Projected Film

Runtime: 95mins | Director: Noah Baumbach | Rating: 5 Stars Having recently graduated from University, I find myself at a point in my life where I feel somewhat lost. I need to find a job. I need to move out my parents’ house. Essentially, I need to figure out my life. Frances Ha , directed by Noah Baumbach, deals with similar questions and I am finding it very easy to relate to. The story follows the life of Frances (Greta Gerwig) – a 27-year-old woman living in New York. She doesn’t have much luck romantically, she doesn’t have much luck financially. In fact, she doesn’t have much luck in general. This streak of bad luck worsens when her best friend, Sophie, who Frances constantly jokes about being married to enters into a relationship meaning they have little time to spend together anymore. With Sophie gone from her life, Frances then tries to find a stable job and get her life back on track. This proves easier said than done. Part of what makes this film so brilliant...

Runtime: 121mins | Director: Darren Aronofsky | Rating: 4 Stars Starting a review with a quote from Buddha seems pretentious, but I’m going to do it anyway – “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.” This is certainly true of Darren Aronofsky’s latest film mother! , and whilst it may be a challenging watch, striving on with diligence is apt advice. For anyone who has even remotely followed the reception of this film, you’ll be aware that it has been met with an incredibly mixed response - Some have labeled it fantastic, whilst others have absolutely hated it which was most notably reflected in the film receiving an F from CinemaScore. I, however, would ask you watch it for yourself and make your own mind up. I went in not knowing what to make of it – was it simply going to be pretentious nonsense that only critics would love, or would it be a film that required some effort on your part to watch? I found it to be the latter. Aronofsky is a notori...

Whiplash With music being my second greatest love to film, Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash struck all the right chords with me (if you’ll excuse the pun). Especially as I also play the drums myself. The story follows a young percussionist named Andrew Neiman who attends the Schaffer Conservatory in the hopes that one day he’ll become one of the great jazz musicians of his generation. In his attempt to achieve this dream he encounters Terrance Fletcher, a terrifying but very much revered music instructor. Terrance sees talent in Andrew and pushes him to the absolute breaking point in the hope that he will reach his full potential. This leads Andrew to question whether he has what it takes both mentally and physically to become one of ‘the greats’ such as Buddy Rich. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons who play Neiman and Fletcher respectively give incredible performances throughout. The dynamic between them is filled with so much tension that whenever I watch it, despite knowing ...

Runtime: 135mins | Director:  Andrés Muschietti | Rating 4 Stars I went into Andres Muschietti’s adaptation of IT with high hopes of success, but an expectation of disappointment. It seems far too common these days with horror films that their trailers give the promise of a suspense filled film that doesn’t rely solely on jump scares, but then that is exactly what they turn out to be, leaving the only true horror being the price you paid for a ticket to see such rubbish. Fortunately, IT was not one of these, and was very enjoyable. Given the hype surrounding the film that the trailer caused, with it breaking the record for the most views on a trailer in a single day, I desperately wanted it to be a genuinely scary, and engaging film. I must admit now, I didn’t find it scary. At all. In fact, I actually found it a very funny film which had me laughing out loud multiple times – not the usual reaction a horror film elicits. Whilst I had entered hoping for a scary film, I ...

Hello! First impressions are everything, right? So I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to give you some witty and enticing reason as to why you should continue to read any further… Truth is, I have none other than I love going to the cinema, and I intend to give you honest reviews of the films I see which, hopefully, you’ll enjoy reading. I’ve always loved film from a young age, and if you have a spare five minutes, I’m sure reading my reviews are a better way to waste them than browsing Facebook for the umpteenth time today. Unfortunately, I’ve decided to start writing reviews at a bad time. Summer is over, a lot of the big releases have come out, and now it’s a waiting game until the cinematic world picks up steam once again and I have more juicy content to provide you with. As a consequence, so that my blog doesn’t become a barren wasteland of one review every month (an easy pit to fall into…), I intend to write about a few films I’ve seen over the summer, and then ...