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Kumari Tilakawardane
Kumari developed an unhealthy obsession with The Godfather at much too young an age. Realising she was unlikely to forge a career as a gangster, she turned her attention to the fruitful pastime of studying movies.
She has been reviewing movies for a number of publications over the years, joining AVForums in 2015 and enjoying a more diverse range of movies than ever before.
When she's not watching movies and generally ripping them apart, she enjoys drinking tea, making sarcastic comments and watching sport.
One Night in Miami takes some artistic liberties with its portrayal of a real historic meeting of minds but grounds itself so forcefully in politics and humanity that it forms what might well be one of the most realistic and striking films of this year.
A wonderful addition to Netflix’s slate of films, a fitting tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, and a welcome break from the wall-to-wall Christmas romcoms dominating the homepage at the moment.
Fincher's deep dive into the life of Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, who clashed with volatile genius Orson Welles on his magnum opus, is a beautiful film about the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Based on a controversial best-seller by J.D. Vance, Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy is ostensibly a true story, though the film goes out of its way to make it seem like pure cinematic fiction.
Both timely and timeless, Steve McQueen's Small Axe is an important piece of British culture and it feels it at every turn in this first film-sized TV chapter, Mangrove.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix) Movie Review
by Kumari Tilakawardane
Like it or not, it’s pretty much the most wonderful time of the year. Even through lockdowns, a pandemic and worldwide upheaval, Christmas does not care about your melancholy. Not keen on all this Christmas spirit and seasonal magic? You should probably steer clear of Jingle Jangle, which is not merely just a Christmas film, but also a musical to boot.
After the extreme success of Big Little Lies (well, the first season anyway), it was only a matter of time before some of BLL’s key players reunited to bring us another look at the sordid and murderous lives of society’s elite.
If you’re reading this thinking that a period drama series about a female teenage chess prodigy isn’t for you, hold on a second. The Queen’s Gambit might have a very niche premise, but you definitely don’t need to be a Grandmaster to be hooked…
Though Sorkin’s ideology and politics and whatever else can feel a bit much at times, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is still a great watch and is a high-quality courtroom drama.
Dennis "Utopia" Kelly's latest is another combination of horror, psychological thriller and comedy-drama, imbued with atmosphere and dread in a gloriously troubling way.
The Babysitter: Killer Queen (Netflix) Movie Review
by Kumari Tilakawardane
If you loved The Babysitter, no doubt you’ll be lining this one up in your Netflix queue anyway; just don’t expect it to live up to the highs of the first film.
Given that we’ve all spent the last six months longing for a bit more space, Netflix’s drama about the first manned mission to Mars should really be something of a hit.
Death, taxes, and Beyoncé releasing content that more or less breaks the internet. This time it’s Black is King, released on Disney+ this week as an accompaniment to last year’s album The Gift.
You’ll want to look away, turn it off. It’s not comfortable viewing and it’s not something you’ll want to watch for fun. But you should probably watch it anyway.
Symbolically released on Disney Plus for America’s Independence Day, Hamilton is an exquisite documentation of the stage show that loses nothing of the thrill of live theatre in its adaptation.
If we can’t jet off to sunnier climes just yet, why not enjoy a vicarious holiday right from your sofa? Here are ten Netflix options to help you see more of the world and remind you of that holiday feeling.
A timely arrival to Netflix, Spike Lee’s new film Da 5 Bloods unravels the long-lasting violence and trauma of the Vietnam War, and is one of the best films he's ever done.
Two decades after the release of Stormbreaker, the first in Anthony Horowitz’s smash hit book series, teenage hero Alex Rider is getting a new on-screen image courtesy of Amazon.
Amazon's Little Fires Everywhere Season 1 TV Show Review
by Kumari Tilakawardane
Perfectly timed if it feels as though you’ve burned your way through everything else on streaming services during the hundreds of weeks of lockdown we’ve already had, Little Fires Everywhere stars Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon and is based on Celeste Ng’s 2017 bestseller.
Netflix’s latest offering to beam into your quarantine castle pairs a potty-mouthed kid with a dowdy cop. Is it a buddy movie? Is it a cop comedy? Is it a kids film? Who knows – but it comes together like chalk and cheese.
Being trapped at home? Not very relatable… Vivarium lands on a variety of streaming platforms to buy or rent and provides some excellent - and topical - Friday night lock-in entertainment.
Director Sam Mendes combines with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins to create one of the most ambitious and visually-arresting war movies to hit the big screen.