Steve Lacy: “Gemini Rights”

Albeit a bit twee, Gemini Rights is a rich-bassed reminder of Steve Lacy’s inescapable charm.

Safety Not Guaranteed

Drenched in indie-arthouse mystique and withdrawal, Safety Not Guaranteed comes perilously close to collapsing in on itself on multiple occasions. Courtesy of some intriguing performances and a central premise that has just enough surprises, it ends up curiously satisfying.

Earl Sweatshirt: “SICK!”

As unambitious as ever, “SICK!” is a brisk, withdrawn affair from Earl Sweatshirt. He’s labelled the album a humble capsule of his COVID-19 and lockdown thoughts. If you treat it that way, and nothing more, it’s deceptively intricate and gorgeously understated.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

A faithful recreation of Shakespeare’s classic play, The Tragedy of Macbeth is an enjoyable (if inaccessible) lark championing the talents of Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand.

The House of Gucci

Far from a disaster of a movie. But also not half as enthralling as it seems to think it is. The House of Gucci is a film that needed its director, and its actors, to stop for a second and wonder: what are we actually fucking doing?

Donnie Darko

A deliberately strange film, it’s no surprise that Donnie Darko has become a certified cult classic. It features a knotty, occasionally nonsensical plot that demands multiple viewings, and a star-making performance from a young Jake Gyllenhaal. Films like this aren’t made anymore. Cinema is worse off for it.

The Matrix: Resurrections

It is supposedly possible to make a good Matrix sequel. BladeRunner 4020 managed a similar feat. But whereas that film was willing to let its ideas simmer a little more, Resurrections feels the pressure of its own moment. The original Matrix had a gritty, noir-ish, tense atmosphere tinged in a pale green that made it feel truly gripping. This film has none of that. Resurrections is a bit too afraid to be its own film and let itself breathe. In the process, it’s not much of a film at all.

SZA is her bubbly, vindictive self on “I Hate U”

Earl Sweatshirt drowns in his younger self on “2010”

James Bond: No Time To Die

No Time To Die is classic Bond in all the worst ways. So polished that you have to squint to even recognise what it once was. We’re left with a hollowed-out shell of an action film, and a star-studded cast without any substance. It’s faithful leading man, Daniel Craig, deserved a better send-off.

The French Dispatch

Wes Anderson’s ode to journalism is pure cinema. Each moment impeccably constructed and deliberately framed. It marks the highpoint of one of film’s greatest auteurs. Like Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, its creator simply asks you to do one thing – enjoy it.

Never Gonna Snow Again

A meditative film – Never Gonna Sleep Again has a difficult time hitting its marks, even if it generally remains engaging with its odd, sparse atmosphere and thought-provoking climate undertones.

The Card Counter

Paul Schrader, legendary writer/director, mines a topic he knows well in The Card Counter – that of the brooding, disaffected male loner. His muse this time – Oscar Isaac. Their minds meld in this slow-cooked thriller. But true to Schrader’s form, it cooks very slowly. It needs a kick of something.

Lorde: “Solar Power”

Pop music artists face a constant battle – the need to foster their unfathomable popularity whilst trying to keep their artistic integrity. Many fail, almost unapologetically. Others manage to succeed, but rarely entirely on their own terms. So what the fuck do we make of Solar Power? It features glistening, sunny production and Lorde’s vocals are as crisp as ever. But the writing is… almost so cringeworthy that it’s hard to believe. We’re left with a mess from an artist who is used to being very tidy.

Billie Eilish: “Happier Than Ever”

Artists don’t get much bigger than Billie Eilish. And like most pop music titans, it’s the whole “package” that Eilish has going for her – a distinct ethereal attractiveness; unattainable cool. All that makes it even more surprising how fascinating this album is. Gorgeous, warped production and sniping lyrics, all with Eilish snaking her way through the tracks in odd ways. For a 19 year-old who spends most of this album circling her insecurities, Eilish’s sound is as confident and elusive as any artist going around.

Shithouse (Review)

Shithouse is all about distilling the awkwardness of The College Experience. The strange conflation of formative years, relentless opportunities to make mistakes, and vague promises of a limitless future. It’s anchored by an unusually tender lead performance and a handful of genuinely affecting moments. In Cooper Raiff’s directorial debut, he gives us real reason to watch his next move.

Sound of Metal (Review)

Sound of Metal announces the arrival of Riz Ahmed as a leading man. Wide-eyed and slightly manic, he plays the well-treaded role of an addict who has their life torn apart unforeseen. But this film is brilliant in its bareness. It simply lets the viewer watch Ahmed hit those familiar story beats. The result will leave a raw mark on you.

Tenet (Review)

Watching Tenet is like playing a game of chess. Except you’re playing it in reverse. And halfway through you’re told it’s not chess. And someone starts explaining completely different rules, that you’ve never heard of, but explains them in a way that they seem to think is obvious and you’re too embarrassed to do anything but nod. You will not understand Tenet the first time you see it. There is simply too much to process in such little time. At one stage the protagonist is told to try not to think about the contorted time-travel concepts being thrown at him. That’s a bit harder for the audience; when almost the entire movie feels like a vomit of exposition about what is going on and why.

El Camino (Review)

An impossible follow-up; El Camino precedes perhaps the greatest television series of all time. The slow-simmering world of Breaking Bad never really seemed like it would slot well into a 2-hour movie format, and El Camino proves that theory somewhat true. But it also carries all of the best features of that series – beautiful scene structure, lived-in characters and a desperate, beloved protagonist searching for something, and running from everything.

Ad Astra (Review)

In the pantheon of science-fiction movies, where will Ad Astra stand? That’s a difficult question to answer. Despite boasting Brad Pitt as the lead, this film hasn’t been billed as a sci-fi blockbuster and hasn’t really tried. It feels destined to be swept underneath a sea of upcoming mega-films, not least of which Gemini Man. That would be a shame, because this Apocalypse Now-in-space saga is a thoughtful piece on how we shape our own legacy, and is oddly appropriate at a time when our planet truly feels in transition.