Tomb Raider review

I will say that this is the best video game adaptation. It's not perfect, but it is several steps in the right direction. I will watch it again because the parts which were good were actually good. Like: Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, the action scenes which looked like they were translated from a video game, the good mixture of serious and self aware.

Annihilation review

I liked it. It improves on the book, and I need to watch it again.

I really would have liked to have seen it in a cinema though. Thanks Paramount!

Gringo review

I was quite looking forward to Gringo. I thought the trailer looked very funny. Literally all the good parts were in the trailer, and the rest of the film was just a big over convoluted plot which didn't lend itself to being as fun as I had hoped.

Game Night review

I was really surprised by some of the visual inventiveness of this film; as most American comedies are blandly shot to rely on improvisation. There's also good jokes, so that helps.

Red Sparrow review

It's a solid spy thriller, but the violent scenes were very uncomfortable and would make it difficult to watch again (which, in a way, is a positive as it succeeded in what it set out to do).

Short reviews now because 2 months is a joke.

Lady Bird review

I am super late here, but at least I'm reviewing it. You can't make me watch Phantom Thread though.

I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but Lady Bird is great. It's realistic relatable, short and to the point, very well paced, excellent dialogue, performances that are extremely convincing, and very emotional. Just watch it already.

Love, Simon review

As a seventeen year old named Simon, of course I was going to see this film about a seventeen year old named Simon at the Glasgow Film Festival.

Though, honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this film. I just presumed that it would be similar to every other studio made American high school comedy. And I wasn't sure how well Greg Berlanti (whom I have great respect for how well he has developed the DC TV shows) would adjust to making character arcs over 2 hours, not 20. As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about.

I was engaged from the beginning. The film is funny, heartfelt, socially aware, and very entertaining. Of course, it lives in the same world as every other teen comedy - they live in large houses and get cars and other expensive gifts for their birthday. But that isn't a critique. Not everything is Lady Bird. Also, why does it matter if one the first mainstream movie featuring a gay person trying to come out takes place in Hollywood land. The film is very effective at what it does and plays well with large audiences. It isn't going for the arthouse audience. And if the arthouse audience is going to complain about that, point them in the direction of films like Call Me By Your Name, or Love Is Strange, or Moonlight, or 120 BPM (which I've not seen but heard very good things about), which are all critically acclaimed independent films that promote LGBT. So just let everyone else have their fun.

In short: I've heard a lot of people explain much better than I why the film is so good, so just take this Simon's recommendation to see

Love, Simon.