Forum Topic

Film Reviews 2022

New year and new thread!

Joe Conneely ● 1097d181 Comments

Finally got to see this after missing first time around in late 2022, at a one off showing by local cinemas of Oscar contenders. I am a great admirer of Korean cinema and prior works by the director Park Chan-Wook are for me among some of the best Korean films in recent years.The labyrinthian story (even by Korean standards) is challenging to follow and it seems most of Korean police detective work is conducted using mobile phones per this film but the take on a police detective falling for a murder suspect certainly avoids any Hollywood tropes. I found it fascinating but not for me one of Park's best.Sadly a promised filmed Q&A between Park (who is usually very articulate at explaining his films) and the Korean director of "Parasite" after the main showing did not materialise (I saw at Chiswick). While the two voices speaking Korean could be heard, the projector switched off which meant you could see no picture or most important;y the English subtitles! The result was like in the old days when the National Anthem was played at the end of the night, the cinema cleared in minutes flat!

Joe Conneely ● 690d

The last screening of the 2022 season and this last post here for me.This is a whodunnit - and quite a classy one - set around the production. Of the Mousetrap in 1953. See the mouse reference in the title…It’s all jolly clever and good fun with a self-reflexive structure . Fab case including Adrien Brody (I think he’s great!)We laughed out loud and thoroughly enjoyed it - didn’t think we would, so a delightful surprise.

Sara Nathan ● 690d

So I went back and saw this end to end at a screening in the new Battersea Power Station cinema - which is pretty ace. Still didn’t enjoy it - I mean, how could you! But it is quite a piece of film-making. Even if grim from beginning to end. Really good music.

Sara Nathan ● 698d

We are at the very end of the viewing season and this seeing things I would NEVER choose. Plus I didn’t see the first one. Not my sort of thing but had a nomination for best supporting actress. Hard when the script is mostly facile. However Letitia Wright is in it (third film this year!) and I do love her.Excessively long and really all over the place in plot terms. I gave up once the queen was dead…

Sara Nathan ● 699d

Of course this is tosh but the cinematography and production design are both outstanding. And the music is pretty ace too. Also some fine performances - though I thought the (ex-Twilight) lead rather stiff in both roles.It’s very, far too long but that’s a problem of the genre.Amazing to look at - maybe even more than Babylon…

Sara Nathan ● 699d

Viola Davis is nominated as best actress for this but mostly she looks jolly grumpy. And who wouldn’t? Apparently it’s based on a real story - but possibly quite loosely. Lots of fighting women and a fair bit of blood.Really not my thing, even if jolly feminist

Sara Nathan ● 714d

So Brian is lonely and depressed and therefore - as you do - builds a robot to be his friend. But Charles has a mind of his own and grows into a rebellious adolescent.It’s an unusual, tiny movie based on the short of the same name and written by the lead actors. But if you can suspend disbelief enough, it’s rather charming - as is the female lead. Short-listed for best British film but won’t win.

Sara Nathan ● 716d

So the trails for this were so completely ghastly that I had avoided watching it until the last possible moment. But, though nothing like the best film of the year, it was by no means the worst. A load better and more interesting than the glass onion for example.Slightly shaggy dog but an exposition on values, gender roles and hierarchies while also a glossy big screen picture. The vomit scenes were still horrid though - just a very small proportion of the whole

Sara Nathan ● 723d

This is the most peculiar film. Some have claimed it’s the best of the year, but I can’t see it. Even with two great women starring. The Bruce Lee pastiche in the IRS office is quite fun but it’s all rather stressing and hard to follow. And too long (as are so many) The science fiction rationale seems leveraged in so it does feel like two movies…

Sara Nathan ● 724d

Cheesy dialogue, presposterous plot, gung ho American nationalism and almost as good as the original. It's flaws will be more apparent on the small screen so see it in a cinema if it is still on anywhere.

Mark Evans ● 724d

Naatu Naatu, the big song from RRR, won Best Original Song at the Golden Globes!

Norman Redfern ● 724d

It is a tribute to the film-making skills displayed here that, even with a profound flying phobia, I lasted nearly 90 minutes out of just over two hours. But I did feel ever so sick. As apparently did those filming in the air.I can quite see that if this is the sort of movie you enjoy, it’s very good of its kind: Tom Cruise is fab, there’s Jon Damm (Mad Men) and a tiny bit of Ed Harris. And of course the effects are amazing. And there are some laughs too.But it’s just so not how I would want to spend a couple of hours.

Sara Nathan ● 726d

This is big spectacular Bollywood complete with music and completely impossible fight/escape sequences.Set in the 1920s when the Raj was at full brutality, it's supposed to be a riff on what the relationship of two actual freedom fighters would have been, had they met, which they didn't.The Empire obvs the villain throughout.Very much one to see on the big screen not lap-top/telly.It's three hours long.

Sara Nathan ● 727d

Two lads are close friends but their moronic schoolmates accuse them of being a gay couple. The react to this rather differently…NOT a cheery film but quite a moving exploration of troubled adolescence and the pressures conforming brings. The boys are beautifully played (and beautiful for that matter)

Sara Nathan ● 727d

I'm not sure how I missed this rather brilliant film - released summer 2022 but am really pleased to have seen it now.It's based on the true story of an army vet/labourer who had a self-appointed crusade in one of Iran's holy cities- to get rid of the prostitutes....by killing them.Police not interested but luckily a couple of journalists were. they come out of it well, as does the judiciary. the police not so much. Caused a bit of a furore in Iran. Made by a Danish Iranian in Jordan, but that didn't stop the regime getting very upset a out how the country is portrayed here. Let's just say, you can see why the rebellion and division since it was made.Very good and compelling.

Sara Nathan ● 727d

Finally got to see this film before it disappears off the cinema circuit. My father was from Galway so the scenery and lifestyle depicted and clothing all seemed very authentic from my childhood memories in the 50s even though the film is set in the 1920s.The shaggy dog story of the falling out of friends and the consequences seems like the novels that Flann O'Brien in particular seemed to excel at. The island village setting where everybody knows everybody else's business even down to the church confessional, while it had me laughing throughout was a lot nearer the truth from my memories of relatives talking when younger.Brendan Gleeson delivers his usual studied performance but the real surprise was Colin Farrell, an actor whose dire performances for me seem to outnumber his few outstanding ones. In this film which re-unites him with Gleeson since "In Bruges", his exemplary performance with all his non-verbal acting of the hurt and aggrieved rejected friend was definitely what kept me watching till the very end.

Joe Conneely ● 727d

This is a fable about a donkey on a wild goose chase across Europe. It’s quite a happy and loved circus animal to start with but is then liberated away from the only human that ever cared for him.Picaresque journey follows.Not sure why it was long-listed except there’s a tiny role for Isabelle Huppert and a very famous director. Not my thing

Sara Nathan ● 727d

Pretty much... us and the producer or publicist and the deputy head from the school in Belfast and her extended family.... which was rather lovely....

Sara Nathan ● 731d

A courtroom drama -mostly without the drama. A Senegalese woman is on trial for killing her baby in the small town of Saint Omer - which she admits she did. Is she a modern day Medea? Maybe, but it poses tricky questions for the academic who has come to witness the trial to turn it into a book. But too many parallels with her life.French courts are of course not adversarial and thus dont do dramatic. But startlingly little happens: it's all mood and emotion.It's very contained and tiny....but quite thought provoking with strong central performances, almost all by women.

Sara Nathan ● 732d

Just to be honest, Everything Everywhere and All at Once was the absolute nadir of my film-making year, a hyperkinetic dumpster fire that I had to restrain myself, more than once, from walking out of. Having merely been disappointed in films like Parallel Mothers and Licorice Pizza, this set a new low and pretty much the tone for the year.

Adam Kimmel ● 733d

In the gap after voting closes, I thought I’d sample the George Clooney, Julia Roberts Rom com which, I thought oddly, isn’t one of the 214 films entered into BAFTA this year.Having watched it, not so surprised. No wonder it sank without trace. A bit like Mamma Mia but without the charm or the music: Estranged couple fly to Bali as young daughter says she is marrying a seaweed farmer after a month’s acquaintance. They have to ally to subvert the wedding. Julia Roberts new love interest is the cute French chap from Emily in Paris (and while she is fab, she is over 20 years older than him, so it feels a bit weird - and would the other way round)Nobody has chemistry with anyone, there are few laughs, it feels quite racist/patronising of Bali. Scenery is lovely. Not sure that’s enough.

Sara Nathan ● 733d

The Quiet Girl was right at the top for me. Also The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Babylon, The Wonder. Argentina 1985I also enjoyed Decision to Leave, the Swimmers, Living, Winners, Emancipation, Catherine called Birdy, Leo Grande, the Silent TwinsStill thinking about Corsage…Couldn’t stomach All Quiet OTWF.Not keen on Emily, Persuasion, Mr Malcolm’s List, Ticket to Paradise,  Tar, Till.Or Empire of Light in spite of ace cast.I thought Irish cinema had a really strong season.My year isn’t the same as everyone’s… so at least there is stuff to anticipate for those in step.

Sara Nathan ● 733d

Yes, an odd year where there were some outstanding films but some weeks there seemed to be nothing worth watching at the cinema. I liked Liquorice Pizza, Hit the Road and Everything Everywhere and loved Ali and Ava but there wasn’t much else that had the wow factor until I belatedly caught up with…RRR. This Telugu-language action musical about two 1920s Indian freedom fighters is in a class of its own. A proper plot, two real action heroes and some barnstorming song-and-dance routines - it’s just a pleasure to watch.

Norman Redfern ● 733d

Like Adam I found 2022 a very poor year for new films - the fact that "Aftersun" was voted the top film of the year in Sight & Sound's year end critics poll votes seemed to say it all.For me the most amazing film of the year by far was "Everything Everywhere All at Once" but since I have a lifelong love of Asian cinema, especially Japanese and Korean films plus Michelle Yeoh from her early Kung Fu films, this choice probably just reflects my eclectic tastes. I still find it hard to believe it became such a major US box office hit. I would struggle to make a list of ten films and admit that across the year to compensate and offset the poor cinema offerings, I have ended up watching a lot of documentaries on Netflix etc plus revisited many old movies on DVDs.Here's looking forward to a more rewarding 2023!

