Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) is a ten-year-old boy growing up in Hitler’s Germany during the end stages of World War II. His mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) leaves him to his own devices to explore his hometown and spend lots of time playing with his imaginary friend Adolf (Waititi), the Führer himself. An injury incurred at a Hitler Youth training camp will mean Jojo has lots of time to recuperate and discoveries will make him question his allegiances.

Jojo Rabbit is the third major film that Waititi has helmed that features a young child in the lead role. Boy is a spectacular film that explores the loss of innocence of its lead character. Hunt for the Wilderpeople takes the audience on a bizarre adventure as a juvenile delinquent bonds with a father figure who isn’t interested in children. Waititi coaxes excellent starring performances from his young leads in both of those films.

In Jojo Rabbit, Waititi is again considering the loss of youthful naiveté through the eyes of his hero, Jojo. And, again, Waititi helps Griffin Davis to excel in a comedic lead performance that many adults would be proud to have created. Matching Griffin Davis is Thomasin McKenzie as Elsa, while both Johansson and Sam Rockwell turn in accomplished takes on their supporting roles.

The first part of this film is an absolute riot: Jojo and Adolf have a blast (pun intended) preparing and then attending the Hitler Youth camp, and Waititi’s comedic skills are on full display. This is a satire with elements of slapstick and visual comedy thrown in, and it is really, really funny.

Considering the topic and themes under exploration, however, there inevitably needs to be a change in tone. Waititi tries to graduate the shift in the mood so that it isn’t so jarring, but there is a moment when the audience is assaulted by a thematic gut punch.

It is the difficulty of balancing the two different films Waititi is trying to make that means Jojo Rabbit isn’t as successful as it threatens to be. There is only so much an audience can be willing to trust a filmmaker, and Waititi breaks that trust when the gear change occurs. As a consequence, one wonders whether we are witness to a dream sequence and the cognitive dissonance causes a departure from the filmmaker’s world back into the real.

This is all incredibly lamentable, as Jojo Rabbit has enough heart to win most audiences. The film is mostly satisfying, and it is commendable that Waititi succeeded in creating it and then having it released. Were it not for its unevenness, Jojo Rabbit would be a miracle; as it stands, it’s just a very good film with a major flaw.

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Phoenix is Arthur Fleck, a clown working in streetside advertising by day and wannabe stand-up comedian by night. He cares for his ailing mother and fantasises about his neighbour Sophie (Zazie Beetz). An altercation with some street toughs will set Arthur on a downward spiral that eventually leads to violence and mayhem.

Phoenix deserves all of the plaudits he receives for his nuanced turn as the troubled anti-hero. Fleck is a sad and lonely man, lost in a big city that doesn’t care about its downtrodden but celebrates the success of billionaires like Bruce Wayne. Phoenix creates a character that the audience will care about, even though he does awful things that should repulse us. It is a rare actor who can walk this tightrope and yet Phoenix has a track record of achieving just that.

Phoenix hasn’t been nearly as prolific as many of his peers in the past decade or so, but consider some of the films he has featured in and the performances he has unleashed. As Johnny Cash in Walk the Line through to Her and You Were Never Really Here, he is reliably one of the best actors to watch for the pure enjoyment of seeing someone completely engaged in their character. That quality is again present in this film.

Joker is a critical commentary on social isolation and the disconnection the mainstream feel from the ruling elite. Although it seemed a bit of a stretch to suspect widespread violence as a consequence of this film, that fear does speak to the power of the medium to provoke. Were Phillips’ film any less potent, those fears would have been completely unfounded: it is a compliment that some feared its quiet power.

The cityscape (and film more broadly) pay homage to the films of Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro, in particular, Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. The streets of Joker’s Gotham City are more disturbing to this viewer than those of Taxi Driver, however, and perhaps this is because they feel more modern in their grime. As someone who came to Taxi Driver as an adult, there is a different sense looking back at New York versus looking at Joker’s Gotham that makes Arthur Fleck’s milieu more immediate. Older viewers might disagree.

Todd Phillips has created a masterpiece of modern cinema, that features a wonderful leading performance and speaks with urgency about social isolation and the plight of the mentally ill. This is easily one of the best films of 2019.

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Never fear – the biting social commentary and incendiary dialogue is still present and accounted for, but as Season 3 opens, it seems the students of Winchester are having trouble staying angry. Samantha (Logan Browning) isn’t helming the titular student radio show or turning up to black caucus, and is instead focussing on her filmmaking work. Reggie (Marque Richardson) is also too distracted byhis studies to attend caucus. Lionel (DeRon Horton) is learning about and forging his new identity rather than honing his investigative journalism skills, and even Coco (Ashley Blaine Featherson) has been distracted from her political aspirations because of her own personal fears and regrets. The situation is best exemplified by Al’s (Jemar Michael) attempts to get his fellow students to sign a petition in episode 1. Everyone’s too busy or, many cases, simply exhausted by the outrage of the week.

