Once upon a time, rawly political and energized films were a dime a dozen in American cinema. Paul Thomas Anderson chooses a none-more-apt time to tap that vein in the brazen, batshit, brilliant ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. In cinemas Friday. SEE IT. My review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...

R.I.P. Claudia Cardinale. Jill in Once Upon A Time In The West remains one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen in a film.

RIP Sergio Salvati (1934-2025) who shot this:

Ahead of the release of ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, I joined The 250 podcast to discuss one of PTA’s masterpieces. Listen to our chat about THERE WILL BE BLOOD: them0vieblog.com/2025/09/13/4...

Any writer using ChatGPT in any aspect of their writing is a fraud and should be ashamed of themselves. You write or you don't; there is no middle ground for machines to fill. Any Business Insider subscribers/customers would do well to take their business outside.

Another big loss to criticism. Support Alan and other recently canned writers however you can.

Few names in the film industry were as titanic as Robert Redford. As an actor, director, producer, and founder of the Sundance festival, he did more for American cinema than most any of his contemporaries. A legacy to be cherished. R.I.P.

Billy Zane gives a transformative turn in WALTZING WITH BRANDO, but the film can’t find much new to say about the legendary Hollywood firebrand. Read @cynicalfilm.bsky.social's review and watch it in theaters this Friday! #WaltzingWithBrando #BillyZane loudandclearreviews.com/waltzing-wit...

Never used Spotify, and I ain’t starting now. The image below is from their latest terms and conditions. #FuckAI #DeleteSpotify #BuyPhysicalMedia

I love to see this quote from @cynicalfilm.bsky.social's review in the trailer for LEFT-HANDED GIRL 🥰 Review 👉 t.ly/_mYNk @loudandclearrvs.bsky.social

MEGALOPOLIS has confounded most every critic out there (me included), and following its box-office catastrophe, it's now streaming on Mubi. Cult classic status (probably) awaits. My @loudandclearrvs.bsky.social review from Cannes last year: loudandclearreviews.com/megalopolis-...

Spike Lee's HIGHEST 2 LOWEST hits U.K. cinemas today. Instead of aping Kurosawa, Lee examines his own career. There's still life in the old dog, even as young pretenders stake a claim on their slice of the pie. My @loudandclearrvs.bsky.social review: loudandclearreviews.com/highest-2-lo...

That’s my review quoted at the 1:32 mark! Read it here: loudandclearreviews.com/left-handed-...

CAPOTE premiered 20 years ago this week. On a rewatch, it retains a bite that its biopic contemporaries lacked, helped in no small part by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s magnificence. I wrote about Bennett Miller’s film for @headstuff.bsky.social: headstuff.org/entertainmen...

The Dardennes return with the delicate but affecting YOUNG MOTHERS, in UK cinemas now. My review for @loudandclearrvs.bsky.social: loudandclearreviews.com/young-mother...

It took an Irish journalist, Claire Byrne, to hand Farage’s arse to him on a plate. Depressing not to see more of this in British broadcasting. Anyway, enjoy how the big mouth has nothing to say for once after she plays him some very embarrassing footage…

Much as I wish I were at #Venezia82, there’s nothing like two hospitalised parents and an impending house move to keep you grounded.

Amazed that this trailer made me care less about the film than I already do.

Reminder of @thehill.com’s dereliction of duty.

The Internet was a mistake, as was the cretin who posted this.

You love to see it. A new Spike joint is always worth a look. Here’s my review: loudandclearreviews.com/highest-2-lo...

THE LIFE OF CHUCK is a new kind of Stephen King horror, one that attacks you with cheap confused sentiment. Treacly guff, just awful. My review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...

In U.K./Ireland cinemas now. I wouldn’t if I were you, as you’ll see from my review.

This is the worst layoff yet. Appalling decisions being taken by editorial boards all over the place. Hoping Michael and others like him released from their roles will find new homes that appreciate their craft.

I can hear this line delivery in my head. R.I.P. Terence Stamp.