Joe Conneely ● 733d

To be honest, this was a terrible film year for me, and by about the 3/4 way I just gave up and didn't have the energy to be disappointed any more, so accept I missed out on some good ones. In past years, I've had 20, even 30 films jostling for supremacy in my list. This year I can just about scrape ten together.  In chronological order:BelfastThe DukeThe InnocentsThe OutfitAli & AvaThe Quiet GirlStrawberry MansionThe WonderAll Quiet on the Western FrontAll My Frinds Hate MeGlass OnionThe Banshee of InesheenRun Sweetheart Run (this is contentious, being a messy, violent film, but it had enough bravura moments, great cinematography and performances to push it over the line).Meh:Parallel MothersThe Worst Person in the WorldCompartment No. 6and most other 2022 films.Hate Hate Hate:Malignant C’mon C’monDrive My CarEverything Everywhere and All at OnceLet’s All Go to the World’s FairXNopeBodies Bodies BodiesHere's hoping 2023 shows some improvement....

Adam Kimmel ● 734d

Boiling Point, Belfast, Nightmare Avenue, Parallel Mothers, Worst Person in the World, Paris 13th District, The Outfit, Leo Grande, Official Competition, The Forgiven, The Woman King, Decision to Leave, Banshees of Inisherin, Bros, The Menu, Tori & Lokita.The order is chronological.Two great developments this year: Act One on the doorstep and the Ealing Project a short bus ride away. The opening of the second screen at Act One is greatly anticipated!

Susan Kelly ● 735d

So this has Jenny Agutter - now playing a grandma - to Sheridan Smith as her daughter and Tom Courtenoy as her brother. So that’s good. And it has some of the original music. Also nice. But the script is laboured and derivative and woke (in the worst sense - Im usually up for woke) and it’s jolly plodding.Better off to see the original again really…

Sara Nathan ● 737d

Possibly authentic (I wouldn’t know) but far too brutal for me. I didn’t get very far, sadly…

Sara Nathan ● 737d

Man and his sick wife live with their son in Djibouti. But she is not well. Can they turn to their families for help, given there is no NHS?Can love triumph?Somalia looks beautiful - but so poverty-stricken and its all rather brutal.

Sara Nathan ● 737d

Honestly? Too, too silly. But the elan and the style and the design and the sheer money and influence thrown at it is awe-inspiring. Who gets Yo Yo Ma explaining Bach’s fugues in a thriller? Or Sondheim playing himself as an advisor (must have been almost the last thing before he died) or Hugh Grant with literally two lines?Or the opportunity to play spot the great work of art.Daniel Craig’s accent is probably the worst thing about this load of quite amusing tosh…

Sara Nathan ● 737d

There is nothing good about being an asylum-seeker - and Belgium is no better than anywhere else it seems.Tori is a little boy and has his papers because he was deemed to be a sorcerer child and thus in danger at home. Lokita is older and female and therefore vulnerable to everyone. They only have each other.No laughs and it was never going to end well.

Sara Nathan ● 738d

Sort of a murder mystery about a Chinese woman who gets to Korea and marries an immigration officer.He dies falling off a mountain but did he jump or was he pushed? And what about the police inspector investigating the case - and others?Its all quite confusing and difficult to follow - but compelling for all that, with amazing cinematography and scenery. Rather fascinating and with good music too

Sara Nathan ● 738d

Sally Hawkens leads as the enthusiast obsessed with King richard III, who thinks she can discover the bones of King Richard III and blow me, she can. The body in the car-park, if you remember the story from about a year ago.Steve Coogan supports will as her ex-husband.The University of Leicester comes out of it particularly badly and was said to be suing about its portrayal. And you can see why.No mention of one of my favourite books: Josephine Tey's Daughter of Tine - but there should have been.OK, small, British film which would be hard not to enjhoy. Not strtling.I liked the music too, but OH didnt....

Sara Nathan ● 738d

Based on the back-story of someone involved in one of the most traumatic events of recent French history, this explores what makes a person vulnerable to radicalisation. It's drama but ends with real testimony.Depressing and gritty. Shot in a wobbly, news style. And some dramatic holes. But worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 738d

Baby-trading a bit of a thing in LKorea apparently and you can get a lot of money for an unwanted boy particularly.So a woman abandons her infant outside the church and he falls into the hands of some rather inept villains.It a bit of a caper, a road movie looking for adoptien parents willing to pay up....and chases within chases.It's quite slow paced and uneventful for a crime movie  and a little long. But worth watching and an interesting resolution.

Sara Nathan ● 738d

I do not think this 2022 German film got much of a film release if any, but is now on Netflix. Based on the famous anti-war novel set in WW1 it is a lot like the prior major German war film "Das Boot" (set in WW2 in a U-boat) in being meticulous on detail and having a big budget.The film is long (2 1/2 hours roughly) and is very authentic in its depiction of raw German recruits just out of school entering trench warfare alongside hardened surviving veterans. Numerous battle scenes and the slaughter on both sides ensue with all the horrors of that form of war faced, especially when the French forces they face use early forms of tanks and then flame throwers. After over two hours of this one feels pretty shell shocked by the end, after the savagery needed to survive  has been depicted in different graphic forms.Away from the battlefield the troops living in French territory have little to do except pillage for food and appreciate the friends lost. A sub-plot about the negotiations by German leadership with French generals (which I do not recall ibeing n the book) as they face growing losses provides context but does not add much to the story except for dramatic counterpoint of a final assault just before the war finally ends.I must admit Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson's documentary of a few years ago using WW1 footage colourised and with commentary derived from WW1 surviving troops made a much greater impact on me than this authentic but brutal epic did.

Joe Conneely ● 739d

So the hero doesnt know what to do when he graduates and becomes a barmitzvah party starter (who knew there was such a line of work?) He comes across as a bit creepy, but I dont think that's on purpose.Anyhow he meets a very pretty mum and her autistic teen daughter ( mum played by Dakota Johnson who was also Anne - with an impeccable English accent-in the dire Persuasion) I just dont think it's a great idea for the star to also be the writer and the director. It doesn't make for good pacing.Labelled a comedy, but I hadnt laughed or even smiled in the first hour....so I gave up.

Sara Nathan ● 740d

A documentary about two midwives: One Burmese, one Rohingya Muslim in Burma. They try to serve the community while factions move against the Muslims and oppress them and then the military stages a coup.It's what happens to little people - especially women - when powerful men wage war.It's rather beautiful and rather depressing. What is oddest, almost, is that though there is no running water, it's unbelievably primitive and poverty-struck in many ways, all adults have a smart phone and access to facebook and satellite television. Weird disjunctions.

Sara Nathan ● 740d

This is fun. Maybe not ideal for very small children (child at the back started crying at one point). The child actors are excellent and it's not long since British child actors were universally dreadful.Altogether: 'Children are Revolting'.

Susan Kelly ● 740d

This late 2021 release is now available on Netflix, having missed out on seeing at the cinema. Clearly the success of the first version has led to a bigger budget seemingly spent on special effects, since apart from Daniel Craig and Edward Norton it has avoided the cast of well known stars seen in the first film.Looking like a take on “Death on the Nile” but land based on a luxury Greek island, it seems to owe a lot to Elon Musks’s history (based on my recent viewing of the 3 part BBC documentary of the man). For me the whole storyline heavily reliant on a flashback plot is just a bit too cute for its own good. Norton and Craig despite both looking like they spent  too long on the sun bed ham it up marvellously. I think this movie franchise is going to have to be much more creative if they are planning to do a third version but as Xmas family entertainment as you watch together and  follow the reveals and plot twists, I suspect it can’t be beat!

Joe Conneely ● 742d

Oh dear. Jane Austen gets the Bridgerton treatment but without the style and elan. Oddly the self-conscious 21st century updating can work (se Catherine called Birdy and maybe Enola Holmes) but when it doesn’t - as here and Mr Malcolm’s list - it’s so ponderous. And to do that to Jane Austen is a bit of a travesty. The script is truly terrible: cliched and unsubtle and of course grimly anachronistic. Frocks and locations pretty enough but faint air of embarrassment hangs over the whole thing.Richard E Grant as Anne’s ghastly father is practically perfect but otherwise best avoided…

Sara Nathan ● 742d

I saw that Act One was appealing on social media for people to come to this screening, but I saw it too late. Was it empty?

Susan Kelly ● 743d

My first ever BAFTA screening at ACTONE... Sso that was nice.Young Plato is a documentary about a tough boys primary school in the Ardoyne, Northern Belfast - once at the core of the Troubles. And its charismatic head teacher who deploys philosophy and love to inspire and remediate his young pupils.All filmed in the school year 2019/2020, so he had Covid to contend with as well. And philosophy helps, so does Elvis, and a basement gym and an AMAZING staff (one of whom was at the screening though I don't know why,)We got really invested in Colum and particularly Alfie - boys with so much to contend with but the school on their side at least.It's a little long and I could have done with a little more information/background. But it's engaging.Irish cinema playing a blinder this year - that's the fifth film I've seen and the standard is exceptional.

Sara Nathan ● 743d

It's on Amazon Prime, where I watched it a couple of months ago. Great fun and, as you say, charming.

Susan Kelly ● 744d

It’s a teen film (Enola Holmes vibes a bit) starring a Game of Thrones heroine - of course and with a starry supporting cast including Andrew Scott, Billie Piper and Sophie Okinolo. Based on a novel and set in the 13th century, it’s a romp through attaining womanhood in mediaeval times.Packed with anachronism of course from colour-blind casting to contemporary script, attitudes and music. And with all that, it’s really rather charming and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Hope it does well.

Sara Nathan ● 745d

Implausibly, this is a Scottish film. though it's set in Iran, in Farsi and about Iranian film and a boy addicted to it.The settings are amazing and the premise rather fun: a statue is lost in a very backward part of Iran. A film-mad boy finds it and a lot of confusion follows.It's both quite poignant and rather funny and wonderfully brief at 85 minutes

Sara Nathan ● 751d

Shockingly I had never seen this on stage though adore the original De Vito movie.This is a romp with Emma Thompson stomping around in a vast fat suit as Miss Trunchbull. She is a villainous hoot.And Stephen Graham (Boiling Point) and Andrea Riseborough are perfect as Matilda's beastly parents.Lashana Lynch is a cute Miss Honey and the little girl Alisha Weir is delightful.I loved most of it as there are fab numbers, enough of the film/book, enough big production numbers and OK singing. Not sure about the acrobat and escapologist. Are they in the book? Not in the original movie.Anyhow, a jolly way to spend a matinee. Lovely design to and beautiful to look at.

