Alistair Ryder

the biggest fucking idiot you've ever met in your life, who thinks that accepting trans people was a Muslim conspiracy theory to undermine the west or some shit like that, has called this a "victory for common sense"

Every trans person I've ever met is smarter and more interesting than I am and every TERF I've ever had to deal with has been a parochial, petty dullard. Strange how that works.

Sinners Review: Ryan Coogler Breathes Life Into Richly Told, Carnal Vampire Tale From increasingly overbearing Eat the Rich satires to a never-ending, post-Get Out wave of social commentary-infused horror, it seems like there’s no end in sight to what the New Yorker recently dubbe...

Ryan Coogler breathes life into the vampire tale with #Sinners, a richly told, carnal delight. Read @yesitsalistair.bsky.social's review:

Building the New Queer Canon #3: Olmo Schnabel's 'Pet Shop Days' Building the New Queer Canon #3: Olmo Schnabel's 'Pet Shop Days' | Vague Visages

After a couple of New Queer Canon columns discussing exciting, unsung LGBTQ films, it’s finally time for me to dig into one that represents everything wrong with current American indie cinema! Me on PET SHOP DAYS for Vague Visages: vaguevisages.com/2025/03/28/p...

Being Maria Review: A Reductive Biopic Centered on the Trauma of Last Tango in Paris Last Tango in Paris was both a breakout role and turning point in the life and career of Maria Schneider––a traumatic filming experience that inspired her to become an advocate for women in the film i...

#BeingMaria, a drama about Maria Schneider and the traumatic experience of filming Last Tango in Paris, has a lack of curiosity about its subject. Read @yesitsalistair.bsky.social's review:

Building the New Queer Canon #2: Bruce LaBruce's 'The Visitor' Building the New Queer Canon #2: Bruce LaBruce's 'The Visitor' | Vague Visages

My latest New Queer Canon column for @vaguevisages.bsky.social has landed, digging into the delightful transgressions of Bruce LaBruce's THE VISITOR, and how a fetish porn movie has more to say about our current political climate than most recent LGBTQ cinema: vaguevisages.com/2025/03/19/t...

Not a single penny of the $320 million this cost can be seen onscreen - can’t think of any other directors capable of that!

The Electric State Review: A Sorry State Of A Sci-Fi Blockbuster - Looper The Russo Brothers took the source material for "The Electric State" and flattened it into a soulless mess.

Remember when the Russo Brothers said AI would be directing feature length movies by 2025? If you didn't know any better, you'd assume their new movie THE ELECTRIC STATE was the AI-directed movie they were predicting.

My review for Looper: www.looper.com/1804865/the-...

Recently got a chance to sit down with Bong Joon Ho and Steven Yeun to talk all things Mickey 17: www.zavvi.com/blog/film/mi...

Maya, Give Me a Title Review: Michel Gondry Rejuvenates His Creative Spirit with Earnest Animation Of all the directors who made the jump from music videos to feature-directing during MTV’s '90s peak, Michel Gondry is the sole name whose work hasn’t been able to fully escape from the shadow of earl...

Michel Gondry's latest film may have been scrapped, but he's back with a new animation Maya, Give Me a Title, making its North American premiere this weekend. Read @yesitsalistair.bsky.social's review:

Review: Osgood Perkins' 'The Monkey' Review: Osgood Perkins' 'The Monkey' | Vague Visages

I wasn't even a fan of Longlegs to begin with, but with THE MONKEY, Oz Perkins doubles down on the whacky comedy to offer an early contender for most insufferable movie of 2025. My review for Vague Visages: vaguevisages.com/2025/02/19/t...

I'm Still Here is out in the UK today! Rebumping my interview with Fernanda and Walter:

Mickey 17 Review: Robert Pattinson's Space Satire Plays It Too Safe - Looper "Mickey 17" explores themes often touched on in Bong Joon-ho films, but it doesn't do as well with the messaging as his previous efforts.

There’s a lot to like in Mickey 17, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that it’s just Starship Troopers if Paul Verhoeven kept pausing to directly tell the audience he was satirising fascism every 5 minutes.

My review for Looper: www.looper.com/1790621/mick...

Fernanda Torres and Walter Salles Talk Oscar Nominated Drama I'm Still Here The Oscar nominated actress and director of I'm Still Here sat down with Zavvi to reveal why this was a "personal" film for them to make, and shining a light on Brazil's dark past for a new generation...

A few months ago, on Golden Globes nominations day, I spoke to the prides of Brazil, Fernanda Torres and Walter Salles. With I’m Still Here now just a week away from UK cinemas, I can finally share our conversation: www.zavvi.com/blog/film/st...

Paddington in Peru Review: Threequel Fails to Climb to Franchise Heights It’s hard to overstate just how ubiquitous the Paddington films––particularly the 2017 sequel––have been in the British cultural consciousness over the last decade. Not simply massive box-office succe...

Paddington in Peru is a big step down from its predecessors, but is not without charms. Read @yesitsalistair.bsky.social's review as the threequel arrives in U.S. theaters:

Ahead of its UK release on Friday, I spoke to Memoir of a Snail director Adam Elliot about why he loves emotionally "torturing" audiences with his movies: www.zavvi.com/blog/film/me...

