Tag: Tom Burke

Black Bag (2025) | REVIEW

Michael Fassbender in BLACK BAG — PHOTO: Focus Features / Universal Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Steven Soderbergh — Screenplay by David Koepp.

When it comes to filmmaking, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who is a more prolific filmmaker than Steven Soderbergh. Since the 2020s began, he has had six feature films released — some in theaters, some on streaming services. Incredibly, it’s not like his films suffer from the speed with which he gets them out for the public to see. In the case of No Sudden Move (2021) and Kimi (2022), those were some of the best surprises of their respective years. Soderbergh is also quite experimental, as he has tried his hand at using iPhones to shoot major motion pictures, like Unsane and High Flying Bird. His latest film, Black Bag, never feels like an experiment, rather it feels like Steven Soderbergh at his very best. It’s a sleek relationship spy drama with a terrific ensemble cast led by Michael Fassbender in top form.

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) | REVIEW

Anya Taylor-Joy as the title character in George Miller’s FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Directed by George Miller — Screenplay by George Miller and Nico Lathouris.

Back when the low-budget cult favorite first Mad Max film was released in 1979, no one would have expected it to eventually evolve into a franchise that director George Miller would still be working on when he, himself, was 79 years of age. But here we are, and even though it’s been nine whole years since Miller’s finest hour — the action masterwork that was Mad Max: Fury Road — it is now time to finally get the origin story to the character of Furiosa — who was originally played by Charlize Theron — in the long-awaited prequel film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Though it isn’t the instant genre classic that Fury Road was, it is nevertheless a very good film that builds upon the successes of the previous film through gripping world-building and an extremely entertaining supporting performance.

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REVIEW: The Wonder (2022)

Florence Pugh, right, in Sebastián Lelio’s THE WONDER — PHOTO: Aidan Monaghan / NETFLIX.

Directed by Sebastián Lelio — Screenplay by Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, and Sebastián Lelio.

General audiences are unlikely to see an opening shot as surprising or even mystifying as the opening shot in Sebastián Lelio’s The Wonder. If you go in knowing that you are about to watch a period drama set in the 1800s, then you’re going to raise your eyebrows when you see what awaits you. Lelio’s first shot shows an empty film set warehouse and a scaffolded house that likely contains a principal set for the film. A female voice sets the mood by way of an absorbing and mysterious narration that emphasizes how the characters in the story cling to and fully believe the stories they tell. As the camera glides into a set containing Florence Pugh in-character, the film begins properly. It is a showy opening that is effective in underlining the questionable reality of the stories we ourselves gather around a television — or inside a theater — to watch, and, even though this framing device is a narrative-breaking technique (not its only fourth wall-breaker in the film) that isn’t wholly unique (just see last year’s HBO Scenes From A Marriage remake), it absolutely is an opening that takes your hand and asks you to partake in the story’s mystery. I think you should accept the offer and the instruction to buy into what you’re seeing.

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REVIEW: The Souvenir (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – A24 / Curzon Artificial Eye

The following is a short review of The Souvenir — Directed by Joanna Hogg.

Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir is a semi-autobiographical film about a young and posh film student’s romantic relationship with Anthony, a seemingly both successful and self-important somewhat older man. In her first major film role, Honor Swinton Byrne (the daughter of Tilda Swinton, who is also in the film, and playwright John Byrne) plays Julie, the aforementioned aspiring filmmaker, whereas Tom Burke (Only God Forgives) plays Anthony, whose addiction threatens to tear their relationship apart. It is one of the most critically acclaimed independent films of the year. However, I think that Joanna Hogg’s coming-of-age film about toxic relationships, artistic growth, and privilege is disappointingly dull and uninvolving. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Souvenir (2019)” →