Sara Nathan ● 751d

So this is rather marmite-y re-telling of Marilyn Monroe's life/inner life. Very fictionalised. And very, very long and mannered.Was going batty every time the beastly phone rang by the end.the first half is quite good and interesting. the second half lasts about a week.Ana de Armas stars and is in almost every shot - once we get to the adult Marilyn. She is very good at the breathy voice. And Adrian Brody is fab as Arthur Miller.But you do know it wont end well and it plays fast and loose - with a laboured script - with any passing facts.Lots of bosoms and sex. Some pretty vile.It was hard work.

Sara Nathan ● 751d

This is a worthy, smile-free epic about the lynching of a 14 year old black boy from Chicago on a visit to family in Mississippi. His mum makes the case really famous - though as Whoopi Goldberg pointed out, the lynching law was only passed last year - 67 years after the events of the film.It's very straight. And sad. And too long.Danielle Deadwyler is brilliant as the mother. Whoopi Goldberg as her mum and also co-produces.

Sara Nathan ● 751d

This rather sweet British film is based on the true story of Maurice Flitcroft - a crane driver from Barrow who decided to enter the open golf tournament, despite never having played the game. Shades of Eddie the Eagle. Becomes a bit of a cult figure in the process.Really it’s less about golf and more about the amazing performances by Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins…. Stunningly good. It’s a bit of a hoot and quite moving too.

Sara Nathan ● 760d

This is such a marmite movie: some people say it’s brilliant, if art-house exposition of a father daughter relationship over a summer holiday, others that it’s dull and pretentious.I rather liked it: it was a moving portrayal of an absent father connecting with his 11 year old daughter. But he’s only turning 31 and obviously troubled. I thought it was about the last time she saw him. The core scene is where she is videoing and says that she is 11, he is nearly 31 and did he think when he was her age, what he would be like then. We also see the adult Sophie on what seems to be her 31st birthday (with partner and small - more age-appropriate - baby) so she is looking back to being 11 too…I thought it rather clever and moving, with a constant feeling something awful is about to happen….Very strong performances from the young actors.

Sara Nathan ● 760d

Saw this available on Netflix so watched given all the favourable reviews it has been garnering.I didn’t find the scenery cinematography as stunning as many had raved over but that may be too many family holidays in West Ireland when I was younger but it certainly evokes the poverty of rural Ireland convincingly.The story with its sparse dialogue and slow reveal for me caught the role and overbearing influence of religion in such societies spot on with all the different parties and vested interests involved. All  actors give great performances but given the nature of the story it is the young fasting girl who most impressed.I must admit I also found the film’s music increasingly irritating sounding like a revamped 50s/60s sci-Fi soundtrack but especially because it seems to be mixed too high for over-effect at dramatic moments.

Joe Conneely ● 761d

This long civil war, slaves fighting for freedom movie is supposed to help redeem Will Smith after he was banned from attending for a decade after he slapped a presenter who made a tasteless joke about his wife.At the time it was said that the strains of making this movie made his reaction more predictable and less culpable - though no-one really bought that as an explanation.But it must have been testing to make and Co-produce as it’s a great sprawling huge picture including panoramas, amazing cinematography, hundreds of extras and a LOT of violence. Plus he is in practically every shot.It’s about a slave, Peter who is conscripted into the Confederate Arman, made to build a railway under appalling conditions and then flees into the Louisiana swamp, pursued by a vile slave-hunter and his dogs. The movie spends far too long playing cowboys and Indians in said swamp and some of it is pretty gross. It’s based on a true story.The Villain is the same chap as the villain in Hustle - getting a bit type-cast as Ann oppressor…It’s in a mid-way between colour and black and white, which works rather well.Definitely one to see on the big screen.And I would think Smith a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination

Sara Nathan ● 761d

Nope. But you and I are certainly not the target audience.

Sara Nathan ● 763d

The fourth movie set in and about rural Ireland - and they have all been interesting in different ways.This one is based on an Emma Donoghue book (remember Room?) It’s a period piece set in 1862 Ireland where the potato famine is by no means a distant memory.Florence Pugh plays an English nurse and Crimea veteran who is summoned to watch over a girl who - miraculously - hasn’t eaten for four months. Yet is still thriving. Is it God’s work?It’s not really a thriller or fantasy or definable. Described as a genre-bender by the Chilean director.It’s about stories and their framing - and the whole film itself is framed to make that clear.The landscape is beautiful as is the cinematography. Himself hared the music, but others won’t.Worth seeing

Sara Nathan ● 763d

I was feeling too cheerful so decided to go and see the latest offering from miserabilist Belgian directors, the Dardennes Brothers.Lokita is 16 and Tori 12; they have come to Belgium from Benin and, while not actually brother and sister, are now as close as if they were after their arduous journey. Tori has leave to remain because accusations of sorcery make it unsafe for him to return, but Lokita cannot get her 'papers', perhaps because she's not very good at lying to the authorities. They both work for a Pizza restaurant delivering drugs to middle-class customers in the evening but Lokita insists Tori stay in school. They still owe money to the 'church elders' who trafficked them there and who are nasty pieces of work. When Lokita gives up hope of getting her papers the legal way, she agrees to spend three months tending a cannabis farm for the pizza people, locked up there alone, without even her phone, in noisy and hot conditions. After her stint, she will get false papers.She's blindfolded to go to the farm so even she doesn't know where it is but she and Tori haven't made their way thousands of miles to Belgium without being resourceful and he soon finds her. Alas, they are also young and rash and the Dardennes don't do happy endings.It's an engrossing piece and the two young actors are outstanding.

Susan Kelly ● 763d

I watched the first one on Netflix and it was okay. Won't be bothering with #2.

Susan Kelly ● 763d

So sequel to the teen appeal movie about Sherlock Holmes little sister. It’s quite cute and Helena Bonham Carter is rather fetching as mother Holmes.But as soon as the client meant a match factory where she worked, I had clobbered the plot and trajectory, so it wasn’t very exciting.Looks pretty though much CGI. I wouldn’t have bothered except it was an easy win on my BAFTA viewing group (Susan will hate it!)

Sara Nathan ● 763d

You really have to like basketball and maybe know just a smidgeon about it to enjoy this movie - it’s wall to wall games and features dozens of people playing “himself” I think both players and commentators.Adam Sandler stars and produces. Queen Latifah plays his wife. They are OK. Mostly everyone else is leaping around the court (pitch? Ground? Whatever) and putting balls in nets.Précis: Sandler is a scout for the Philly sixers. He hates it and has had enough. The boss promotes him… but he finds himself on the road again and spots this kid playing in a back street. As you do. But you know what? He could make him a star.Maybe it will do well in America…

Sara Nathan ● 763d

Lydia Tar - played rather brilliantly by Cate Blanchett - is that rarest of rare birds: a female conductor of a major orchestra. Amazing achievement especially given such a thing has never actually happened in Germany or the USA.She is also a deeply vile, bullying, manipulative, lesbian tyrant and generally bad egg.That’s it really. It’s excessively long and didactic at nearly three hours. Musician husband loathed it and wanted to leave. I thought Cate rather fab and the reverse  #metooo a predatory, powerful female, quite interesting.The director/writer however came across as a bit of a tosser…

Sara Nathan ● 766d

Mostly famous for starring Harry Styles - about whom critics were unkind but I thought quite good as a pretty unsympathetic (though pretty ) character. My understanding was that he met Patrick first and then courted Marion as a “beard”… awful disloyalty all round …. But the deception and general subterfuge around being gay in the late 50s is interesting.Design is rather lively and the music good. Michael Grandage (Brokeback Mountain - so it’s what he does) directs.Gina McKee as the older Marion and Rupert Everett as old Patrick were rather fine

Sara Nathan ● 768d

I didn't intend to go and see this but it was a damp Sunday afternoon in November and Act One is only a 10-minute bus ride away. I thought it worth seeing, although I found it slow. As Sara says, investigative journalism is painstaking and plodding. Mulligan and Kazan were both excellent.

Susan Kelly ● 769d

So retrospective adorations of the glory days of cinema are definitely a theme for this year, what with Sam Mendes in Margate and Spielberg in California.But the king of them must be Babylon - set across the time that silent pictures became talkies. Think Singing in the rain - and then think again...It is completely over the top and astoundingly lavish and amazing to watch. Plus Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva give wonderful performances.the director Damien Chazelle wrote and directed Whiplash - a brilliant film about a drummer - and La La Land - which I loathed but obvs others liked.It's far too long, at over THREE HOURS, but there isn't a dull moment, although the first half is very much better than the second. It's also very funny as well as lewd, scatalogical and absurd (towards the end)You have to see this on the biggest screen you can find.It really is not one for even a very large television. ALso ace sound system needed: the soundtrack is stunning and the use of on-screen musicians apparent throughout.Definitely not one to miss. It doesn't quite sustain but sparkles beside some of the rather worthy recent offerings.

Sara Nathan ● 769d

Maybe cognoscenti will recognise the title as a quote from an Edgar Allen Poe poem. Apparently he was a West Point cadet and this is a sort of exploration of how some (fictitious) events may have led to his obsession with detectives and horror. Set in 1830 and a series of gruesome murders means west poin t calls in a retired detective in the patch. It’s heaving with British actors from Christian Bale and Harry Melling to Gillian Anderson (nearly British), Toby Jones and Timothy Spall. I found it incredibly slow and mannered for the first half. But the second half improved and there is a great twist at the end. The two leads are great but the pacing is far too slow. It felt longer than two hours and eight minutes….

Sara Nathan ● 771d

Sophie is 11-years-old when her dad takes her on holiday in Turkey. She lives with her mum. We see her briefly some 20 years later when she comes back with her wife on some kind of trip down memory lane. Yet another disappointing film after Armageddon Time. Maybe I should stop going to films about 11-year-olds but this had great reviews. There's a lot of tricksy photography -- home-movie footage, flickering shots -- which I found irritating. If you have a good story then you don't need gimmicks, but this story didn't really go anywhere.I didn't get the point of it. The father doesn't seem well: a man of 30 shouldn't be complaining he's tried all the time and he has unexplained injuries which may or may not be alcohol related but nothing was ever properly explained.

Susan Kelly ● 772d

I thought a corsage was a sort of button-hole but here it’s a closet. The Empress Elizabeth is turning 40 and terrified of aging and losing her beauty. So she is anorexic and works out like Billy-oh. And isn’t allowed to speak out or use her brain. Also she has this hair (in real life apparently it took three hours a day to groom)Anyhow, it’s a miserable if privileged life and she hates it. So it’s a riff/fantasy on that. Pretty ahistorical. Lovely to look at though. No laughs, some miserable sex. I enjoyed it more than Emily but not much.