Building the New Queer Canon #1: Isao Fujisawa's 'Bye Bye Love (Baibai Rabu)' Building the New Queer Canon #1: Isao Fujisawa's 'Bye Bye Love (Baibai Rabu)' | Vague Visages

Got a new monthly column on launching over at @vaguevisages.bsky.social on new and rediscovered LGBTQ films, and whether they fit into the New Queer Cinema Canon!

In the first edition I dive into the recently rediscovered Japanese film BYE BYE LOVE, a genderqueer take on Breathless:

Marcello Mio Review: Chiara Mastroianni Honors Her Father in Toothless Meta Satire The infamous cover of New York Magazine’s December 2022 issue declared that Hollywood is in the middle of a “Nepo Baby Boom,” but this is hardly restricted to the American film industry. Case in point...

Chiara Mastroianni's tribute to her legendary father is an unfortunately laugh-free satire. Read @yesitsalistair.bsky.social's review of Marcello Mio:

Director Drew Hancock Reveals How Companion Came To Life As the acclaimed thriller Companion arrives in cinemas, we sat down with its writer/director to explore how he aimed to subvert what audiences expect from an AI story.

"There's no shortage of movies about AI gone wrong... I wanted to make one about AI gone right!"

I had a very interesting, somewhat revealing conversation with Companion writer/director Drew Hancock about the process of developing a screenplay that can stand out in an oversaturated genre:

Save The Prince Charles Cinema The iconic Prince Charles Cinema in London’s West End future is under serious threat! We are beyond disappointed that our landlords Zedwell LSQ Ltd and their ultimate parent company Criterion Capital...

as a frequent tourist in London, I've always felt the capital city needed less cultural institutions and more American candy stores/Harry Potter merchandise stores which can't legally use "Harry Potter" in their names.

However, the Prince Charles Cinema is pretty good too, sign to save:

Save The Prince Charles Cinema The iconic Prince Charles Cinema in London’s West End future is under serious threat! We are beyond disappointed that our landlords Zedwell LSQ Ltd and their ultimate parent company Criterion Capital...

#SaveThePCC

Some of you may have read about the situation regarding our new landlord wishing to add a new redevelopment break clause, with only 6 months notice to our lease.

For now, we're simply asking you all to share & sign the petition below;

you.38degrees.org.uk/p/princechar...

it would be unfair on the other actresses in the race if Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin were Oscar nominated, because how can you compete with them?

I spoke to them last year about building their Hard Truths characters from the ground up: www.zavvi.com/blog/film/ha...

only just realised that 3 of WB's next 4 films are movies where the lead actors play multiple roles. Is this a cost saving exercise from David Zaslav, or a genius plot to get freelance journalists everywhere to pitch articles on "double movies" for a month of free publicity?

Rose Review: Françoise Fabian Gets Lost in a Bouquet of Clichés Not to judge a film from the synopsis established by its marketing team, but those expecting director Aurélie Saada’s debut Rose––a 2021 Locarno premiere only now arriving on U.S. shores––to be a more...

My Night at Maud's star Françoise Fabian leads Aurélie Saada’s Rose, which offers too neat a portrayal of an emotionally turbulent moment.

Read @yesitsalistair.bsky.social's review:

"It's Like A Reality TV Show!" - Lucy Liu And Cast Of Presence Talk Their Experimental Horror We sat down with the cast of experimental haunted house thriller Presence, including Lucy Liu and This Is Us star Chris Sullivan, to find out why this was like nothing they'd ever made before...

Last week I spoke to Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan and the young cast of Steven Soderbergh’s Presence (in cinemas Friday!) about the challenges of shooting the experimental horror movie, and why it’s ultimately a movie about why you need to talk to your family about your problems:

"It's Like A Reality TV Show!" - Lucy Liu And Cast Of Presence Talk Their Experimental Horror We sat down with the cast of experimental haunted house thriller Presence, including Lucy Liu and This Is Us star Chris Sullivan, to find out why this was like nothing they'd ever made before...

Last week I spoke to Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan and the young cast of Steven Soderbergh’s Presence (in cinemas Friday!) about the challenges of shooting the experimental horror movie, and why it’s ultimately a movie about why you need to talk to your family about your problems:

Just saw Companion, and as much as I think we need a 25 year break from movies which ask ‘can AI become human?’, this turns into a surprisingly straightforward noir riff with double crosses and a bag of money by the second act. A solid time!

Trump’s anti-trans Executive Order is bad BUT it technically defines everyone as female. It states:

“'Female' means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell."

Since all fetuses "at conception" are female, Trump just defined EVERYONE as female.

Emmanuelle Review: Audrey Diwan Subverts an Erotic Classic to Compelling, Alienating Effect The most striking thing about Audrey Diwan’s reinterpretation of Emmanuelle––the infamous novel-turned-softcore franchise from fabulously named director Just Jaeckin––is that the original dramatic bea...

As a story of sexual discovery, Audrey Diwan's #Emmanuelle feels less aligned with its predecessors than it does something like Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, in which the very act of sexual desire is depicted as something unfathomable and alien.

Read @yesitsalistair.bsky.social's review:

Leigh Whannell Reveals Personal Inspiration For His Wolf Man Remake The writer/director of Wolf Man sat down with Zavvi to discuss returning to the world of Universal Monsters, and the personal tragedy which shaped his take on the story.

I spoke to Leigh Whannell about Wolf Man, and why this Universal Monster was the perfect vessel to explore every anxiety he's had over the last five years: