Catherine Keener

News, Reviews & Features

Incredibles 2

Movie Review | Matt Looker | 9th July 2018

With more than a decade between Toy Stories or Finding Fish Characters, Pixarâ€™s recent run of belated sequels is clearly part of a canny business plan rather than a sign of creative exhaustion, because these franchise returns do the job of appealing to both the original fans and a whole new generation of toy-demanders. If this has always been the strategy though, Incredibles 2 takes home the trophy for longest audience payoff of all time. Because, with the original film invoking everyoneâ€™s childhood fantasies of wanting to be superpowered, this sequel - delivered 14 years later - teaches those of us that have become parents in the meantime that our wish has been fulfilled: we now are heroes.

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Begin Again

Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 11th July 2014

John Carney's Begin Again, a feel-good acousticky-summery-strummery thing, does a great job of convincing you why music matters so much. Despite a few flaws it even won me over, and I haven't listened to anything outside the Radio 2 playlist for about three years.

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#LFF2013: Enough Said

Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 16th October 2013

It's hard to watch a recently deceased actor in one of his final films with your opinion of his performance uncoloured. See The Dark Knight and try not to wonder a little how much the Joker's intensity fed into Heath Ledger's state of mind. But James Gandolfini is a different case: I was five seasons into rewatching The Sopranos when he passed away in June, and the fact of his death barely occurred to me as I watched him in the subsequent episodes. I got to wondering why, and didn't fully figure it out until I saw Enough Said. It was because he didn't actually do all that much. But he did nothing a lot better than plenty of other actors do something.

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The Croods

Movie Review | Rob | 20th March 2013

The Croods raises some interesting questions. Such as: where can I find me some giant corncobs? What's up with that flying tortoise/parrot thing? Is it weird to be attracted to an animalistic red-headed cave girl who runs on all fours? And why canâ€™t I stop staring at that dude's distractingly convincing CGI nipples? At least, these were my thoughts upon leaving the screening of this film. I hope for their sake that the children in attendance werenâ€™t thinking the same as me.

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You Ain't Seen Me, Right? - Your Friends & Neighbors (1998)

Movie Feature | Daniel | 8th October 2010

Here's another instalment of our hidden gems feature, You Ain't Seen Me, Right? - the weekly blog post which naturally assumes you have no taste. (*snort*)

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Cyrus

Movie Review | James | 15th September 2010

Appearances can be deceiving. Take Cyrus, the latest comedy from writer/director pairing Jay and Mark Duplass. Certainly, if one were to gaze upon its theatrical poster a number of seemingly telling points stand out; John C. Reilly smirking like a bemused bulldog, Marisa Tomei's alluring half-smile and Jonah Hill's cold, reptilian eyes piercing through your soul. Fox Searchlight seem to want this film to resemble another Apatow-esque comedy conflict, a first impression which is entirely erroneous; Cyrus is, in fact, a slow, sincere film more interested in characters and relationships than timed pratfalls - arguably to its detriment.

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Where The Wild Things Are

Movie Review | Chris | 10th December 2009

With Where the Wild Things Are, Spike Jonze not only solidifies his reputation as a great director (as if there were any doubt), but he also demonstrates an uncanny understanding of precisely what it's like to be a kid. With this gorgeous and touching adaptation of the beloved children's book by author Maurice Sendak, Jonze and screenwriter David Eggers have managed to capture the essence of childhood; all the confusion, fear, pain, anger, loneliness, and above all the joy of being a kid are evident throughout.

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The Soloist

Movie Review | Matt | 24th September 2009

Mental illness? Homelessness? A man battling all odds to express his extraordinary gift? Based on a true story? Yes, it's 'Oscar Winning by Numbers' and it comes from a bunch of people who are already familiar with the golden baldie, so it's kind of a shoo-in for the Academy Awards.

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Synecdoche, New York

Movie Review | Anna | 25th May 2009

The mind of Charlie Kaufman is a baffling place, as anyone who has seen Being John Malkovich, Adaptation or Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind will know. This is Kaufman's first time in the director's chair; he also wrote and produced the film. Much like the scene in Being John Malkovich with dozens of Malkovichs about the pl...

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