Sara Nathan ● 772d

It’s a terrible load of derivative tosh, isn’t it? Jane Austen  and Georgette Heyer meets Bridgerton. Which isn’t to say I hated it… As Susan says, not an unpleasant way to pass a couple of hours with lovely Irish scenery and some pretty frocks and people. But the script and the direction are pretty leaden. And it doesn’t have Bridgerton’s panache and creativity - though does have some of the same cast

Sara Nathan ● 772d

A group of 12 spoiled rich people gather on an inaccessible island to eat a tasting menu at $12500 a head by a celebrity chef. The only one who doesn't belong is Margot, a high-class escort, hired for the night by a Foodie whose posh girlfriend has dumped him. As the night progresses, it becomes clear that it will not end well for anyone.It's a sick idea, slickly executed. Anna Taylor Joy, as Margot is, as always ... well a joy. Ralph Fiennes is both terrifying and sad. It was a hoot.

Susan Kelly ● 774d

Lots of Irish films this year and none of them very cheery. This one certainly isn’t. Aisha is a Nigerian asylum-seeker waiting a decision about whether she can stay. In the meantime (unlike in the U.K.) at least she is allowed to work. But the rest of the system is just as arbitrary and unfair - which I didn’t know. She meets an Irish security guard with a dodgy background and not a lot happens. Aisha is played by Laetitia Wright - who is everywhere this year and is very good. And compelling. But it is a bit miserable throughout.

Sara Nathan ● 775d

Loved this - based on a novella by Claire Keegan. In 1981, rural Ireland, a rather silent 10 year old leading a miserable , rather bullied, life gets to stay with some cousins one summer and blossoms. But there is huge sadness there too.I wept… (a first this year) It’s just beautiful and beautifully paced too..

Sara Nathan ● 775d

Just loved this. Really, what’s not to like? Lesley Manville is wonderful as Mrs Harris and Isabelle Huppety as the nearly villain also.. and Anna Chancellor as snooty other villain. . Plus Jason Isaacs. Clever script based on the Paul Gallico novel. And the frocks! Oh the frocks (and the waists)So complete fairy tale and a riff on niceness and dreams. Which is fine.So cheering

Sara Nathan ● 775d

Queens 1980. 12-year-old Jewish kid Paul Graf starts at a new school where he quickly becomes friends with black boy Johnny. Together they make mischief, but Johnny tends to get the blame. Paul's parents decide that he must go to the posh private school where his elder brother already is and soon Paul is denying to his new schoolmates that Johnny is his friend.This was disappointing. The plot is predictable and rather sketchy but, worse, Paul is such an obnoxious brat that I didn't care what happened to him.

Susan Kelly ● 777d

I wanted to love this and there's a lot to like but it didn't quite do it for me. I wanted some explanation for why Bill Nighy's character was such a dried-up old stick, other than 'Well, it was the 50s'.Great period detail and fine performances throughout but perhaps a little too much of a study in a type of Englishness that is long gone.

Susan Kelly ● 788d

Felice is returning to Italy - Naples to be specific though I didn't clock this until a little way in. His mother is old and frail and he has been away for 40 years. Now he's a muslim living in Cairo.But why did he come home and what made him leave? And what has changed? Everything and nothing it turns out.I loved the early scenes with his mother and the priest is wonderful too....But the nostalgia is not just for youth. or promise or friendship or even motor bike. But somnething much darker.There were only a couple of possible endings and it was always going to be sad, one way or another...And it was. But definitely worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 790d

Emma Corrin is in this as well as Lady Chatterley. Very much the rising star, I would say.

Susan Kelly ● 791d

After a brief theatrical release this is now available on Amazon Prime.It's 1957 and Tom Burgess is a policeman in Brighton. He's courting naive teacher Marion when he meets museum curator Patrick. He marries Marion but carries on an affair with Patrick until Patrick is arrested and sent to prison.There's a second time frame too, decades later when Tom and Marion are retired and she offers a home to Patrick who is incapacitated by a stroke. Tom is furious and refuses to have anything to do with him.The reviews were this were lukewarm. I saw it described as 'underpowered' but I rather enjoyed it. Its depiction of the 50s is such a sharp contrast to the world of the couple in Bros.

Susan Kelly ● 792d

I caught this on Netflix the other night and must admit I really enjoyed watching given the low budget feel reflected the hospital environment very well. They certainly did not spend a lot of money lighting the locations rather than sets!Given based on true story and two very strong lead actors it all seemed so true especially down to the very under stated definitely non-Hollywood style ending. Never cease to be amazed at how smart lawyers can obstruct justice being delivered.My daughter advises me that like the recent Dahmer series there will be a follow on documentary on this story and the events depicted.

Joe Conneely ● 792d

Bobby is a forty-year-old gay man living in New York city. He runs a popular podcast and has written some children's books. He claims that he doesn't want a relationship. One night he meets Aaron, a probate lawyer who hates his job and also doesn't want a relationship. Can they change their minds? What do you think?This is the first gay romcom from a major studio, but if you're expecting it to be like any other romcom only about two blokes, think again. Near the beginning, Bobby is asked if he would like to write a gay romcom because 'Love is love, right?' Bobby declines, saying that gay relationships are quite different and they've only convinced straight people they're the same so they will be better accepted.Bobby is setting up America's first LGBTQ+ museum, but the opening has been delayed twice for lack of funding and there's a danger it might not happen as Bobby and his lesbian, bisexual and trans fellow-committee members bicker.This is sweet and funny and I loved it. It bombed at the American box office but go with an open mind and an open heart.Just GO.

Susan Kelly ● 792d

I don't know how autobiographical this Spielberg movie is - feels like quite a lot: a Jewish family with a brilliant father (played by Paul Dano - who is wonderful) and Michelle Williams (ditto) move to Arizona and then California in pursuit of dad's amazing career inventing computers. And their only son becomes obsessed with making movies.It's quite slow to start - and is ever so long at two and a half hours - but the California part is particularly good - the rampant 50s anti-semitism and the hero's response are very telling.It's another movie with a central female character with mental health problems. but it is more than that: thought provoking and funny at the same time. And of course very self-reflective. there are some great scenes and dialogue.Plus the music by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven (mum is a pianist) knotted together by John Williams is rather wonderful.The last scene and its exchange about horizons and their importance in film, will stay with me.It's a much better film - maybe because in Tony Kuchnner, Spielberg has the collaborator/co-writer that Mendes needed.

Sara Nathan ● 793d

First of two consecutive self-reflective movies by famous directors about the magic - and healing power - of movie making and going.This one, written and directed by Sam Mendes is set in Margate in the 1980s and stars Olivia Colman as, effectively, Mendes' mum. Hilary has mental health problems complicated by her love life. Which starts depressing and shady (or as shady as giving Colin Firth a hand job could ever be)but gets better when a very young and beautiful boy starts work at the cinema. He's black and the film heaves with racism and racist violence.The performances, especially by Colman, are wonderful. toby Jones is ace too. But as Mendes said in the Q&A, the problem with being writer/director is that you have no-one to blame and no-one to bounce ideas off either. And this film really suffers from that: its script is leaden and plodding and rather didactic. It's a shame it's less than the sum of its considerable parts, but it is.And the design and shooting likewise

Sara Nathan ● 793d

Models Kurt and Yaya are a couple with live to Instagram their lives and have been sent on a luxury cruise because Yaya is an 'influencer'. Most of the other guests are much older and rather seedy -- Russian oligarchs, an unpleasant pair of elderly British arms dealers. The captain is permanently drunk and doesn't want to leave his cabin.A massive storm blows up, causing the guests and personnel to vomit copiously in a scene which the director apparently spent six months editing. Then the yacht is attacked by pirates. It's not a good advertisement for luxury cruises.The survivors find themselves on an island, largely without food and drink. The only person who knows how to make a fire and catch fish is Abigail, a lowly crew member, and she is soon the boss in an Admirable Crichton situation, demanding pretty boy Kurt as the price for her oversight.Each scene goes on longer than it needs for the audience to get the point. I found it all a bit tedious.

Susan Kelly ● 795d

Remember Harvey Weinstein? The movie mogul who, it turned out had raped, molested, hareased and abused actresses and employees for decades. But no-one knew until about 2016 when a couple of New York times investigative reporters devoted themselves to finding out?This is that story. It isn't so different from all investigative journo flicks  of which the big daddy is All the Presidents Men. Slight challenge in that we know the outcome and actually investigative journalism is quite painstaking and and plodding and not very visual. .But its a great story and has a spiffing cast: particularly Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan....but also some actresses playing themselves - such as Ashley Judd. Plus Jennifer Ehle, who I always love.I really enjoyed it - it kept going for two hours and, when you think it was my third movie of the day, did jolly well at keeping me glued....

Sara Nathan ● 796d

This could almost be a companion piece to the Son (qv) as some of the themes are so similar: parenting and responsibility. This has more religion and punishment....but it's also a play filmed... about a morbidly obese man and how he came to be that way. The whale of the title is not only him but also the whale in Moby Dick which is the subject of his favourite English essay (he is an online teacher.It's by Darren Oronofsky - he directed Black Swan...not my favourite film but seen by many as a masterpiece. This is much straighter but IIRC just as relentlessly depressing....Definite award potential for hiar and make-up - the prosthetics are astonishing.

Sara Nathan ● 796d

I often think that Netflix films have to appeal to a wide audience so there is a certain lowest-common-factor vibe going on, but this is an enjoyable watch and doesn't overstay its welcome at a shade over 2 hours. Emma Corrin is superb as Constance with Jack O'Connell her match as Mellors. Matthew Duckett has a more thankless task as Sir Clifford and I think the story -- both novel and screen versions -- tends to overlook how much he had lost in the war.Some overly portentous music. Out on Netflix in December.

