The Cinematic Stories (New and Selected)

Top 10 Films At EIFF 2019

Edinburgh held its annual international film festival last June for its 73rd edition. I was lucky enough to receive press accreditation to the festival and here are my ten favourite films that I recommend checking out if you get the opportunity:

Stand by Me

Stand by Me is one of the three greatest film adaptions of Stephen King novels, up there with Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. It is one of the great heavyweights of Stephen King adaptions, and yet, couldn’t be more different from either of them. At its heart Stand by Me is a true coming-of-age film celebrating pre-adolescent camaraderie and adventure. Thirty-three years later this Oscar and Golden Globe nominated film still stands strong.

Stuber

There will be no five-star reviews for Stuber as it conjures up the remnants of Michael Mann’s 2004 action-thriller Collateral in the shape of a 93-minute comedy that is largely much hit-or-miss, where its co-stars Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista try to make the most out of a bad script.

Annabelle Comes Home

Still riding off of the success of The Conjuring, the third-Annabelle movie promises absolutely nothing and delivers just that. The Conjuring has had several spin-off movies like Annabelle and The Nun each as bad as the other and adding to that list, Annabelle Comes Home feels like little more than a sheer cash-making scheme.

Anna

Luc Besson is best known for his hit pre-2000 films such as Léon: The Professional, The Big Blue, and The Fifth Element. In 2019 Besson released his latest film, Anna, a no-trills thriller set between a variety of beautiful locations such as Paris and Moscow. And at the epicentre we have Anna¸ an undercover KGB agent…

Midsommar

Ari Aster’s second film, Midsommar, is all but ordinary in this gripping pagan folk horror. Midsommar brings with it an all too utopian visual aesthetic that few films can match, any sane person would be ashamed to have not appreciated the artistic value. Ari Aster has created films since 2011, but it was only in…

Spider-Man: Far From Home

The quality of the poster for Spider-Man: Far From Home may be hideous however, it is of no indication of the quality of the movie itself which achieves a remarkable balance of stunning visuals, entertaining fight sequences and a meaningful character study all at the same time. Following on from the events of Endgame the…

Modest Heroes (EIFF 2019)

Enthralling, Charming, and Stunningly Beautiful: Modest Heroes creates a sense of wonder and provides a serious foundation towards the future success of Studio Ponoc. Modest Heroes consists of three short animations created by Studio Ponoc. They are the successors to Studio Ghibli who are responsible for so many incredible animations such as My Neighbour Totoro…

Gloria Bell

Sebastián Lelio’s films have often portrayed strong women as their lead-characters in tremendous fashion such as in A Fantastic Woman, but especially in Disobedience. Therefore, his astoundingly subpar portrayal of a middle-aged divorcee becomes all the more shocking and disappointing. Gloria Bell promises so much to eventually deliver very little. The film follows Gloria (Julianne…

Diego Maradona

Asif Kapadia’s new documentary on the Argentinian superstar will surely provide a greater understanding to the football moguls. However, this could have been performed to a greater scale and ends up painting a rather fragmented picture of Diego Maradona’s true character. “Diego; that wonderful boy with insecurities, and Maradona; a personality created to face all…