Spider-Man: No Way Home

There’s a curse of sorts that’s become attached to “the third Spider-Man movie”, one that’s brought us something very bad, something very cancelled and now something very delayed. After a Covid-afflicted shoot and the postponed release that comes with that, we have “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, a big-budget tentpole tasked with not only proving that a Spidey…

Eternals

When did Marvel become a mood ring? Early on, their movie multiverse was mostly helmed by amiable experts-for-hire (Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh) in a sort of stylish superhero style more notable for its general competence than flair. Then came the auteurs and their looser, bolder take Taika Waititi's gleefully loopy “Thor: Ragnarok”; Ryan Coogler's culture-smashing “Black Panther”; Destin…

25 Movies, Turning 25

The movies that made us The movies you’ve seen represent who you are and where you’ve been in life. Younger people, particularly teenagers, are much more likely to be impacted by what they watch than older adults because they are still developing and shaping their world-views. Since they are still being generally socialised, they are…

38 Movies and TV Series to Look Forward to in 2020

Yes, I know you’re trying to wind down the year, think about the best of 2019, the best of the decade and whatnot, but I also like to look ahead. Every year, I put together my most anticipated films and series of the year list and I’ve done the same once again for 2020. 2020…

Best Movies of the 2010s

I couldn’t narrow it down to only one – or even 10 if I’m honest - film per year so instead I narrowed down the 20 best films from a decade that, I believe, changed the foundations of cinema as we know it. Year-end, ten-best movies lists are more than just an annual occasion for…

A New Era

“Avengers: Endgame” irrevocably changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s mainly why “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is arriving in theaters facing impossible expectations. This sequel to 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” offers a soft launchpad for the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, tying up loose ends in the wake of “Endgame”. As an antidote to that film’s heaviness, “Far from Home” operates in…

Thank you Marvel

Just over ten years ago, “Iron Man” directed by John Favreau, arrived in cinemas. Despite the film being a hit with both audiences and critics, and possessing more deftness, wit and charm than most superhero films that had come before it, one could have been forgiven for not registering it. And, indeed, for not ascribing much…

The Endgame

"Part of the journey is the end" and my oh my, what a glorious journey and end! The Avengers are dead. Long live the Avengers. For the millions who watched half the Marvel universe vaporize onscreen in the final moments of 2018’s “Infinity War” — whole standalone franchises reduced to swirling ash with a sweep of supervillain Thanos’…

Timing is Everything

As the first female-led Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, “Captain Marvel” is arriving in theaters under a heavy burden of expectations. Even after years of fans clamouring for a Black Widow standalone movie, it took a full decade and 20 MCU films for the franchise to produce a single movie with a woman protagonist. And it…

A New Era for Animation

Over the past couple of decades, one idea has almost become a cliché in reviews of animated movies: they might be aimed at kids, but there’s plenty about them that will appeal to adults! It’s an idea that has come up consistently since the mid-’90s, the height of the Disney Renaissance and the start of the computer animation…