Susan Kelly ● 797d

Do you remember The Father, a year or two ago? Brilliant remake of a stage play    Starring Antony Hopkins and Olivia Colman by Florian Zeller. It was moving and clever and worked as a film as well as a play. This is a sort of prequel of a trilogy (presumably the third is the Holy Ghost?)But it’s nothing like as compelling. Maybe because Antony Hopkins is only in one scene. Or because Hugh Jackman is no Olivia Colman as a lead.Or because adolescent mental health is even harder to portray. But it’s very linear and largely unmoving  - though Laura Kern as the abandoned wife/mother is quite compelling. There are some flashbacks to a lovely beach holiday when the son was six - and idyllic contrast to the present .Which is odd because the next film I review - the Whale - about a father who abandons wife and daughter - also had a very similar beach flashback. And is also based on a play. Maybe it’s another theme - or is it just easier in Covid to translate a play into a film.It was disappointing for fans of The Father…

Sara Nathan ● 797d

Well, this was lovely to look - as was the lead actress… and the really good news was that in spite of quite a lot of graphic sex, at least the film-makers eschewed Lawrence’s tendency to do quite a lot of naming of parts. We think there was more of the back story than in the book - or more emphasis on it at any rate. And the odd anachronistic turn of phrase that made us squeak…And of course the whole story feels so out of date: the shocking thing not being adultery but doing it with one of the servants…And LOTS of rain as a rationale for naked frolicking (is that in the book? I can’t recall)This may be the year of the rain… masses of it in many flicks…A languorous, enjoyable two hours…

Sara Nathan ● 797d

Another small-scale intelligent American film that makes you wonder why Americans put up with their society - or in this case, health care system. It’s based on a true story of a nurse with a serious, life-threatening health condition, who has to carry on working in an ICU because she can’t get treatment until she qualifies for health insurance and needs to work long night shifts for another four months before insurance kicks in. So she depends on a new colleague, who also seems to be a good nurse… but… maybe not.American hospitals being private businesses run for profit are prone to look the other way when something goes wrong and to fear litigation beyond everything.Makes the Staffordshire scandal look a bit amateur frankly.Anyhow Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne as the two nurses are stellar and no-one else gets much of a look-in. It’s small-scale and not very suspenseful apart from the odd moment.But we enjoyed it (except I didn’t mind the “sound design” and the chaps other side of me thought it very irritating.

Sara Nathan ● 799d

Two half-brothers hear that their estranged father has died and requires them to not only attend his funeral but also dig his grave.(spoiler - but not much) They do.Stars Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor (accent firmly repressed/replaced) as the brothers with Maribel Verdu as the sort-of widow and Sophie Okonedo as a fiesty nurse - so British/European actor level high for something firmly based in a dysfunctional Virginia family.It's funny and sad and does make American families out to be pretty weird tbh. Also quite static with much of the action around the grave-side.Thought-provoking about families and boundaries. And the acting is excellent. It's very unusual as an American flick: not block-buster; not art-house; very small scale. And none the worse for that.Worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 799d

LOL. I did say that the chronology was wrong and the love affair implausible. It doesn't purport to be a biopic, but a 're-imagining'.

Susan Kelly ● 800d

Did we see the same film?I thought this a dreadful two hours: the script was sloppy; the music intrusive and there were ridiculous anachronisms: Emily may have had a tender fora curate - all nice girls did and her sister Charlotte actually married one years later…. But a torrid affaire? Oh come on. And the thought there might have been a party at Howarth vicarage to mark the publication of Wuthering Heights is risible (it wasn’t anyhow published under her name- as any pub quizzer would tell you. Plus the repetition rain - even for Yorkshire  this was excessive, repetitive and tedious. I was really irritated and thought it a waste of an evening…

Sara Nathan ● 801d

1923 and the newly independent Ireland is in the grip of a civil war. But on Inisherin, a small island, the war scarcely registers. Padraig, a dairy farmer (he seems to have one cow) lives with his sister and spends his spare time in the pub, usually with his best friend Colm. But one day Colm announces that he doesn't want to be his friend any more. He finds him too dull. Padraig is gobsmacked and keeps arguing with him until Colm threatens to cut off one of his own fingers every time Padraig speaks to him. No one would carry out such a threat. Surely?The island has a sadistic policeman with his abused son, a nosy postmistress who opens letters. Everyone knows everyone else's business.This is classic Martin McDonagh, returning to the fictional islands that first made his name as a playwright before he wandered off to Ebbing Missouri. It's very dark but very funny. I spent the first 15 minutes wondering if you can really make a feature film about two friends falling out. It turns out you can.Banshees wail to herald death.My Irish grandmother was once chased home from the bog by one. Fact.

Susan Kelly ● 802d

Two Korean detectives are called out to a sudden death when a middle-aged man falls off a mountain he was climbing. It looks like an accident but there is skin under his fingernails, that of his wife. She is a beautiful young Chinese woman who has made many visits to A&E since their marriage and who says that her husband scratched her when she refused to go to the mountain with him.The lead detective is a married man whose wife lives in another city, so he sees her only at the weekend. He is a chronic insomniac. He is immediately drawn to the young wife and she, it seems, to him. He discovers that she is wanted by the Chinese authorities for the murder of her mother, which she explains was a mercy killing at her mother's request. She had to flee China and her husband, an immigration official, found a way for her to stay.His obsession with her soon becomes all-consuming, threatening everything he believes in.This feels utterly engrossing and original.

Susan Kelly ● 804d

OK, I am definitely the target audience for this, based as it is on the true story of two Syrian sisters who fled the war in 2015, swimming part of the crossing because their little boat was over-full and unsafe…Plus it’s produced by Hassan Akkad, who made that crossing and filmed it for the Exodus documentary… and was one of Refugees at Home’s first guests.It’s worth seeing for its honesty about the journey and the people who made it: at least non-one on that particular boat drowned as so many others did (including the friend of our current guest, from the boat he was in) but the frustrations, danger and sheer tedium refugees face was depicted painfully. And the coping with the frustrations too.There’s a bit much swimming - but what can you do?

Sara Nathan ● 809d

This stop-motion animation is co-directed by Guillermo delToro- which is all fans need to know, really. It’s an updated - to Mussolini’s Italy - version of the 1883 novel and is fundamentally dissimilar rot the Disney version. It’s very serious, quite unsettling and an exploration of father/son relationships, maybe Jonah and also immortality (as well as lying of course - sometimes, it turns out, a good thing.There are some famous voices - least plausibly Cate Blanchett as the monkey - apparently she was desperate to be in it and it was the only role uncast when she said so.The music by Alexander Desplat is ace: it’s not really a musical but there are songs for the middle two-thirds. Very forties and atmospheric with the voice cast largely doing their own singing.The whole piece is - as you would expect - thought-provoking and moving. The director says it should be seen as part of a trilogy with Pan’s Labyrinth and another and that children could watch it (they were gripped at our speaking) but would need to talk about it with an adult afterwards , or during. Which seemed about right.It took 1,000 people 1,000 days to make (stop-motion is sloow) and was 15 years in creation. Maybe good things do come to those who wait…

Sara Nathan ● 809d

This is an imaginative life of Emily Bronte, which gives her a brief affair with the curate (unlikely) and plays fast and loose with chronology (Charlotte didn't start writing only after Emily's death: Jane Eyre and WH were published in the same year). It's a compelling tale by first time actor-turned-director Frances O'Connor. The moors are bleak. It rains a lot. Emily is deeply weird, as you might expect if you've read Wuthering Heights. Charlotte is shown as dull and conventional, which seems mean. Anne ... well nobody cares about Anne. Adrian Dunbar is Patrick Bronte, father of what must be the most sickly family in history with all his children dying young.It's a fine début from O'Connor and well worth seeing, if a little slow.

Susan Kelly ● 812d

This is the In Bruges team getting back together again after 14 years… and after the writer/director Martin McDonagh directed the Oscar winning Three Billboards…It’s about a platonic break-up of two men (Colin Farrell & Brendon Gleeson) living on an island west of Ireland in 1923. And it’s funny - laugh out loud - but also sad. It’s very, very beautiful - look out for the rainbow - which is real - in the first scene. The acting and the scenery compete for attention. It’s very compelling and possibly an award-winner

Sara Nathan ● 813d

Claustrophobic, sweet and funny but with underlying danger and sadness. Loved this....

Sara Nathan ● 814d

Premiered at the London Film Festival this week, this is the new Bill Nighy vehicle and he is a very different character from usual: a stiff civil servant who decides to something positive with the rest of his life. I would think he might get nominations for a rather compelling, sad performance.The script is by Ishiguru, based on the Japanese 1952 movie Ikiru.Ishiguru said at the Q&A that it was a sort of study in Englishness but actually parts feel quite Japanese....especially the commitment to bureaucracy - all shot in County Hall.Co-stars Aimee Lou Wood who is apparently very famous and is a luminous present throughout (though I only recognised her from another co-stars wedding this summer to an Acton neighbour!) it's a little film, rather elegaicand I thoroughly enjoyed it (and wept a little))

Sara Nathan ● 814d

"every frame a Rembrandt" used to be the comment of my favourite BBC News cameraman when we'd had a particularly good day (they weren't) Maybe Amsterdam has the same inspiration as it's jolly pretty: set, costumes, lighting and framing all gorgeous.Maybe too much gore for me but even that is beautifully shot.Plus it has Christian Bale and Robert de Niro and Remy Malik, and Margot Robbie all performing like billy oh.But it's such tosh. What was left of my brain after a couple of hours was quite resentful.It's sort of a love triangle  lots of un-American plotting by nasty fascists,,, you don't really need to know more.

Sara Nathan ● 814d

Based on the true story of how the Argentinian junta was brought to justice in a trial in 1985, this is a searing court-room drama featuring two brilliant core performances. Of course some is fiction, like the family but that’s some of the best bits. It’s jolly long (140 minutes) but the tension doesn’t flag and it’s ever so well-judges.

Sara Nathan ● 814d

Amazing cast (Claire Foye, Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand - who also produces and Ben Whishaw) in a book adaptation about a bunch of Mennonite women who are raped and abused and then decide what to do next. It’s beautifully shot with these amazing actors, but I didn’t warm to it. LOTS of talk about how to deal with male violence, control, domination doesn’t do it for me.And the only male character seems a total wimp… (on purpose I assume)

Sara Nathan ● 814d

I thought this ridiculously up itself and self-indulgent. I mean who cares about actors in rehearsal?Amazing cast and beautifully shot in a lovely location, but that’s not enough to engage an ordinary viewer, surely.OH rather loved it (but is a sucker for anything starring Penelope Cruz)

Sara Nathan ● 814d

1823, the Kingdom of Dahomey is surrounded by more powerful neighbours and losing citizens to them, to be sold to Portuguese slave traders. But the king has an elite force of female warriors who can really kick ass. The enemy may have horses and guns but the warriors have rope, machetes, ninja moves and all-round guts. It's no surprise who is the ultimate victor.This is a great spectacle, with an almost all female crew as well as cast. The fight scenes are splendid and the whole thing kept me engrossed for more than two hours.