In light of Vanity Fair's recent idiotic decision, WaPo's offering its veteran critic a buyout, the NYT's "reassigning" three arts writers critics, etc., a lot of us are talking about the public's (and thus publications') lack of interest in criticism. It's part of a larger pattern of a war...

Eliminating critics is not how you "boost" your coverage of Hollywood and culture, it's how you make that coverage more toothless. variety.com/2025/digital...

I have never felt more relieved while struggling to write a review. They really will let anyone write any old shit.

Still the greatest rom-com yet written, no contest. Next question.

"Legend of the Happy Worker feels slight, but that’s part of the point, and part of its appeal." Read @cynicalfilm.bsky.social's review of Duwayne Dunham's 'fable for our time’, which has just premiered at the Locarno Film Festival! 😍 #LocarnoFilmFestival #Locarno2025

The first poster and trailer for Spike Lee's HIGHEST 2 LOWEST are here! 😍 Review (by @cynicalfilm.bsky.social) and trailer behind the link 👉 t.ly/DBtu9 Out August 15 in theaters and September 5 on Apple TV+! #Highest2Lowest #SpikeLee @a24movies.bsky.social

Holy fuck, that looks horrendous. Brooks, we don't have time for your sappy self-satisfaction right now.

Filling a gap in the market for a full-throated genre spoof, THE NAKED GUN is more joke delivery machine than movie, but it has one thing in its favour: it’s really fucking funny. My review: loudandclearreviews.com/the-naked-gu...

DYING (a.k.a. STERBEN) is arguably the best of the recent plethora of cinematic explorations of our relationship to the Reaper. Most of them ask, “Are we OK?”. Glasner’s epic family drama answers with a “Yes, but… “. Pleasantly complex and at times defiantly abrasive. In cinemas now. My review:

My ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review of Matthias Glasner’s DYING, in UK/Irish cinemas now: loudandclearreviews.com/dying-sterbe...

We are not relics. We are not in it for our own egos. We are in this for the love of film , and the need to discuss all types of films. We are not going anywhere.

It appears today is the day for terribly low-effort posters. My review from Cannes: loudandclearreviews.com/highest-2-lo...

That’s not a poster, it’s a thirst trap for the terminally online. Here’s my review from Cannes: loudandclearreviews.com/the-history-...

"A melange that’s sometimes uncomfortable to watch, but which belies the quietness of the characters and landscape." IL DONO will be re-released in a new 4K restoration for a one-week theatrical run at Metrograph starting this Friday! Read @cynicalfilm.bsky.social's review! @kinolorber.com ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Four family members see death manifesting in themselves and in each other in DYING (STERBEN), which sees writer-director Matthias Glasner working at the peak of his powers. Read @cynicalfilm.bsky.social's review and don't miss it this Friday in U.K. & Irish cinemas! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

By dying in a paragliding accident, Felix Baumgartner becomes the new Jim Fix.

I choose to believe the chronic overuse of 'Pretty Little Baby' in Tiktoks killed Connie Francis.

Forcing professional actors to engage in this superficial clickbaiting garbage is just sad. (If you want to read attempts at proper interviews, try my portfolio: www.cynicalfilm.com/interviews/)

EDDINGTON is Ari Aster at his most sincere and self-satisfied simultaneously. It has narratives and volume to spare, but it never coheres into anything satisfying or insightful. An angry screech of a movie that's five years too late to its own lecture. My review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...

SUPERMAN is well cast, but these fresh faces can't make sense of James Gunn's script, which throws everything at the wall to see what sticks. With no coherent plot, theme or tone, indecision is the kryptonite of a film suffering from a major identity crisis. My review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...

A little late but worth the wait, here’s my review of Anderson’s THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, my debut piece for @filmhounds.co.uk: filmhounds.co.uk/2025/07/wes-...

I wrote about THE SHROUDS, and how Cronenberg uses it to work out his feelings towards his (and our) impending demise:

JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH is a prime 4th July hot dog: tastes artificial and mass-produced, and lacks in nutritional value. My review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...