The Brown Note Movie Review

We are all of us blessed to have lived in the same time as the deity Nicolas Cage, bathed in his magnificence. Now no longer viewed as an A list actor who went off the boil, his modern filmography contains numerous low key classics. My ten favorite Cage films from the last twenty years.

Director Jeremy Saulnier continues his strong run of idiosyncratic films, with this inspired take on one of cinemas most overused tropes, the mysterious (and tough) stranger, walks into a small town and comes into conflict with the authorities. With top notch casting and writing, it may get to the same place as nearly every one of these post First Blood films, but the journey there is a hell of a lot more interesting, if long.

And in an era where music festivals are dying, featuring rote pop acts as headliners, with no musicians and backing tracks, how the Oasis reunion could save music, by bringing back the band.

In the first banner year for the rap album in a decade, another great album. This time with a wild foray into Death Metal and Death Grips, from one of the biggest mavericks in underground Hip hop.

The White Stripes supremo drops his most exciting solo project yet and it feels perfectly timed. With the Oasis reunion in full swing, this fabulous album, harking back to the heady early garage rock days of his most famous band could not be more on point.

What's most startling about this low-rent big-budget Mission Impossible rip-off is how vastly superior the panned Gal Gadot movie, Heart of Stone, is in every way.

Arguably the year's It horror movie was far closer to upper mid-tier than I'd hoped. It's well crafted and has a strong mood, but is relatively insubstantial and has a lacklustre lead. Though a mad-cap Nicolas Cage (barely in the movie) makes you wish for a Pearl like origin story.

My simping for star Mia Goth reached insufferable heights with the one-two punch of Pearl and Infinity Pool, where I claimed she was this era's Bridget Bardot, but a much better actor. Sadly this third in the X film trilogy is by far the weakest and the biggest let down of the year, next to Civil War. At least Mia is photographed exceptionally well and is as electric onscreen as always. But such a great premise is totally wasted by unexpectedly tepid delivery. Please don't be wasting Mia like this.

Given the high praise afforded this latest reboot, I can't help but feel let down. It's not really any better than the 2014 tornado/Twister movie, Into the Storm - in fact I can't say the tornado effects are any more impressive. Plus it often plays like a Nicholas Sparks romance movie. It is scarier than its two predecessors though, and we get a couple of charismatic leads in Glen - man of the moment - Powell, and Daisy Edgar-Jones, who has been a stand out in anything she's been in, and has the most haunting brown eyes imaginable.

The second excellent album from a Californian modern/alt-pop artist who gets nowhere near the respect or acclaim she deserves, and is far more thrilling and individualistic than most of her more lauded peers.