Susan Kelly ● 816d

Great title: not only rhymes but scans.It's Battersea, 1957. Ada's husband has been missing since 1944 and she still hopes for the best. Meanwhile, she scrapes a living as a char. She becomes obsessed with the idea of owning a Dior dress and when the final confirmation that she's a widow brings arrears of pension, along with a win on the Pools, off she goes.She encounters snootiness from some of Dior's staff, but kindness from most of them. She acts as Cupid to a shy young couple and she ends up showing the House of Dior the way forward as it struggles financially.It's a fairy tale, but there's nothing wrong with that. It might be better if Ada Harris weren't quite so perfect but we need some good news these days.

Susan Kelly ● 825d

This is a real gem. Sam Rockwell is always watchable, Saoirse Ronan really shines and the script is just packed with great one-liners and witty references to Christie, Shakespeare, Stoppard etc. It looks good too.

Norman Redfern ● 826d

Georgia and David have been divorced for a long time and hate each other. When their only daughter goes on a post-college trip to Bali and announces that she's going to stay there and marry a local man rather than come home and take up a place at a top law firm in Chicago, they call a truce to fly out and attempt to sabotage the wedding.Bali looks marvellous but the film is so predictable and, frankly, drags a bit.I'm sure it'll be a crowd-pleaser, especially for those who love Hollywood A-listers like George Clooney and Julia Roberts who are, admittedly, very good.

Susan Kelly ● 828d

Polish couple Adam and Anna are on holiday in Italy but not happy with the villa they have rented, mainly because the pool has been drained. When the owner sends a man in to fix it, he dies in an accident. We see the accident and know that there was no foul play but did Adam and Anna do everything they could to help him? The young man was an illegal migrant worker so the police really don't care, but cracks begin to appear in the couple's marriage. The film is ponderously slow and it's hard to care.

Susan Kelly ● 831d

Jack and Alice live in the Victory Project, a picture-perfect, early-sixties style community in the middle of the desert. Jack goes out to work every day while Alice cleans, cooks, looks pretty and does ballet. But she's having the odd episode where she sees things, like another wife cutting her own throat, and becomes gradually more disturbed by what's going on. Why are they not allowed to leave the Project ('You're safe here').This film has had a good kicking from most critics but I thoroughly enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on and it -- mostly -- makes sense when you find out. Yes, there are plot holes but I could live with those and Harry Styles's performance is perfectly fine and not at all 'wooden'.

Susan Kelly ● 832d

If you love Leonard Cohen as I do, this is a lovely documentary about him, his life and that song. Currently showing at Act One.

Chris Hurley ● 837d

Sara and Jean have been living together in her tiny Paris flat for 9 years, except that Jean was in prison for some of that time for reasons that are never spelled out. Sara has a good job hosting a radio show but Jean mooches about, not doing enough for his teenage son and his own mother who is raising the boy but unable to control him. And he's stealing from her.When Jean's ex best friend and Sara's former lover François comes back into their lives, wanting to set up in business with Jean again, the scene is set for a classic love triangle.So, why did I get so weary of this by 3/4 of the way through? Because these three people, all well into middle age, are so immature and selfish that I wanted to slap them. Sara is especially annoying as she comes across as so needy, like Juliette Binoche is ever going to need to beg a man to love her?Hard to recommend.

Susan Kelly ● 839d

Ralph Fiennes is in Voldermort mode as private dermatologist David, a thoroughly nasty piece of work. He is driving through the Moroccan desert on the way to a party thrown by some friends at their massive ornate holiday home. He's a high-functioning alcoholic and, lost in the dark of the desert, drunk, driving too fast and quarrelling with his much younger wife, he fails to see a young fossil seller step into the road ahead of him. The boy, Driss, is killed instantly.David's response is that the boy was a nobody, but soon his father turns up at the party to claim the body, the police having accepted that it was a tragic accident. He wants David to go back with him to attend the burial, which David reluctantly agrees to do. Meanwhile, the rest of the Europeans and Americans party on without him, including his cocaine-snorting wife.Unusually the credits are at the start of the film, allowing it to end with a sudden blank screen. It didn't feel exactly subtle with its contrasts between monied westerners and the locals who scratch a living in the desert (One dreams of moving to Sweden), but it's powerful and well worth seeing. Oh, and it looks great.

Susan Kelly ● 842d

1953. It's the 100th performance of the Mousetrap and the director of the eventual film version (still yet to happen by dint of a contract which allows it only after the stage version ends), is murdered at the theatre. He was an unpleasant man, a blackmailer and a womaniser, and there's no shortage of suspects. Enter Constable Stalker, a war widow with two children to support, and Inspector Stoppard, a drunk with a disastrous marriage behind him.The Mousetrap is easy to spoof. Stoppard did it in The Real Inspector Hound and is thus referenced here. There are other neat tricks too. The block of flats where the screenwriter of the putative film lives is the one where Poirot lives in the early Suchet dramatisations. The film proceeds with flashbacks, which allow Adrian Brody as the murder victim to have a big role despite dying in the first ten minutes.It's just tremendous fun. I'm good at Whodunnits but it kept me guessing for a long time. We end up at Agatha Christie's house in Wallingford, gathered in the drawing room for the denouement.

Susan Kelly ● 844d

I thoroughly enjoyed this odd fantasy film.Tilda Swinton is Alethea, a middle-aged professor of narrative. She is long-divorced, an orphan, only child and childless. Fortunately she is a naturally solitary person. Attending a conference in Istanbul, she buys an old glass bottle in the Great Bazaar and, cleaning it in the hotel bathroom, releases a Djinn (Idris Elba), who has spent 3000 years, off and on, imprisoned since Solomon trapped him in one out of jealousy for his relationship with the Queen of Sheba.He offers Alethea 3 wishes. But her years of study of narrative have told her that such pledges do not end well, so she refuses to play. He eventually admits that the only way he can escape from the human realm and back to the happy place where Djinns dwell is by successfully granting 3 wishes to a mortal. He tells her many stories of the brief periods over 3000 years when he was free; unfortunately, most of them confirm her view that the 3-wishes thing usually goes horribly wrong for the wisher.It's a strange film which (ironically) lacks an overall narrative for much of its length. Djinn tells Alethea stories and they are interesting, not to mention sumptuously filmed, but it's not clear where it's going.

Susan Kelly ● 854d

An 80-year-old billionaire wants to secure his legacy so decides to produce a great film. He buys the rights to a novel and engages Penelope Cruz's Lola to direct it. She gets two famous but very different actors, Felix and Ivan, to play the two brothers at the centre of the story. They have never worked together and are soon as much at loggerheads as the brothers. Ivan is self-righteous and pompous, Felix self-regarding and pompous. Lola is barking in a magnificent performance by Cruz as we have never seen her before.It's a very clever film and funny. For me it lacked heart but maybe I was just in a picky mood.

Susan Kelly ● 858d

If you're a fan of Regency romance then you will enjoy this. If not, why would you go?It's set in London Society in 1818 as Julia attempts to punish Mr Malcolm for not finding her suitable to be his wife. It is her fourth Season and she's getting desperate.There are the usual fine costumes, beautiful houses (mostly filmed in Ireland, by the look of it),  gorgeous rooms and gardens. It's a trifle long and there are moments of broad farce which I could have done without but otherwise it's a pleasant way to spend two hours and not quite as predictable as you might think.

Susan Kelly ● 860d

Get Out was one of my favourite films of the past few years and this is from the same director and also starring our own Daniel Kaluuya. It's a less tightly made and more self-indulgent number.A brother and sister, OJ and Emerald, are the only black animal wranglers in Hollywood. They live on a remote ranch, their only neighbours a fake Western town run by a man who used to be a child star in a sitcom in the 90s which starred a chimpanzee until it ran amok one day and killed half the cast. He still has flashbacks.OJ and Emerald are startled to see what appears to be a flying saucer over the hills by their ranch one night. They decide to get a photo of it to make their fortune. An event at the fake Western town ends in all the people there disappearing. The electricity keeps cutting out when a particular cloud is in the sky.It was hard to know what to make of this film which seemed a mishmash of styles and genres. I thought it worth seeing, though, even if it sometimes dragged a bit.

Susan Kelly ● 871d

Loved this film whe I saw it at the LFF last year, it was one of the highlights of the festival for me. Short, sweet, and with lovely acting.

Adam Kimmel ● 876d

Iran, the present day. A mother, father, their adult son and little brat son are in their car, with a sick dog. They've been 'ordered' to leave their mobile phones at home but not all of them have. As they approach the border, where their elder son hopes to cross to safety and no national service, they are like any family -- teasing, bickering, snarking.A tight 90 minutes, with the director also playing the father. The brat son needs a clip round the ear but the young actor playing him is brilliant (and so loud!!).Highly recommended.

Susan Kelly ● 879d

This isn’t very good and it’s beastly slow - though quite pretty. A fair bit of domestic violence, quite a few no-good white men and a rather silent female narrator.It seemed to last a very long time and be deeply implausible.Stil, the lawyer (rather old-Atticus Finch in style) was lovely…And the ice-cream was fab - ActOne finally had some chocolate and honeycomb in stock: worth waiting for…

Sara Nathan ● 893d

This Spanish film with Javier Bardem in the title role as the boss of a family company making weighing scales and trying to prepare to win a prestigious industry award with his efforts to make sure it happens, is being marketed as a comedy. I must admit I personally found little to laugh at across its two hours. While Bardem's machinations of pretending to be like a father and not a boss to his workers to achieve his objective alongside his amoral actions in everything he does, from affairs with interns to using and abusing friendship, blackmail and violence to get what he wants, might have the structure for dark comedy situations but for me few actually turned out that way.I suspect the film is intended as a deeper commentary on Spanish employers, bribery and employment laws over recent years so may mean more to a Spanish audience viewing.

Joe Conneely ● 904d

Baz Luhmann's film is no conventional biopic. It's narrated by Colonel Tom Parker who denied having exploited Presley and even being responsible for his death.I've always liked the music but knew little of Elvis's backstory. The film goes right through from when he was first appearing on stage to his sad and premature death -- the victim of a vast cocktail of pills like so many famous actors and singers, especially in America.Tom Hanks is superb and hardly recognisable as Tom Parker, liar and charlatan, and Austin Butler is magnificent as Elvis.The stand-out scene for me was when he is supposed to do a Christmas special with anodyne Christmas songs for families and he ... er ... doesn't.It plays out beautifully with In The Ghetto.I'd have liked half an hour knocked off it but it's an impressive piece of work.

