drama Cook Off (Smoke and Mirrors) 4th Jul 20204th Jul 2020 ★★ "We all encounter difficulties" Tomas Brickhill's 2017 Zimbabwean romantic drama Cook Off defied all odds when it was picked up by Netflix. Unfortunately, its severe filming conditions make it…
Films Top 3 (June) 30th Jun 20205th Jul 2020 3rd Place Green Frontier (Spanish: Frontera Verde) What starts off as a murder case evolves into a transcending journey from the microcosm of the self, to the macrocosm of the…
classic Indiscreet (and Blind) 26th Jun 202026th Jun 2020 ★★★★ "There is no sincerity like a woman telling a lie" Stanley Donen's Indiscreet (1958) not only reunited Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman after their work in Hitchcock's Notorious (1946),…
drama Wasp Network (Out of Range) 22nd Jun 202022nd Jun 2020 ★★★ "You think the FBI can tolerate such activities on American soil? I highly doubt it" The 1990s are known for the dissolution of the Soviet Union (December 1991), the…
Series Crashing (and Burning) 19th Jun 202019th Jun 2020 ★★ "- You look like a child. - Thank you." With Fleabag (2016 - 2019) and Killing Eve (2018 - present) hailed as two of the wittiest shows on our…
drama Loving Vincent (From Afar) 12th Jun 202019th Jun 2020 ★★★★★ "You want to know so much about his death, but what do you know of his life?" This 2017 experimental animated biographical drama about the life of Vincent van…
animation Princess Mononoke (Decrowned) 10th Jun 202010th Jun 2020 ★★★★★ "Cut off a wolf's head and it still has the power to bite." A masterpiece that needs no introduction is this 1997 Japanese animated fantasy war film, written and…
comedy Chopsticks (Out of Playdough) 6th Jun 20206th Jun 2020 ★ "When shit happens in my life, I turn it into fertiliser." Unlike Danny Boyle's British drama Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Netflix's Chopsticks promised a dose of quirkiness and fast-paced humour.…
drama Beats (Drop the…) 2nd Jun 20203rd Jun 2020 ★★★★ "This is Chicago. Both my brothers are dead and I'm standing here." With music-centred dramas like Step Up (2006) and High School Musical (2006) once at the heart of…
Films Top 3 (May) 1st Jun 202027th Jun 2020 3 . Bad Seeds (2018) In third place we have this French comedy-drama, which blends dread and humour so seamlessly, that it leaves bruises. Carving out moments of raucous laughter…
comedy The Lovebirds (A Passionless Affair) 29th May 202029th May 2020 ★★ Having seen The Big Sick (2017), co-written by Kumail Nanjiani, I couldn't help but feel a jolt of excitement when I came across his role in The Lovebirds, which…
comedy Mindhorn (Leaves You Blindsided) 23rd May 202026th May 2020 ★★★★★ I have never had a hard time rating a film before - then came Mindhorn. Not only was I in constant stitches, but my guffaws also managed to successfully…
romance Lady J (A Devilish Angel) 21st May 202026th May 2020 ★★★★ Period films have a very specific aura about them - a degree of refinement that rarely transcends genres. Lady J [original title: Mademoiselle de Joncquières] was, much like many…
sci-fi Paradise Hills (Slippery At Best) 19th May 202026th May 2020 ★★ Some people would argue that endings are far more important than beginnings. After all, it's the aftertaste that must make us crave the experience all over again. Paradise Hills…
drama Jungle (Where Life Crawls) 17th May 202026th May 2020 ★★★★★ As impressive as the artistic performance was, witnessing Leonardo DiCaprio writhing around in The Revenant (2015) for three hours made me more than a little wary of committing to…
drama Spinners (Losing Grip) 13th May 202026th May 2020 ★★★★ Timothée Chalamet has received enough nods to become a household name, recognised by all as a gracefully budding actor. So when I came across his short film Spinners, my…
animation Pachamama (Crawling to El Dorado) 12th May 202026th May 2020 ★★ The trailer for Netflix's 2018 Pachamama promised a rare glimpse into the culture surrounding Mother Cosmos, worshipped by the indigenous people of the Andes. Instead, the film took certain…
animation Sky Blue (Chewing on Bullets) 9th May 202026th May 2020 ★★★★★ It wasn't the ferociously grey setting of Sky Blue (alternative title: Wonderful Days) that still haunts me. It wasn't the compelling love triangle, or the sleek portrayal of sacrifice…
drama Handsome Devil (Looks Aren’t Everything) 8th May 202026th May 2020 ★★★ As an ardent fan of Father Ted, I knew I was in for a treat when Ardal O'Hanlon's innocent eyes floated to the surface of Handsome Devil. However, my…
comedy Bad Seeds (A Bittersweet Treat) 6th May 202026th May 2020 ★★★★★ In the depths of the quarantine, a French comedy seemed like an appropriate choice for a slow Friday night. With its belly-poking humour, the trailer for Netflix’s Bad Seeds [original…
comedy Journey To Greenland (Snow Gazing) 4th May 202026th May 2020 ★★★ The idea of fleeing a buzzing city lifestyle seems endlessly appealing to many of us [see: Into the Wild]. However, this escape is usually portrayed as something viscerally inescapable. Calculated.…
