Reviewed by GREG KING Directors: Will Merrick, Nicholas D Johnson Stars: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, Joaquim De Almeida, Tim Griffin, Daniel Henney, Amy Landecker, Megan Suri, Tracy Vilar. Not to be confused with the 1982 thriller of the same name that starred Jack Lemmon as a man desperately searching for his son in Chile following a military coup, Missing is a tense, engaging and elaborate thriller that plays out via computer screens and websites. A sequel of sorts to 2018’s Searching, in which Jon Cho tried to find his missing daughter online, this …
COCAINE BEAR
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Elizabeth Banks Stars: Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, O'Shea Jackson jr, Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklynn Prince, Christian Convery, Ray Liotta, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Isiah Whitlock jr, Aaron Holliday, J B Moore, Leo Hanna, Ayoola Smart, Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Matthew Rhys, Scott Seiss, Kahyun Kim. Grizzly on crack? Grizzly was the 1976 film starring Christopher George (of tv’s The Rat Patrol fame) hunting a giant 15-foot rampaging grizzly bear in a state forest. It was one of that cycle of so-called “creature …
LONESOME
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Craig Boreham Stars: Josh Lavery, Daniel Gabriel, Anni Finisterer, Ian Roberts. An antipodean Midnight Cowboy? Sydney Cowboy perhaps? Lonesome is the sexually explicit sophomore feature from writer/director Craig Boreham, one of our finest exponents of queer cinema at the moment, and it follows his 2016 debut Teenage Kicks. The low budget film looks at the commonality of the LGBTQI+ experience of young men drawn to the big city and the allure of bright lights and excitement who feel alone, isolated and anonymous. Casey …
CLOSE
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Lukas Dhont Stars: Eden Dambrine, Gustav de Waele, Emilie Dequenne, Lea Drucker, Igor Van Dessel. This bittersweet coming of age tale hails from Belgium. It is a powerful and deeply affecting drama that packs a real emotional punch. It centres on two 13-year-old boys – Leo (newcomer Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav de Waele) - who have been best friends forever. During the summer holidays Leo often helps out on the flower farm run by his parents, but he and Remi also hang out together. Almost inseparable, they play make …
ANTMAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Peyton Reed Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Bill Murray, Corey Stoll, David Dastmalchian, Katy M O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Randall Park. This is the third film in the Antman series from Marvel, but it also serves as an introduction to Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the years since the events of Avengers: Endgame, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), the former burglar now known as the small superhero Antman, has been settling back into life in San …
THE WHALE
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Darren Aronofsky Stars: Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, Sadie Sink, Samantha Morton. Oscar nominated director Darren Aronofsky revived Mickey Rourke’s career in 2008 with his film The Wrestler. Rourke was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Similarly, Aronofksy has brought Brendan Fraser back out of the cinematic wilderness with his latest film The Whale. In the 80s and 90s Fraser headlined a number of box office hits, including films like The Mummy, but then his career mysteriously imploded and he spent the better …
CORSAGE
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Marie Kreutzer Stars: Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Rosa Hajjij, Aaron Freisz, Finnegan Oldfield, Colin Morgan, Manuel Rubey. This European coproduction is an unconventional biopic looking at the (largely fictional) last year in the life of Empress Elizabeth of Austria (played here by Vicky Krieps, from The Phantom Thread, etc). Elizabeth is married to Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister), but she feels like she is merely an appendage and given no real power, and her duties are merely considered ceremonial. It is …
THE HONEYMOON
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Dean Craig Stars: Pico Alexander, Maria Bakalova, Asim Chaudhry, Lucas Bravo, Mario Valeria Montesano, Michaele Enrico Montesano, Sergio Valasta, Roberto Alinghiere. This cringeworthy and unfunny comedy is an Italian/British co-production and is has received some of the worst reviews of the year. Adam (Pico Alexander, from Red Dead Redemption II, etc) has been best friends with Bav (Asim Chaudhry, recently seen in the romcom What’s Love Got To Do With It?) since they were children and they called themselves “the inseparables.” …