cate blanchett

OSCARS 2023: A Full List Of The 95th Academy Awards Nominations

Movies In Focus is just going to say this up front – I want Top Gun: Maverick to win Best Picture at the 2023 Academy Awards. The reason being is that it’s a crowd pleaser – a movie. A Hollywood movie. It deserves to win. It would [...]

January 24, 2023

TÁR Teaser Trailer

This first teaser for Todd Field‘s Tár certainly plays by its own rules. It doesn’t give away much about the film or its tone – but you can be certain that it’s probably not one for the Marvel crowd. An actor turned [...]

July 26, 2022

Notebook Reviews: ELIZABETH

Shekhar Kapur – 1998. Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth is a handsomely produced historical film. The cast is top tier with Cate Blanchett in the title role and Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, John Gielgud, and Richard [...]

April 20, 2022

Monster Opening For SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME Breaks Box Office Records

It’s been a while since Movies In Focus did any sort of deep-dive into box office analysis. That stuff doesn’t interest me like it used to, mainly because I no longer have a dog in the fight. In the good old days, you could follow actors [...]

December 20, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: Wes Anderson’s THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU

Wes Anderson’s brilliant 2004 film, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is the writer-director’s forgotten masterpiece. It includes Anderson’s usual precise visual style and tropes about broken families and distant fathers, but this time [...]

December 17, 2021

Trailer: Guillermo Del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY Starring Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara & Cate Blanchett

The great Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a remake of the 1947 film noir classic/ adaptation of the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. Del Toro is coming-off the huge financial, critical and award-wining success of The Shape Of [...]

September 17, 2021

Notebook Reviews: BANDITS

Barry Levinson – 2001 Bandits is an enjoyable comedy from Barry Levinson, but it’s somehow lacking that magic spark to make it a truly great one. It’s a well made Hollywood production featuring good turns from Bruce Willis, Billy [...]

March 20, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: Terrence Malick’s KNIGHT OF CUPS

If you’re not a fan of Terrence Malick’s ethereal style of filmmaking then 2015’s Knight Of Cups isn’t for you. Malick once again eschews a traditional plot and narrative, flitting between disconnected voice-overs and dreamlike [...]

January 14, 2021

Notebook Reviews: THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY

Anthony Minghella – 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley is a highly entertaining and wonderfully presented thriller from director Anthony Minghella. The cast is first-rate (Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett and the always [...]

January 14, 2021

Behind The Scenes: Wes Anderson Directs Bill Murray On The Set Of 2004’s THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU

A true masterpiece, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is a wonderful piece of cinema. It sees Wes Anderson crafting an experience like no other and showing blatant disregard for convention and the rules. It’s a $50 million art movie with an [...]

January 4, 2021

The 2020 Golden Globes Full Nominations List

It’s easy to become cynical when you write about movies. You get to see the good, the bad and the ugly and sometimes that makes you jaded. However, there’s nothing like watching quality movies succeed and when you see the list of [...]

December 9, 2019

Blu-ray Review: Criterion’s Release Of Wes Anderson’s THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU Is The Perfect Way To Present A Masterpiece

To many The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (henceforth known as The Life Aquatic) is Wes Anderson’s creative and commercial misfire, but to others (Movies In Focus included) it’s the writer-director’s forgotten masterpiece. This 2004 release [...]

June 23, 2018

Mo Money, Mo-Cap And Mo MOWGLI

You won’t be getting ‘The Bare Necessities’ with Andy Serki’s new telling of The Jungle Book, Mowgli. Will this score at the box office, or will audiences stay away in droves after shelling out $966 million globally to watch [...]

May 22, 2018

The Con Is On: Trailer For The ALL-Star Female Focused OCEAN’S 8

Here we go, the first trailer for Ocean’s 8. It looks like you would expect – an all-star cast of gals pulling-off a classy heist. A companion piece to Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 11/12/13, this looks solid – but who [...]

December 19, 2017

8 Is The New 11: First Poster For OCEAN’S 8

Sandra Bullock is the sister of George Clooney’s Danny Ocean in Ocean’s 8, the spin-off from Steven Soderbergh’s all-star comedy-heist franchise. Bullock is Debbie Ocean, Danny’s estranged sister and she’s getting in on the family business [...]

December 17, 2017

All Eyez On Me: The Best Music Biopics

Musicians are often some of the most interesting, unique, scrutinised and debated over figures in popular culture, which has led to a plethora of music biopics over the years. While many simply follow the same well trodden narratives that biopics [...]

June 21, 2017