Daniel Allen

United Kingdom

Writer and FilmReviewer at Freelance

Staff Writer at Loud and Clear Reviews

Creator @CinematicSense. Bylines: @LoudAndClearRvs, @InRO, @TheQuietus, @FilmStories, @LWLies, @thefilmagazine. Portfolio below.

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Articles

Film Review: Bring Them Down Is An Impactful Revenge Thriller

1 week ago | cinematicsense.home.blog | Daniel Allen |byDaniel Allen

Barry Keoghan and a magnificent Christopher Abbott are on opposing sides of a farmer struggle in the impactful revenge thriller Bring Them Down. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. The debut feature from writer-director Christopher Andrews, Bring Them Down is full of grimness and anger.
Film Review: Miguel Gomes’ Grand Tour Is Interesting If Not Transfixing

2 weeks ago | cinematicsense.home.blog | Daniel Allen |byDaniel Allen

Miguel Gomes’ Grand Tour is a journey through colonial Southeast Asia that is interesting and full of mysticism, but not as transfixing as it should be. ⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3 out of 5. Winner of Best Director at last year’s Cannes, Miguel Gomes’ Grand Tour has finally made its way to MUBI. A chase movie and a travelogue of Southeast Asia in one, it is experimental with constant temporal shifts between the colonial past and the present.
‎‘Trenque Lauquen’ review by Daniel Allen • Letterboxd

1 month ago | letterboxd.com | Daniel Allen

An adventure to find someone, wrapped in several mysteries that reveal a meditation on unrequited love, obsession, limerence, discoveries and escaping. There are mysteries all around us, and that proves consequential to Trenque Lauquen. As does the fact this is a film full of journeys, mini and grand, and rabbit holes characters delve into. Lo-fi filmmaking at its best, with the image so captivatingly unvarnished.
“I Want To Fit In”: American Psycho at 25

1 month ago | cinematicsense.home.blog | Daniel Allen |byDaniel Allen

Twenty-five years after its release, Mary Harron’s adaptation of American Psycho remains an intense indictment of Wall Street, capitalism and male conformity. When author Bret Easton Ellis released American Psycho in 1991, it was a shock to the system. Set in the midst of 1980s capitalism and Reaganomics, it was decried by many at the time for its brutal violence but became a big hit.
Film Review: Robert Zemeckis’ Here Is An Experimental, Curious Watch

1 month ago | cinematicsense.home.blog | Daniel Allen |byDaniel Allen

In Here, Robert Zemeckis reunites with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright and uses one fixed camera shot to tell the story of one plot of land across time. ⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3 out of 5. CAUTION: Light spoilers for the film. Proceed with caution…One house, one room. One story about the plot of land it sits on as it is subjected to the marching progress of time. One fixed camera, never moving from its spot. Here lies the conceit of Here.
Film Review: Top Secret!

1 month ago | cinematicsense.home.blog | Daniel Allen |byDaniel Allen

Starring the great Val Kilmer, Top Secret! is a perfect spoof comedy from Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. There were two events last week that gave me pause for thought. The first was the sad passing of Val Kilmer at the age of 65. Kilmer was a great actor who ended up with an enviable filmography – Tombstone, Heat, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Déjà Vu, Willow, The Prince of Egypt and more. He was Batman and Jim Morrison.
Film Review: Architecton Is Rock-Solid - and Visually Spectacular

1 month ago | cinematicsense.home.blog | Daniel Allen |byDaniel Allen

Viktor Kossakovsky’s architecture documentary Architecton is a rock-solid film that is also visually spectacular. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Can you make a film about concrete interesting? The answer is yes, thanks to Architecton, a new documentary from Viktor Kossakovsky. An arthouse filmmaker who began his career at the tail end of the USSR’s existence, his most recent docs have been about water and ice (Aquarela) and farm animals (Gunda).
BFI Flare 2025: Winter Kept Us Warm, Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

1 month ago | cinematicsense.home.blog | Daniel Allen |byDaniel Allen

Yesterday marked the conclusion of the 2025 edition of BFI Flare, the UK’s premier LBGTQIA+ film festival that takes place every March. If you want a sense of how big the festival has been, featured films in recent years have included Charli XCX: Alone Together, The Five Devils, Slowand Rose Glass’ superb Love Lies Bleeding. This year’s opening gala was the remake of The Wedding Banquet, fresh from Sundance.
The Silence of My Hands Review: Immersive LSM Doc

1 month ago | loudandclearreviews.com | Daniel Allen

Manuel Acuña’s documentary The Silence of My Hands uses sign language and immersive sound design to tell the story of a romance facing various complications. Director: Manuel AcuñaGenre: DocumentaryRun Time: 80′BFI Flare Screening: March 24-28, 2025U.S. Release Date: TBAU.K. Release Date: TBAThe Silence of My Hands (El Silencio de Mis Manos) is not a completely silent film.
Outerlands Review: Asia Kate Dillon Shines

1 month ago | loudandclearreviews.com | Daniel Allen

Asia Kate Dillon shines in Outerlands, a drama about a non-binary person struggling to get by in an increasingly gentrified San Francisco. Director: Elena OxmanGenre: Drama, FamilyRun Time: 100′BFI Flare Screening: March 22-23, 2025U.S. Release Date: TBAU.K. Release Date: TBAIn Elena Oxman’s debut film Outerlands, Cass (Asia Kate Dillon, Billions and John Wick 3 – Parabellum) is trying to get by.