Susan Kelly ● 914d

Ravilious was born in Acton and this is a charming documentary about his short life. He died in a plane crash in 1942 in Iceland while serving with the Navy as a War Artist.Talking heads include Alan Bennett, Grayson Perry, Ai Weiwei, as well as his daughter and granddaughter. Freddie Fox and Tamsin Greig voice the frequent letters that passed between him and his wife and there is some use of archive film. It's beautifully put together and, I think, could be enjoyed even by someone not familiar with Ravilious work.The film was been a real success. Act One's screening sold out quickly, as did two more than they hastily added. Now there are fresh showings next weekend.

Susan Kelly ● 916d

Baz Luhrmann's new movie is a bio pic  of excessive length but many merits.Both the stars are great and the obvs the music is too.The first half - with all the focus on what elvis got from the Memphis music scene and black music, was really interesting and compelling - and beautifully done.But the problem with rock bio-pics is the they all end with drugs, drink, divorce and death. And this is no exception. That makes th last third a long sit...

Sara Nathan ● 921d

I love the TV programme, didn't much like the first movie and thought this a load of codswallop.The problem is shoe-horning all the characters into a movie to please the Americans - which meant there was not enough of everyone.Maggie Smith of course fab.But it seemed so pointless....apart from the frocks.

Sara Nathan ● 921d

Its really a two-hander play though isn't it?The performances were really strong.Can't imagine it being made the other way round - would be straight creepy rather than rather sweet.

Sara Nathan ● 921d

Nancy is a retired RE teacher, a widow. Her husband is the only man she ever slept with and she's never had an orgasm. One day she books an expensive hotel room along with an expensive sex worker. She is initially horrified by her own daring but Leo is full of Irish charm as well as good looks and very reassuring. Soon, she's booking him again.She admits that she doesn't like her own children but he doesn't want to tell her anything about himself, not even his real name. Some people have found this claustrophobic as it all takes place in an expensive hotel room but I loved it. The 98 minutes flew by.

Susan Kelly ● 930d

10 years out of university, Pete is invited by his old gang to the huge country house of one of them for his 31st birthday. He hasn't seen them for years, years which he's spent doing charity work with refugees. In deepest Devon, he starts to think he's made a terrible mistake as his friends seem cold, even hostile. And there is Claire, his girlfriend from those days who, apparently, tried to commit suicide not long after they left. There is also Harry, a local man his friends picked up in the village pub who seems to have it in for him. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Sonia, to whom he is about to propose, has been detained in London and will be late joining him.As people start to say mean things to him, Pete becomes increasingly uncomfortable. It seems that his old friends are trapped in a permanent adolescence and haven't grown up at all. Has he been brought here to atone for some terrible deed in the past? Or is he paranoid, even heading for a breakdown? Is he actually in danger in a country house full of shotguns? Or is he a danger to others?As in Men, this is a useful reminder that country folk are weird and creepy and we townies should steer clear.

Susan Kelly ● 938d

Harper is in the process of divorcing her violent husband James when he dies, probably by suicide. Seeking to help with the trauma, she books a fortnight in a 500-year-old house in a quaint village in Hampshire. The landlord (Rory Kinnear) is a bit odd but seems harmless. But then she encounters a naked man in the woods and, later, he comes to her house. He is also played by Rory. She calls the police and a constable (Rory) comes to arrest him. The local vicar (yep) seems kind at first but is soon saying that it's normal for men to hit women. Things get gradually spookier and more dangerous.So, what's going on? Don't expect the film to answer that. It's the sort of thing where you come home and Google for an explanation. It's gory and creepy and never boring. Remind me not to book a break in a quaint country village any time soon.

Susan Kelly ● 941d

I suppose you'd have to call this a biopic about Siegfried Sassoon although it isn't a typical biopic. We start in familiar territory as Sassoon publicly calls out the Establishment on the way WW1 is being conducted, resulting in threats of Court Martial and a possible firing squad. He has influential friends, though, and rather to his annoyance, is deemed to have suffered a breakdown and sent to Craiglockhart and the nice Dr Rivers whom we know from Pat Barker's novels. There he meets Wilfred Owen ('Grammar school accent'!). The two become friends and sweethearts but Owen is sent back to the front and his death.Then we encounter post-war London and the Bright Young Things with their tiresomely glib and flip conversation. Sassoon has his heart broken by the caddish Ivor Novello. After a number of more or less unsatisfactory love affairs he decides to marry Hester who is well aware that he is gay.We get flash forwards to his older age, where he is played by Peter Capaldi sporting a rather odd accent/voice. He seems like a completely different person. The marriage hasn't been happy, he doesn't get on with his son, he's cross about not getting a knighthood and converting to Catholicism.I have mixed feelings about this film. It's too long, the Bright Young Things are just annoying and there's a lot of slightly comical name-dropping ('Have you met T E Lawrence?'). There is good real footage of WW1, though, often with Sassoon's and Owen's poetry voiced over them. Worth seeing.

Susan Kelly ● 955d

The West coast of Ireland in ?1960s, Cait is the quiet child in a large and not very happy household. Her father drinks and sees other women. Her mother is pregnant. Again. They decide to send Cait to spend the summer with her mother's cousin and her husband, dairy farmers. She is cared for better than at home, especially by the wife and is soon helping out around the farm. It's a while before she finds out that the couple had a son of about her age who drowned on the farm.Eventually it's time to go back home but she longs to stay with the cousins.This is a very quiet film -- very low key. I found it a bit underpowered but the friend I saw it with was in tears as we came out.Mostly in Irish with subtitles.

Susan Kelly ● 956d

Well I suspect this kaleidoscope performance by Michelle Yeoh (made to look exceptionally drab for the title role) will be unlike any other films you will see this year!Playing the owner of a USA based coin operated laundrette with a wheelchair bound father who seems able to walk when hungry or angry; a lesbian daughter who argues with her all the time and a husband who seems to be devoted to his wife but worries about divorcing from her, the film sets off at a frenetic pace. That pace continues as she attends an IRS tax audit (the tax auditor played by a barely recognisable Jamie Lee Curtis) from when matters start spinning out of control.The film reminds you in concept of Christopher Nolan's "Inception" with its thrusting at a headlong pace into and through different parallel multi-universes science fiction style, in showing the different lives Yeoh could have lived. Thankfully this is done at such a pace and in comedic manner that while you wonder at times what the storyline actually is, it all dashes by!Endless parodying and pastiches of other well known films (many Asian and science fiction) and drawing on Yeoh's own prior Kung Fu films experience for fight sequences, the film never lets up. Half the dialogue is in Chinese and the film seems to have co-directors (one American (Daniel Scheinert) and one Chinese (Daniel Kwan) which has added to this mix.Inevitably at over two hours the film feels by the end as being a bit too long (oh for the old days of 90 minute features!) and in the last section winding down, since it is nigh impossible to maintain the initial opening pace. What I found surprising is that this is apparently a major US box office breakout film belatedly making it to UK screens, probably helped in the US by keeping a PG15 rating as some judicious editing in certain sequences shows.

Joe Conneely ● 960d

40-something Dane Martin is having a mid-life crisis or possibly a breakdown. He leaves his wife and two little girls, crosses the border into Norway and takes to living wild in the mountains and forests. He hunts for food with his homemade bow and arrow. In theory, anyway: his knowledge or the 'Viking Life' is wholly theoretical.He stumbles across three drug dealers who have crashed their car. The local police are lazy and indifferent. His wife is looking for him.It's an interesting and unusual plot though it unfolds at a glacial pace.

Susan Kelly ● 970d

Oh, and Hugh Bonneville has lost loads of weight which makes him look about 15 years older. I'm reminded of the comment by the late Barbara Cartland that at some point you have to choose between your figure and your face.

Susan Kelly ● 980d

You either like Downton and will enjoy this film or you don't so won't go. There's a lot going on: The Dowager has been left a villa in the South of France by an old admirer, much to the fury of his widow, while a film crew has arrived at Downton to shoot a silent movie with the family needing the money to repair the roof. The two strands of plot are like separate films and we lurch back and forth between the two.They could have subtitled it Three Weddings and a Funeral, or even Four Weddings, given Thomas's promising new love interest. Nothing that happens is exactly unexpected but the two hours pass happily enough.The last 20 minutes have a real feeling of finality about them and this may be the last we see of Highclere Castle looking golden in the sun.

Susan Kelly ● 981d

17-year-old Julija lives on a Croatian island with her mother and her overbearing father. She and her father go harpoon fishing for 'murina' -- moray eels. She feels trapped in this life. Her father is trying to sell some land to his old friend Javier, who is now a rich businessman, to build a luxury resort. It's clear that Javier was once in love with Julija's mother and Julija hopes that she and her mother can go off with him to a new, more exciting life.The film is rather claustrophobic, particularly the underwater scenes. It was different but I didn't like it that much.

Susan Kelly ● 982d

Angouleme, 1963. Anne is a working-class girl at university. She is bright, so bright that her lecturers think she has an academic career ahead of her. But then she finds herself pregnant after losing her virginity to a young man up from Bordeaux for the weekend and it looks as if all her hopes are at an end. Her GP, while sympathetic, has nothing to offer because the penalties for illegal abortion are harsh.  Her best friend Brigitte, who seems to be Commissioner of the Virginity Police, cuts her off and the mean girls make sneering remarks about her being 'loose'. A do-it-yourself attempt at abortion doesn't work and she has to sell almost everything she has to raise 400 francs for the backstreet woman. If she ends up in hospital it's down to chance whether the police are called or a (perhaps more kindly doctor) lists her as a miscarriage.Her work is suffering and it seems likely that she will not pass her exams, let alone do well enough to become a lecturer. A male friend hits on her on the grounds that there's no danger of her getting pregnant. She calls an unwanted pregnancy an illness -- 'One that turns women into housewives'.It's been getting great reviews and I'm not sure why. The problem is that it has nothing new to say: life is grim for women in jurisdictions where abortion is illegal. I learned that from Play For Today about fifty years ago.Some of the scenes are quite graphic and the misery is unrelenting.

Susan Kelly ● 986d

I thoroughly enjoyed this largely true yarn about one of greatest deceptions ever perpetrated in war time -- convincing the Nazis in 1943 that the Allied invasion was to be via Greece and not Sicily.A superb cast plays our clever spies (with some overlap with The Outfit: Johnny Flynn as Ian Fleming and Simon Russell Beale giving us his Churchill). The boss has no faith in the scheme, all sorts of things go wrong and they cannot be certain that the Nazis have really swallowed the deception until they see what resistance the Allies encounter in Sicily.Lovely period detail.

Susan Kelly ● 990d

Whoops!

Susan Kelly ● 991d

Loved it. The title is actually Compartment No 6 , not Department.

