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3/5
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Fly Me to the Moon
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
Fly Me To The Moon is silly and sassy, snappy and jazzy. It plays hard and fast with the truth, but somehow manages to squeeze some heart in among its paint-by-numbers characters
Posted Aug 04, 2024
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4/5
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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
Yes, it opens with literally the same song, but this feels more like it's singing from the same songbook as opposed to doing a bad cover version.
Posted Jul 11, 2024
|
|
4/5
|
Inside Out 2
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
Pixar's real triumph is making something that anyone who was ever a teenager can probably relate to. Inside Out 2 sees you, knows you and is you.
Posted Jun 26, 2024
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4/5
|
Jim Henson Idea Man
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
Henson was gone too soon, and this doco is a great gateway into his incredible legacy.
Posted Jun 11, 2024
|
|
4/5
|
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
Here we are with the fifth film in the Mad Max saga, which, again, looks nothing like the 1979 original. Hell - this film doesn't even need Max - just the "Mad" bit.
Posted Jun 03, 2024
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4/5
|
Civil War
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
This is Apocalypse Now from the journalists' point of view. Like Willard's journey up river, their cross-country trip is a descent into the madness of America, with their Kurtz-like figure happening to be the President of the USA.
Posted Apr 25, 2024
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4/5
|
Wicked Little Letters
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
In post-WWI Britain, where women can't vote and are frowned upon for pretty much everything, letting loose with a few vulgarities can say so much, as it does in this charmingly potty-mouthed dramedy.
Posted Apr 18, 2024
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5/5
|
Oppenheimer
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
It's the bomb.
Posted Apr 01, 2024
|
|
2/5
|
Force of Nature: The Dry 2
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
Eric Bana is a good actor. So why do I find him so underwhelming as Aaron Falk in The Dry movies?
Posted Mar 29, 2024
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|
3/5
|
Damsel
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
For the most part it sticks to flipping the script on ye olde Damsel In Distress cliché, and makes it work.
Posted Mar 19, 2024
|
|
5/5
|
Poor Things
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Poor Things is proof that there is room for weirdly wonderful cinema in this world.
Posted Mar 19, 2024
|
|
3/5
|
Argylle
(2024)
|
Matt Neal
|
In 10-20 years it will make sense... but for now, this overlong oddity is a flawed minor joy.
Posted Feb 12, 2024
|
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4/5
|
Good Night, and Good Luck.
(2005)
|
Matt Neal
|
Clooney has some good films under his belt as director but this is his tightest and most powerful.
Posted Feb 05, 2024
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|
2/5
|
Genie
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
It's not bad enough to make you wish for your time back, but you won't be adding it to your list of favourite Christmas movies any time soon.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
The Marvels
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
It's disappointing this film will be written off as an MCU flop because its superior to plenty of other entries in the franchise that fared better at the box office.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
A worthwhile journey, despite taking a bloody long time to get where it's going.
Posted Nov 06, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Cocaine Bear
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Cocaine Bear is a great bad idea, the kind that happens at 3am after too many edibles, and then you wake up two days later and find you've written a script in a fever dream you don't remember, and the script is Cocaine Bear, and it's not bad...
Posted Oct 02, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
A Haunting in Venice
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
A well made throwback to a time when whodunnits could also make the hairs on the back of our necks stand up.
Posted Sep 20, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
The Monkey King
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
To call The Monkey King frenetic is an understatement, but there is a level of control and visibility to its rapid-fire storytelling and fight scenes that is very welcome.
Posted Aug 30, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
Hidden Strike
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Without Chan and Cena, this is unwatchable.
Posted Aug 08, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Barbie
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
They made a Barbie movie for grown-ups about feminism and the patriarchy. Let that sink in for a moment.
Posted Jul 21, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
It's the best one since the original, waaaay back in 1996, blending a strong plot, a solid couple of villains, and some of the best stunts the series has seen.
Posted Jul 14, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Any Indiana Jones is better than no Indiana Jones.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Elemental
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Elemental is great at juggling its surface love story and its deeper immigrant themes, but, oddly, it only does a passable job at getting all the, ahem, elements to work together across the whole of its runtime
Posted Jun 18, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Chaotic, ferociously paced, frenetic and fun, Across The Spider-Verse almost goes too far in this more-is-more approach.
