Uncut Gems (2019)

The morning after I watched Uncut Gems (2019) on Netflix (where it’s been released for international audiences), I felt like I had a hangover: agitated, restless, but also euphoric over having finally seen something I was so hyped for. When we first see jeweller and gambler Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) in his shop at the […]

Hi, Mom! (1970)

A product of its times as well as being a statement on its times, Hi, Mom! (1970) is a free-wheeling satire of middle-class values. A young Robert De Niro plays Jon, a returned Vietnam vet in New Yorl who veers from one obsession to the next, beginning as a budding pornographer who wants to create “Peep […]

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) is director Barry Jenkins’ follow up to the award-winning Moonlight, an adaptation of the James Baldwin novel. Beautiful cinematography by James Laxton and lush score by Nicholas Britell. Lovely performances from KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King and Brian Tyree Henry. All of it working together to create a […]

High Flying Bird (2019)

Director Steven Soderbergh’s film for Netflix, High Flying Bird (2019), is a collaboration between Soderbergh, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (writer of Moonlight) and actor Andre Holland (also of Moonlight and The Knick) who plays an agent trying to make some moves during an NBA lockout where the salaries of young black players are drying up […]

Heaven Knows What (2014)

After rewatching the Safdie Brothers’ excellent film Good Time on Netflix (this is now my go-to Netflix recommendation now that King Of Comedy is no longer on there), I realised I’d not seen any of their earlier movies. Some of their low budget dramas are hard to find, like Daddy Longlegs, but Heaven Knows What […]