If the show is a microcosm of the life of many an activist, perhaps this represents the characters in middle age with their own kids and mortgage, too busy with work to march in the streets to fight for the rights of others.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still razor-sharp observations to be had – the best of which is a jab at ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and its particular brand of white feminism; the most audacious of which is a self-referential criticism of third-season Netflix shows – but in many ways DWP is a shadow of its former self. To counter the disappointment, the characters are as interesting as ever, so although the season veers towards becoming a soapie, it’s still intelligent and fiercely intersectional.

I do wonder if this season was in the original planned outline for the show. The resolution to the shocking cliff-hanger from last season is dealt with in a perfunctory manner, and a couple of sub-plots are put on hold with the suggestion that the fourth, and final, season will pick them up next year.

As always, the show looks stunning. The cinematography is great, and the costuming and lighting has to be amongst the best currently on TV.

I wouldn’t say that Dear White People is running on fumes now, rather that it’s strange to see a more relaxed season. Gone is the urgency, the passion and the rage. Instead, we delve further into the personal lives of the characters. The self-referential jabs suggest this is all part of the plan, but I’d be lying if I said this season was just as compelling as the first two.

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This is definitely a step up from the last time we saw Jessica (Krysten Ritter), in ‘Defenders’. She may have been the best thing about that team-up show, but here she’s surrounded by great characters. As with season 1, the most important supporting character is Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), Jessica’s adoptive sister/best friend – everything else is just narrative garnish. It’s their drama that keeps me coming back to this series.

The show’s feminist credentials are perhaps unsurprising – considering you could call it a mash-up of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Veronica Mars’ – but season 2 takes it a step further, with a policy of women-only directors. And it pays off. This is a show about relationships between women. The Bechdel test may be a rather primitive tool in 2018, but this passes with flying colours. Sure, Malcolm (Eka Darville) is still present and correct, and there are newcomers Pryce (Terry Chen) and Detective Costa (John Ventimiglia) that shine in smaller roles, but it’s Jessica, Trish, Dorothy (Rebecca De Mornay) and other surprise appearances that make up the core of the story.

And we can’t forget Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth, who’s been a mainstay of the Marvel Netflix shows. This season really puts Jeri through the wringer, and Moss’ performance might even be a career best.

There’s a lot less action here, which is disappointing. In fact, if you go in expecting a superhero show, you might be disappointed. Instead think of it as a private eye themed drama cum thriller – or just a superhero show for those of us who are a little sick of superheroes. Another disappointment: is it just me, or are the Marvel Netflix shows getting smaller and smaller budgets?

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that there aren’t any wonky moments. I honestly can’t decide if I liked Janet McTeer’s performance here or not; sometimes her portrayal feels nuanced, other times it’s more pantomimic. Suffice to say, she may be a contentious character.

At the centre of all this is Ritter, whose character is just so damn brilliant. Jessica is fascinating, powerful and damaged, and an absolute arsehole to everyone around her. She’s a woman so compelling that I can’t look away, even when she’s at her self-destructive best. Though this doesn’t reach the heights of the near-perfect season 1, this is a good continuation of her story. Long may this show continue.

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Based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation starts off much like 2016’s Arrival: a grieving academic is brought in by the Government to investigate a mysterious phenomenon that hovers over the land. Problem is, the first half hour of Annihilation has none of the narrative drive that was so effective in Denis Villeneuve’s film.

Natalie Portman plays Lena, the ex-military biologist who joins a group of fellow scientists. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny and Tessa Thompson make up a dream team of experts who head into the unknown with her. Problem is, all of them are depressed to begin with, and as soon as they enter the mysterious zone, they generally wander around in a daze. They’re all loners and have no interest in their colleagues either, so there is nothing for the audience to hang their hopes and fears on.

The languid pace doesn’t help. This comes as a real surprise after Garland’s directorial debut, Ex Machina, where the story beats came thick and fast, and I was always anxious to see what would happen next. This kind of narrative tension is completely absent in Annihilation. Another surprise is that the score, composed by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, doesn’t work either, despite their stellar contribution to Ex Machina. Well, it doesn’t work until the last ten minutes, but by that stage it’s too late.

