Josh Slater-Williams (@jslaterwilliams) is a freelance writer based in England. Alongside writing for Vague Visages, he is a regular contributor to independent British magazine The Skinny and has written for Little White Lies magazine, VODzilla.co, The Film Stage, and PopOptiq.
“As premature as it might be to say in a review for an initial theatrical run, Carol more than earns the right of comparison to Brief Encounter in terms of quality. Frankly, it’s one of the new great romantic films.”
“Like its eponymous character, Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Macbeth is a film pulled in myriad directions for a sense of purpose.”
“If Skyfall was arguably about the James Bond character having an identity crisis, Spectre feels like the series having one.”
“Office makes you wonder if more thriller-leaning filmmakers should make a foray into the musical genre. Michael Mann’s Gypsy, anyone?”
“Thanks to the skilled hand of director Kusama (Girlfight, Jennifer’s Body), The Invitation is a deeply uncomfortable but also eerily funny skewering of the hostility that can lurk under the veil of hospitality.”
“The documentary suggests that the makers of Saturday Night Live, in all likelihood, probably don’t have contempt for their audience. It’s harder to say that’s the case for the team behind Live from New York!”
“Where this slick and sick debut falters is in its leanings towards repetition, with the same arguments played out over and over, and even some of the same set-piece conceits seeing repeat play.”
“As a piece of sweeping populist entertainment, The Martian is a great success, despite a couple of issues that perturb throughout.”
“The Buñuelian meets the Duplassian in The Overnight, a chamber comedy of social and sexual manners from director Patrick Brice (2014’s Creep).”
“Headland’s screenplay fires a couple of blanks, which serves to only highlight some of the more token traditional rom-com tropes still on offer here. That said, when Sleeping with Other People does hit — which is a lot of the time — it’s an invigorating spicing up of formula; a winning balance of hedonism and heart that’s unapologetic about either quality.”