FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW: All Of Us Strangers starring Andrew Scott & Paul Mescal

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Growing up gay in the 80s wasn’t much fun with its AIDS and Clause 28 and Andrew Scott’s (Vanya, Duke Of York’s Theatre) screenwriter Adam is struggling with writer’s block, watching old episodes of Top Of The Pops and living alone in a high-rise London tower block which is sparsely populated.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is beautiful, haunting and likely to stay with you long after the end credits
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FILM REVIEW: Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet with music by Neil Hannon

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon contributes half a dozen or so original songs to this musical providing an origin story for Roald Dahl’s chocolate factory owner Willy Wonka.

  • Read on for reasons including the moment to melt the hardest of hearts
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FILM REVIEW: Past Lives written & directed by Celine Song

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Have you ever wondered whether there might be a finite number of people in the world and that all of us have past lives that occasionally bubble to the surface when paths cross?

  • Read on for reasons including why this is never afraid to disappoint and is 1 of the most perfectly executed films of the year
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FILM REVIEW: Barbie starring Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Mattel’s Barbie doll has proved so iconic and such a divisive figure that it fully justifies the homage to the film 2001 that it is blessed with here including Helen Mirren voiceover.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the funniest film of the year so far but also 1 to make you think
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FILM REVIEW: Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr & Emily Blunt

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***** WHEN?: Monday 24 July 2023

Welcome to the best film of 2023 so far and certainly the 1 most worthy of receiving Oscar consideration early in 2024.

  • Read on for reasons including how Nolan gives us 3 intertwining narrative strands which ultimately pay off
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FILM REVIEW: WHAM! on Netflix

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

We’ve not written a lot about George Michael because we regarded his imperial phase as WHAM! but never saw him live until he was solo at Wembley Stadium when his hunger for writing number 1s appeared to have been lost.

  • Read on for reasons including how WHAM! were a gateway for us to music we would go on to love
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FILM REVIEW: God’s Creatures starring Paul Mescal & Emily Watson

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

2023 has already been an incredible year for Paul Mescal with a Best Actor Olivier and Oscar nomination under his belt, although film God’s Creatures is very much for the Mescal completists.

  • Read on for reasons including how the best scene is where Mescal’s character is confronted by a woman in a line-up at a wake
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FILM REVIEW: Matilda the Musical starring Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson & Lashana Lynch

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Matilda songwriter Tim Minchin (Groundhog Day, Old Vic) took to social media over the holidays to explain why this film was available on Netflix on Christmas Day in every country apart from the UK.

  • Read on for reasons including why this film isn’t available on Netflix in the UK and why it’s worth a cinema trip
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FILM REVIEW: The Banshees Of Inisherin starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson & Barry Keoghan

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Black comedy is a term which could have been invented to describe the work of writer/director Martin McDonagh and here, perhaps, he has produced something truly unforgettable that goes even further than he has done before.

  • Read on for reasons including why it is the performance of Barry Keoghan that is the standout here
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FILM REVIEW: Aftersun starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Star Mescal won our Best TV/Film Actor monsta in 2020 for his portrayal of tortured Irish student Connell in Normal People and here he plays a 30-year-old father on holiday in Turkey with his 11-year-old daughter.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Paul Mescal on the London stage this winter
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