If anything, this movie feels like a directorial debut. I’m completely mystified how Garland screwed this one up. I haven’t read the book on which it’s based, but VanderMeer’s ‘City of Saints & Madmen’ sits proudly on my shelf, and I can recognise his work in the film.

This will get lumped in with the likes of the much-maligned The Cloverfield Paradox – another film that skipped cinemas to go straight to Netflix – and yet that very silly sequel was at least entertaining. Annihilation is a hard slog to get through, and despite a couple of excellent scenes and a handful of good ideas, it fails to impress.

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Dan (Hayden J. Weal) is a barista with very little going on in his life. When he starts receiving cryptic messages on his bedroom window, he begins to question his previously-held views on fate and causality. He’s drawn to half a dozen strangers and the web of coincidence that holds them together.

Love and Time Travel is the creation of writer/director/editor/star Hayden J. Weal, and he certainly earned his stars on this, his first feature film. The blossoming romance between Dan and Sophia (Michelle Ny) is perfectly presented, and his characters are believably flawed. Julian Dennison, from last year’s hugely successful Hunt for the Wilderpeople, also makes an appearance.

This is clearly a low-budget production. The cinematography, which is more than serviceable, is let down by the less-than-stellar picture quality. In this day and age, I assume a bad DVD transfer isn’t what’s to blame, so I can only conclude it was the quality of the production equipment at fault. It’s a pity, but for anyone who’s sat through micro-budget mind-bending fare like Coherence, this shouldn’t be a problem.

It’s the final act that lets the film down. Love and Time Travel falls for a common cliché at the last minute. The fact that the script called attention to the cliché earlier on doesn’t make it any better, unfortunately, and simply makes it feel like an excuse before the fact. That being said, the majority of this twisting, charming, and heartfelt journey is an enjoyable one.

The DVD includes an introduction by Weal, as well as video logs chronicling the creation of the film. I loved spending time with this cast of characters, and I hope to see Weal and Cleary in other productions, because these two stars show genuine talent.

A must for anyone who loves time-loop movies – I promise these people exist; I met one at a party – Love and Time Travel, or with its much more interesting title, Chronosthesia, is a great addition to this small yet fertile corner of cinema.

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Set a year after the events of the series, we rejoin our characters in their Future Gadget Laboratory. The timeline shenanigans from the series have calmed down, the microwave time machine is *ahem* ancient history, and all of Rintarō Okabe’s friends are safe. But his actions still have repercussions, and before long, there’s another timeline crises looming.

Let’s be clear: there was no need for this movie. The series wrapped things up perfectly, especially with the one-off final episode (that felt like the equivalent on an English TV show’s Christmas special.) That being said, Load Region of Déjà vu is nothing like the catastrophe that was The Last Dark, the feature film that was a massive letdown after the stellar Blood-C series. Here, the story comes back for a third helping, and the time spent in the world is worthwhile.

That being said, it doesn’t soar to the same heights that the show did. This is a subtle tale that squeezes the last little bit of narrative out of the concept, and it doesn’t really deserve the 90-minute runtime.

If you’re a Steins;Gate fanatic, however, then you’ll still enjoy the film. Right from the opening scene, the dialogue crackles and the characters are as funny as ever. The film provides a little more depth for both Mayuri Shiina and Kurisu Makise, and – without spoiling anything – having Okabe take a narrative back seat is a great idea, letting other characters take the spotlight. The pacing can be sluggish, however, and there are many moments of introspection. We don’t reach Attack on Titan levels of inner monologue, but there’s still too much.

The animation looks as good at the TV show, and the lines and colours are beautifully crisp on Blu-ray. There’s never been anything flashy about Steins;Gate, and the same blown-out bright white visual style remains here. The disc features a commentary from the US voice dub team too.

The worst you can say about Load Region of Déjà vu is that they could have squeezed the story into another episode of the TV show. It is an enjoyable little coda, however, and if you liked the show you’re bound to enjoy this.

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A remake of the 1971 Clint Eastwood feature, the story concerns a wounded Union soldier stumbling onto a Confederate school during the American Civil War. The school is run by Miss Martha (Nicole Kidman) with the assistance of Edwina (Kirsten Dunst, always willing to put in an appearance in a Sofia Coppola film). The presence of Corporal McBurney (Colin Farrell) sets the girls at the school into chaos, as vows are broken and alliances reconfigured. Farrell is particularly good in a tough role, sympathetic yet very flawed.

