Author: DamianLevy

'Cruella' (2021) Review: Emma vs Emma Of all the Disney villains in history, there are none quite so devious as Cruella De Vil. Royal traitors like Jafar and Scar take the prize for most ambitious, but there’s a particular black heartedness to planning the murder of a hundred adorable puppies simply for something nice to wear. A coat which, by all accounts, Cruella would have likely forgotten about or thrown out the moment she was tired of it. There’s no sin more original than that, so it’s easy to understand why you’d want to make a movie about that person. Why ‘Cruella’ decides to tell the story about such a villain with a sympathetic view? Your guess is as good as mine. Still, that’s the tale that is told in the live action ‘Cruella’ in which Emma Stone plays a relatable young fashion designer with a bit of a mean streak.Early in the movie Cruella’s life as a young girl named Estella, shows that mean streak in its infancy. She’s hot tempered and will get herself into trouble as naturally as a dalmatian wears its spots. Rarely though is her bad action unfounded. Her methods are extreme but the film always roots her reaction in empathy. Cruella is a protagonist you can easily get behind, especially given her storied past.Soon after, Estella becomes Cruella proper, and unfolds the mystery of her past, while making an explosive entry into the London fashion scene. Standing…

'The Mitchells Vs The Machines' (2021) Review: 21st Century Family In high school, the thing to talk about with the same passion and fervour that I spoke about seeing 'The Godfather' for the first time at 12, was football. I distinctly remember trying to fake my way through conversations about Chelsea & Liverpool. Names that meant nothing to me since I knew neither their history nor their ability. The World Cup was always a Godsend because at least countries I could keep track of. Still, I always yearned to find people who I could get into long winded discussions about film and entertainment. There was a time when I would've given anything to care this much about anything else, but you can't choose what you love.I’d like to think my story of self love is pretty interesting, but it can't top a dysfunctional family road trip coming of age story, set against a robot apocalypse, brought about by a sentient scorned smartphone for which hell hath no like fury. The honour of such an interesting story goes to Katie Mitchell, the main protagonist in the epic and wildly entertaining ‘The Mitchells vs The Machines’.Katie, played by Abbi Jacobson, is the misunderstood oddball who goes to bed dreaming of seeing her name in lights - preferably for her work behind the camera. She sees the world through a filmmaker’s lens, a stark difference from her dud of a dad Rick, brought to life…

'The Harder They Come' (1972) Review: A Classic Sitting In Limbo When you hear about the greatest films of all time, you will inevitably come across a few typical names. Taxi Driver, The Godfather, Chinatown to name a few. Films that examine their setting with a critical eye, and give a new perspective to the norm. They challenge audiences. Make us question the society we live and take part in. They show us the world as it is, and leave it to us to consider what is right and what isn’t. These movies justify cinema, and one of the most challenging of them all is the indisputable classic 1972 film, ‘The Harder They Come’. My first instinct is to call ‘The Harder They Come’ timeless. Yet as accurate a description as that might be, it feels misleading. ‘The Harder They Come’ was made on a budget of US$200,000 (The Godfather was released in the same year for US$6 Million), and was released almost 50 years ago. There are scenes where the film is so dark the characters are indistinguishable from the environment, and one particular fight scene looks like it was filmed as quickly as possible sparing as much film as they could. Yet despite these aesthetic qualms, ‘The Harder They Come’ is chock full of picturesque cinematography that are not only beautiful, but inform the telling of its complex and compelling story. That is the story of Ivanhoe Martin, a young…