gold-trimmed carpet, a story that has always been poised for a Hollywood movie. One can’t help but wonder if the founder of the fashion house, Guccio Gucci, could have ever imagined the conflicts that would arise amongst his descendants, eventually leading to no Gucci being involved in the brand. Of course, we have the whole ‘based on a true story’ disclaimer, but just how dramatic was the meteoric rise and calamitous fall of the Guccis, and has Ridley Scott made a decent film out of it?

Continue reading “House of Gucci” →

Director: Adam McKay
Writer: Adam McKay
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, Melanie Lynskey, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Tyler Perry, Himesh Patel

What better way to start the new year than with a good old-fashioned-yet-futuristic existential crisis? As if constantly dealing with the climate crisis, a pandemic and, well, general mankind and the stupid things we do to hurt our planet and ourselves wasn’t enough, along comes Adam McKay with an all-star cast to remind us that it could all be ended by something completely out of our control, as the dinosaurs once found out (oh to be a non-cognizant beast with no concept of science or burden of knowledge). If you can bring yourself to sit through 2+ hours of an apocalyptic nightmare (and one that could potentially be very real, even if not in our lifetime), will you find some semblance of joy in the wider message and McKay’s overall satire, or might you be left sitting up all night pondering the meaning of life and cursing McKay’s film and his own existence?

Continue reading “Don’t Look Up” →

Director: Jon Watts
Writers: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers
Cast: Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Benedict Wong, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Rhys Ifans, Thomas Haden Church, J.K. Simmons

Marvel Studios tends to think up very good ways to blow our minds. Spider-Man: No Way Home is no exception. With many surprises up their sleeves (well, if you’ve managed to avoid any leaks/spoilers), audiences are in for a treat, whether you are a fan, superfan or casual observer of the MCU. It’s no secret that we see the return of a bunch of villains from the Sony franchises (Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man), and that alone is enough to get the fanboy/girl blood pumping, but we also see Peter Parker begin to take a new direction in his web-slinging career. Is No Way Home a good bookend to the MCU trilogy, or has Spidey finally lost his spider-senses?

Continue reading “Spider-Man: No Way Home” →

Director: Chloé Zhao
Writers: Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo
Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Kit Harrington

After the recent release of Black Widow, Shang-Chi, multiple shows on Disney+ and the general world events of the past two tumultuous years (the “c” word hereby redacted), it’s safe to say that the MCU’s fourth phase is well under way. Eternals is but the next step in said phase, introducing a myriad of new characters to the cinematic universe, a universe that, just when you thought it couldn’t expand any further, it bloody well does, and right across space and time at that. Helmed by the Academy’s latest Best Director and Best Picture winner Chloé Zhao, is Eternals an MCU addition for the ages, or is it one best left in the past?

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Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: John Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Javier Bardem, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chen Chang, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Charlotte Rampling, Zendaya

Any big sci-fi fan is at least aware of Dune. The original 1965 novel by Frank Herbert continues to be the bestselling sci-fi novel of all time, and the entire series remains as popular as ever. We’ve had the 1984 David Lynch offering as well as a television series or two based around more than just the original novel. It’s never been an easy task to undertake; the novel is incredibly intricate and dense, or so I’m told – I am yet to personally read it, despite it having been on my to-be-read list for many years now, but it’s easy to believe. Considering these factors, plus a hardy fanbase, has Villeneuve been the one to finally conquer an Everest of literature by bringing it successfully into twenty-first-century film, or is his Dune doomed?

Continue reading “Dune (Part One)” →