'Tucked' Film Review | BFI Flare Festival 2019

This drag race is a marathon, not a sprint.

Tucked, along with the queens in which it presents, exists as an anomaly in the wider drag landscape. Drag recently hit the mainstream thanks to the popularity of RuPaul's Drag Race, but that show prioritizes a very specific type of drag. Because of this, 'drag' as pop culture seemingly focuses on uplifting skinny, white performers while disregarding their equally talented counterparts. It's about time, then, that both old and black queens got the chance to step into the spotlight; Tucked offers this opportunity to both.

'Vita & Virginia' Film Review | BFI Flare Film Festival 2019

Literature, Letters and Lesbians

Back in 2014 (when I originally started JG Review) I would sneakily upload blog posts in the back row of my GCSE computer lessons and hope to one day cover Film as a member of the press. While I haven't (yet) figured out a way to get paid for that, I have managed to get into film festival coverage which is, honestly, still shocking to me. Before I begin my review of Vita & Virginia, then, I want to quickly thank anyone who has ever visited and read something on this blog - your clicks and support have literally opened doors that were too heavy for me to push on my own. To any of my regular readers and supporters: because of you I'm currently covering my second Film Festival, and not for a student paper or magazine but for this blog - thank you! 

You can expect an imminent wave of reviews and features covering films highlighted in this year's BFI Flare Film Festival, an event aimed at uplifting and showcasing the latest LGBTQ+ cinema. I'm hoping to be able to exclusively interview some directors who have brought their films to the festival, but it's about time I spoke about the first I got to see here...

London Film Festival 2018: 'The Favourite' Film Review

This review contains mild spoilers for the first act of 'The Favourite'.

The Favourite (based on Ophelia Feild's novel of the same name) relishes in the royal rumour surrounding England's Queen Anne. The last reigning Stuart monarch allegedly engaged in a scandalous affair with two fellow ladies in her court - a lesbian love affair that isn't widely spoken about in educational establishments.

Yorgos Lanthimos, a director known for his quirky comedies, found himself inspired by this premise and has delivered a wickedly funny film that, annoyingly, left me a bit lost. Here, Emma Stone (Abigail) and Rachel Weisz (Sarah, Abigail's cousin) portray the aristocrats vying for Queen Anne's affection (Olivia Coleman). 

London Film Festival 2018: 'Sorry To Bother You' Film Review

The more you watch, the weirder it gets.

Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You has been hailed by critics and audiences as "Get Out on acid", but I think that description dilutes the brave and insanely creative storytelling on display here. Sure, there are a few sequences that seem similar to 2017's race-thriller, but for the most part Sorry To Bother You tackles completely different aspects of one large topic.

This film is deeply surrealist. This surrealism is first introduced in the form of fun, creative visual flairs but Sorry To Bother You gets more and more insane in a progression that escalates right up until the final scene. While the comparison, then, to Get Out seems slightly patronizing, the "on acid" part was pretty on the money.

London Film Festival 2018: 'Beautiful Boy' Film Review

I've just come out of the London Film Festival press screening for Beautiful Boy, so my thoughts here are pretty fresh and raw. 

Beautiful Boy isn't a perfect film but my God is it a powerful one. This is the story of real-life journalist David Sheff's (Steve Carrell) love for his son Nic (Timothée Chalamet), who finds himself grappling with an addiction to crystal methamphetamine. The film is based on Sheff's book of the same name as well as Nic Sheff's book Tweak. 

Chalamet, despite being more of a supporting actor to Carell, delivers the film's best performance - a performance that varies greatly from his characterisation of Elio in last year's Call Me By Your Name, affirming his vast and exciting range as an actor. While it's definitely early days, I would be shocked if he doesn't receive yet another Academy Award nomination, and I think he'd have a pretty good shot at winning, too. 

London Film Festival 2018: 'Widows' Film Review

A masterpiece.

Attending the 2018 London Film Festival as a member of the press comes with its perks. We get to go to screenings in cinemas that have uber-comfy chairs, we get a cool, self-validating press lanyard, we might even get a free novel on our way into the movie theatre. That was the case for Widows, anyway, a film based on a 1980's BBC series which was itself based on a novel by Lynda La Plante - a book that now happily rests in my backpack, thanks 20th Century Fox!

'A Star Is Born' Film Review

On the edge of glory...

Bradley Cooper's remake of A Star is Born marks the fourth time Judy Garland's original got an overhaul. This isn't just a re-cast, though, because this version of the film offers commentary on the symbol of the contemporary pop star in a way that not only feels relevant to a modern audience but necessary. Musicians so often seem to sell out to reach the big time, but as Cooper's Jackson Maine states repeatedly in the film (and as I'm about to horribly misquote): when you get given a voice you have to speak with your soul. You have to speak with your soul because, if you don't, no one will listen.

London Film Festival 2018: 'The Guilty' Film Review

My second London Film Festival screening was pretty fantastic...

The Guilty is an elegant, beautiful and gripping crime thriller. From the moment the film begins you're drawn into the plot like water down a plughole - there's an inescapable magnetic force at play which is only exaggerated by the story's single location. Don't let this put you off though; in well crafted films like this it's what you can't see that frightens you most. Also like that water down a plughole you'll feel unstable and disorientated by the time the film ends, a bewilderment not only created through Jakob Cedergren's nuanced lead performance but by the script's audacity to relentlessly surprise.

London Film Festival 2018: 'Assassination Nation' Film Review

Data Whining...

Assassination Nation is a distinctly confusing film. It's both relevant and unnecessary. It's enjoyable and yet disgustingly uncomfortable to watch. It's progressive and yet it rests on such obviously outdated tropes. Simply put, I think it's not as clever of a film as it makes out to be