Anya Taylor-Joy

Be Careful When You Order Off The Menu

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Menu
  • IMDb: link

Taking a few good-natured jabs at foodie culture and the cult-like culture inside a chef’s kitchen, The Menu offers us a look into an exclusive dining experience in a dark comedy that may not always work as well as intended but is so damn bizarre it’s certainly not easily forgettable. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the last-minute replacement date for molecular gastronomy nerd Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) for a dining experience so exclusive it has its own island.

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Last Night in Soho

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Last Night in Soho
  • IMDb: link

Writer/director Edgar Wright‘s nostalgic love letter to the 1960s is glamorous spectacle. The story involves would-be designer Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) who, shortly after starting university in London, begins dreaming life alongside a would-be singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). The dreams start vibrant and hopeful, influencing Ellie’s actions during the day, but soon turn dark and violent before they spill into Ellie’s life even further.

Despite its lavish beauty, Last Night in Soho is a mess. If not for the great soundtrack, I’d say it would work better with the sound off as the story often gets in the way of the terrific visuals. Sadly, Ellie isn’t all that interesting as a character, nor are her struggles fitting in at college worth screen time. It’s only in the 60s when Sandie’s life takes over does the film come to life. And when the two stories crash together the film becomes a jumbled mess.

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The Queen’s Gambit – Openings

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Queen’s Gambit – Openings
  • IMDb: link

The Queen's Gambit - Openings television review

I was intrigued by the trailer for Netflix’s new show The Queen’s Gambit. I’m a little less so after the first episode. Don’t get me wrong, “Openings” is well made. It is however largely an origin story absent of what I was sold on. Series star Anya Taylor-Joy gets only a cameo here on an opening scene teasing where the series will eventually lead. The rest of the episode takes place years earlier with Isla Johnston playing the 9 year-old version of Beth Harmon who is sent to an orphanage after the death of her mother where she discovers her two great loves: chess and drugs. Based on Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel of the same name, the mini-series will follow Beth’s rise from the orphanage to unexpected heights in chess while struggling with the addictions which begin here.

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Breakable

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Glass
  • IMDb: link

Glass movie reviewGlass is an unusual sequel to a pair of movies made 16 years apart which are, at best, only loosely connected by a single scene. The film unites the main character from 2016’s Split with the primary characters from 2000’s Unbreakable, throwing the unlikely trio together to be examined by a psychiatrist (Sarah Paulson) specializing in a growing mental disorder of people believing themselves to be super-heroes.

If you’ve seen either of the previous two M. Night Shyamalan films you know that David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) are indeed super-human while Elijah “Mr. Glass” Price (Samuel L. Jackson) fits the bill of the genius super-villain to stir the drink of this unusual cocktail.

Knowing Dr. Staple’s (Paulson) premise is faulty makes it hard to legitimize her point of view, but it does create tension waiting for the truth to be revealed. While messy in spots, and rather slow to get started, Glass is never boring. As expected, the film features a few Shyamalan twists as it delivers a suitable sequel to Split, even if it doesn’t reach anywhere near the heights of Unbreakable.

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