Posted Jun 07, 2023
|
|
5/5
|
John Farnham: Finding the Voice
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Australia, as a nation, loves John Farnham, and this doco reminds us why that love is such a worthwhile one.
Posted May 22, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
How can you be fatigued about superhero movies when they're this good?
Posted May 08, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Air
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
If there are two things that the '80s were really all about, it was having a good time and making a truckloads of money. In that sense, Air is the perfect '80s movie.
Posted Apr 26, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Safe and predictable, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Posted Apr 12, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
If you're a roleplayer who knows their Waterdeep from their Baldur's Gate, add another star to the rating. Everyone else, this is solid three-star fun and a welcome big-budget addition to the genre of cinematic fantasy.
Posted Apr 07, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
We reached peak Pinocchio last year, with three new versions released. This is the only one to bother watching.
Posted Mar 29, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
65
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
65 is as disappointing and oddly misfiring as its title. Yeah, the dinosaurs are cool, but that's about it.
Posted Mar 15, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Rise of the Guardians
(2012)
|
Matt Neal
|
As with The Avengers, each of the characters is given their time to shine and is nicely developed, while a tidy sense of humour sparkles on top of the darker undercurrents of the story.
Posted Mar 06, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
|
Matt Neal
|
Quantumania swings big, but forgets the small stuff, to its own detriment.
Posted Feb 27, 2023
|
|
5/5
|
The Banshees of Inisherin
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
The most amazing thing about it is the fact it explores such huge ideas as the meaning of life, while simultaneously looking at the micro-aggressions of two stupid men with no capacity to deal with their own emotions.
Posted Feb 16, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
A Man Called Otto
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
A predictable tear-jerker made no less enjoyable or heartfelt by its predictability.
Posted Jan 31, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
White Noise
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
Some people find white noise soothing and listen to it to help them sleep. Others find it annoying. And that pretty much sums up White Noise.
Posted Jan 23, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
A standalone sequel to Knives Out is here, and it's even better than the first Benoit Blanc outing.
Posted Jan 01, 2023
|
|
|
Sissy
(2022)
|
Michael Sun
|
An entertainingly schlocky parody of influencer culture.
Posted Dec 16, 2022
|
|
4/5
|
Moonage Daydream
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
Moonage Daydream won't be the last word on Bowie that we see on the screen. But it certainly sets the bar high.
Posted Oct 12, 2022
|
|
2/5
|
The Gray Man
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
An A-grade budget trying to wallpaper over a B-grade script.
Posted Aug 31, 2022
|
|
3/5
|
Elvis
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
It's only in the second half, when Luhrmann calms down, that the film truly engages, and Butler's stunning performance is able to shine through and become more than just a caricature.
Posted Jul 07, 2022
|
|
2/5
|
Senior Year
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
The film suffers from failing to either properly parody teen movies or be one.
Posted Jun 04, 2022
|
|
3.5/5
|
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
Ultimately this film's genuinely surprising guest spots and Raimi's dalliances with his dark past are the most memorable bits.
Posted May 12, 2022
|
|
4/5
|
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
(2022)
|
Matt Neal
|
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Nicholas Cage delivering such a high-wire act of naturalism and self-parody, or anyone else with the chops, balls and craziness to pull it off.
Posted May 01, 2022
|
|
5/5
|
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
(2021)
|
Matt Neal
|
Questlove's film show the capacity for the music doco to be about so much more than music. It's one of the best examples of the genre to date.
Posted Apr 08, 2022
|
|
4/5
|
Beastie Boys Story
(2020)
|
Matt Neal
|
Watching Ad Rock struggling to talk about his departed friend MCA is heartbreaking. It's part of the honesty that makes the film feel valuable and important, and not a cash-in.
Posted Apr 08, 2022
|
|
4/5
|
CODA
(2021)
|
Matt Neal
|
CODA isn't the best film of the year, but it's the heartfelt uplifting story we all need.
Posted Apr 05, 2022
|
|
5/5
|
Belfast
(2021)
|
Matt Neal
|
Branagh's lived experience obviously shines through in this, but its his ability to distil it into a moving and enjoyable film that's perhaps more important.
Posted Mar 16, 2022
|
|
4/5
|
Booksmart
(2019)
|
Matt Neal
|
Wilde's taken a classic coming-of-age chassis, updated it, chucked on a few mod-cons, and given it a very fresh paint job, and the resulting ride is fast and fun.
Posted Feb 01, 2022
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