The Beguiled features an incredible cast of women, and it’s exciting to see so many onscreen at once. Joining Kidman and Dunst are Elle Fanning, Angourie Rice, Oona Lawrence, Addison Riecke and Emma Howard. All the faux Southern accents are terrible, but I was able to overlook this. Strangely enough, though I suppose unsurprising, is the fact that the film most definitely does not pass the Bechdel test, considering just about every single scene concerns the presence of McBurney in their midst. That being said, the characters are afforded depth, strength of character and agency – all good things.

The cinematography is great. Clearly, with such a tiny budget, they couldn’t move the camera much. As a consequence, DOP Philippe Le Sourd does the most he can with shadows and mist, which perfectly suits the isolated setting.

Unsurprisingly, the trailer makes The Beguiled look more sinister than it actually is. This is a subtle film – eerie, surprising, funny – even if its ambitions are less than lofty. The drama is suffused with ambiguity, but in a good way (Lost in Translation), not a bad way (The Virgin Suicides.) I’d like to state it’s the second-best Sofia Coppola film out there, but I haven’t seen Lost in Translation in a long time, and I’m concerned that it won’t have aged well. Suffice to say that The Beguiled is a nifty little tale that isn’t quite a thriller, isn’t quite a wartime drama and isn’t quite an historical romance. It’s something in between, and that hard-to-pin-down story is the kind of thing at which Coppola excels.

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Keeping the premise as short and to the point as possible, it tells the story of Gloria (Anne Hathaway) who discovers she has a psychic link to a kaiju in South Korea. You don’t really need more than that, do you? If you’re after a film that’s unlike anything you’ve seen before, then this is it. But this recommendation comes with caveats.

The thing about Colossal is that it veers wildly from what you may be expecting. This Garden State meets Being John Malkovich meets Pacific Rim movie gets rather dark. So dark, in fact, that I began to worry that the filmmakers didn’t know what they were dealing with. When Bad Things started happening, I was concerned that the film didn’t perceive them as particularly bad. I’m dancing around the issue because I hate spoilers, but suffice to say the film gets very dark indeed before coming out on the right side of the story. I think.

On the one hand, a film that challenges expectations is a wonderful thing. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that those hoping for a quirky night out at the cinema might become a little shocked at the relationships that are presented here. The writing is good, but it’s entirely possible someone might walk out of the film before it’s finished, missing the dénouement.

Hathway and Jason Sudeikis are great in the lead roles, the latter providing a particularly complex performance. Dan Stevens isn’t exactly stretching his acting muscles here, whilst Austin Stowell and Tim Blake Nelson are great as one-note supporting characters.

The visual effects are good enough, considering this is an offbeat comedy, whilst the cinematography is nothing spectacular. Strangely enough, Bear McCreary’s score was a complete misfire for me – surprising considering his previously fantastic work. Nacho Vigalondo’s direction is the real star here, and his performers give it their all.

Colossal is a wonderfully unexpected night out at the cinema. But I wonder if it needs a trigger warning.

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Within the first ten minutes, I could see why the book turned out to be so popular. An incredible opening couple of scenes have you hooked from the get-go. If you want an example of how to capture your audience’s attention within moments, then you couldn’t find much better than this. Aside from a single instance of gratuitous narration that never returns, director Rachel Perkins’ film oozes confidence. The cinematography is brilliant, the score is strong if ever-so-slightly over the top, whilst the performances impress.

The film relies heavily on nostalgia, and feels 5000% Australian. Racism and sexism lurk around the edges of the interpersonal drama, though there isn’t anything particularly nuanced about the depiction. It’s enough to spark dialogue amongst Year 7 students, however.

Toni Collette, Hugo Weaving, Dan Wyllie and Matt Nable round out the adult cast, whilst Miller is great as the central protagonist. Rice, of course, acts the pants off everyone around her, including the adults…but after These Final Hours and The Nice Guys, we already knew this. Kevin Long is another stand-out as Jeffrey Lu (though his name is mysteriously missing from the cast list on IMDb). McGrath is good enough as Jasper, though the script doesn’t afford him the same opportunities it does Charlie and Eliza.

And herein lies my central issue with the film. The eponymous character barely features. It’s one thing to include an Aboriginal supporting character, but it’s another to name the story after him, despite the startling lack of depth afforded to his story. Jasper Jones may be the title of the film, but we’re almost in (500) Days of Summer territory here – he’s there to set Charlie on his path. His continued absence through much of the running time didn’t feel right at all.

Despite this, Jasper Jones is a beautifully made film. The mystery at its heart is compelling, the production values are wonderful and the pacing is perfect. Unless someone can tell me that this differs drastically from the source material, my only complaints presumably stem from the novel itself.

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