Chris Hurley ● 992d

Chicago, 1956. Mark Rylance is a tailor known as 'English'. He takes great pride in his work but his shop is also used by the local gangster mob as a drop, presumably of protection money. his only employee is his receptionist Mabel.One night things spiral out of control as the mob boss's son is brought in by a colleague with a gunshot wound. On one set and in what seems to be real-time the plot twists and turns in very clever ways as English fights to come out of it all alive.It should be claustrophobic but isn't. I loved it.

Susan Kelly ● 992d

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It's an unusual subject and rather sweet with characters whom you care about. Best Picture of the year, though? Surely not.The actress playing Ruby, the teenage daughter, is a talent to watch. And she's British.

Susan Kelly ● 998d

This starts out like a romcom with some good laughs and a particularly fun exploration of being intimate without cheating. Then it takes a turn and the last act is sad and poignant and shows Julie belatedly finding her way in life. It’s a fine film, maybe not as good as some reviewers think, but really well acted and the soundtrack has some gems - Harry Nilsson, Ahmad Jamal, Todd Rundgren, Billie Holiday, Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel and a lovely song from Art Garfunkel at the end. And lots of weird stuff.

Norman Redfern ● 998d

Laura is a Finnish woman who is studying architecture at the University of Moscow and in a relationship with Irina, a lecturer in literature. The two women are meant to be going to Murmansk to see some 10,000-year-old rock paintings but Irina cries off pleading pressure of work. Laura sets out on her own in the depths of winter. On the long train journey, she finds herself forced to share a sleeper cabin with Ljoka who is travelling to a new job in a mine. He is initially drunken and boorish and she tries to get away from him but the hatchet-faced woman in charge of the carriage, a leftover from the Soviet era, is having none of it so she has to make the best of it.Oddly enough, the two start to bond and he develops an almost chivalrous attitude towards her. It's a slow burn but well worth seeing.

Susan Kelly ● 1000d

Kate lives in Ramsgate, which looks as if it might have been rather nice in its heyday. She works at the Job Centre/benefits office and hates her job; she's in danger of being fired for persistent lateness and absenteeism. One day 'Blond' comes to her desk to sign on, newly released from prison, and starts flirting with her.He has Trouble written all over him and any sane woman would see that, but Kate is so disappointed by her dull life that she wastes no time in dating him, which is apparently a sacking offence. He blows hot and cold the way controlling men do. Her (apparently only) friend sets her up on a blind date with a nice, ordinary man but she scares him off. I'd like to say that this didn't go the way I expected but it went pretty much like any story about a flaky woman and a coercive man and, despite the best efforts of Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke, I felt that I'd seen it all before. It doesn't help that Kate is intensely irritating either!Can't recommend.

Susan Kelly ● 1003d

I just loved this film. It concerns a group of young people -- 20s and early 30s -- living in this high rise area of Paris. If I say that its about them falling in and out of love, having sex etc then it sounds like same-old-same-old but it isn't. It felt really fresh and different and the characters are fascinating.It's in black and white, which somehow always makes a film look classier. It has an 18 certificate because of all the sex scenes.On at the Waterman's till Thursday.

Susan Kelly ● 1009d

This tells the story of a family of fishing folk, a loving family, who are all deaf save for their hearing teenage daughter upon whom they depend in their dealings with the market and the wider world.  She happens to be a talented singer but naturally her family are unable to appreciate this gift in the normal way.  She is torn between her family’s dependence on her and her membership of a local choir that has a very demanding choir-master and some love interest.  I found the first half hour or so to be a bit scattered but in time I was gradually drawn in by some compelling performances and an engaging story.      I was fascinated by the insight this film provides into eloquent use of sign language and frustrations experienced by the deaf community.  It’s a shamelessly warm hearted work and I would recommend it.

Alastair Banton ● 1011d

Julie lives in Oslo. She wants something out of life but she's not sure what and can't settle to anything. She drops out of Med school, briefly tries training as a Counsellor, then a photographer. At 30, she's working in a bookshop and trying to write. She moves in with Aksel who is 15 years her senior and at another point in his life. All his friends have children and he wants to settle down and join them but Julie wants to do something else first, if only she could figure out what.She leaves Aksel and takes up with Aivind, a barista. They agree that they don't want kids but this relationship is no more stable than the last.Julie is very selfish -- everything is always about what's best for her -- but the actor playing her manages to make her sympathetic. The film unfolds in 14 sequences over a few years: the perfect portrayal, perhaps, of the neuroses of Generation Z. Or is she a Millennial?

Susan Kelly ● 1014d

Post-war Germany from 1945 to 1969, when homosexual acts were legalised. Hans is a gay man repeatedly imprisoned for 'gross indecency'. On his first time in prison, he is put in a cell with Vicktor, who is serving a long sentence for a crime of passion. Viktor is homophobic but relents on seeing the number tattooed on Hans's arm. The two become friends.On a later imprisonment, Hans meets Oskar, a young schoolteacher, also jailed for homosexual acts. The two men fall in love. Hans believes that they will eventually be able to live together if they are discreet but Oskar thinks this is a pipe dream with tragic results.By 1969, Viktor is being denied parole and has become a drug addict. Hans forces him to go cold turkey. When the law changes and he is due to be released, he takes it hard, as if part of his identity has been stolen.The film is slow and, at times, a little dull, but it's unusual and powerful.

Susan Kelly ● 1018d

In 1999, a small village in Kosovo has lost most of its men in a massacre -- either killed or missing, presumed dead. This is an old-fashioned society in which women do not work or even drive but they must find a way to survive and feed themselves and their children. Fahraje rallies the other widows to start a business selling the local pepper sauce. She takes driving lessons and gets a car, much to the disgust of the remaining local men and even some of the other women. She is spat at in the street, called a whore and has stones thrown at her car, but she will not give up. Her wheelchair-bound father-in-law is dependent on her -- she even has to wash him -- but that doesn't stop him from criticising her every move. And all the while she has no idea if her husband is alive or dead, though the chances are it's the latter.Based on a true story, this is a powerful film. It won't cheer you up! Which may be why there was only one other person at this afternoon's screening at Act One.

Susan Kelly ● 1021d

That's a good point about the music, Norman. I am now wondering if I should be dancing on my car roof.

Susan Kelly ● 1024d

I really liked Ali & Ava. It is definitely worth seeing in a cinema with a properly set-up sound system because of the crucial role played by music in the story and the way the songs on the soundtrack are mixed into the dialogue.

Norman Redfern ● 1024d

Bradford. Ali is a small landlord. Ava works as a teaching assistant. They're middle-aged and both have baggage. He and his wife lost a baby and are now separated although still living in the same house. Her husband is dead but they were also separated after a violent and abusive marriage. She lives on a sink housing estate. When they meet, there is an instant connection but neither family approves. So can they make it work? What do you think?It's an enjoyable enough story, perhaps more of a TV film than a cinema release.

Susan Kelly ● 1025d

You know the plot, about the man who loves Roxanne but has to help another man woo her.This is a treat for fans of Peter Dinklage. It would be easy to nit-pick. He must be old enough to be Roxanne's father although they supposedly grew up together and he is no singer. The songs are, in any case, with one possible exception, banal.Nevertheless, the film is sweet. And charming. And sad.

Susan Kelly ● 1029d

The trailer somehow manages to give away some of the best jokes and still make it seem like a gloomy kitchen-sink drama. It’s actually laugh-out-loud funny. Maybe nowadays trailers aren’t supposed to sell the film so much as reinforce all the publicity on social media, chat shows etc?

Norman Redfern ● 1037d

Exactly, Joe. A poor job of selling a delightful film.

Susan Kelly ● 1037d

I completely agree with Susan.  A delightful, funny and warm hearted film that provides a very convincing portrayal of life and society at the start of the sixties.  I also thought the music, composed by George Fenton, was so atmospheric.  And the inclusion on the soundtrack of songs by the likes of Adam Faith and Helen Shapiro really helped with the period feel.  Jim Broadbent was in his element and yes, it was a surprise to see Helen Mirren minus her usual glamour!

Alastair Banton ● 1038d

It was very, very wet and stormy in Amsterdam last weekend, so we took refuge in the cinema for a 1030 screening... and this is what was one.It's almost a remake of Notting Hill in some ways: starry star plucks nerdy teacher from the crowd and marries him on impulse. Script nowhere near as good though.But Jennifer Lopez (playing 35+ when she is well over 50 in the most impressive way) and Owen Wilson are both pretty good.And we enjoyed it in the rather self-indulgent, hit me with a Hollywood rom-com way. And we stayed dry... I bet the crits/ratings were grim though....

Sara Nathan ● 1040d

I thought it the epitome of a small British film but quite charming for all that.My OH didnt see it when I did last year so we are off to Act One tomorrow evening as he is so keen. I wonder if it will live up to a second viewing.

Sara Nathan ● 1040d

Having seen the trailer for "The Duke" at a recent showing of another feature film I quickly deleted this one from my "to see" list I must admit!

Joe Conneely ● 1040d

Thinking about the trailer for The Duke, I don't think production companies realise how counter-productive these often are. Most are too long and give the impression that they've covered so much of the plot that you needn't bother.

Susan Kelly ● 1041d

1961. Newcastle. Kempton Bunton (a name you could not make up) is a curmudgeonly old man who finds it hard to hold down a job while his long-suffering wife Dolly goes out cleaning for a local Councillor. The shadow of a dead daughter lies over the family. Kempton refuses to pay his TV licence (even serving 13 days for it) and believes that they should be free to pensioners and war widows. When his campaign gets nowhere, he takes a couple of days in London and steals a portrait of the Duke of Wellington which the National Gallery has just paid £140,000 for.The police are convinced that they're dealing with an international criminal gang, not Victor Meldrew's dad. He sends letters asking for a ransom of £140,000 to be used for charitable purposes but they're dismissed as the work of a crank. An unforeseen snag causes him to walk into the Gallery and return it.At the trial he pleads not guilty, pointing out that there has to be an intention permanently to deprive someone of their goods for it to be theft.I had seen the trailer numerous times and went along expecting it to be a bit lame but to pass the time on a cold Sunday afternoon in February. In fact, it's a delight. I loved the period details, from the Adventures of Robin Hood in black and white on the illicit telly, to the packaged goods in the corner shop. Some nice CGI inserts Kempton into genuine footage of London in 1961. It's also good to see glamorous Helen Mirren playing a dowdy old woman, looking every minute of her real age for once. Speaking of which, the Buntons are meant to be about 60. I know people aged more quickly 60 years ago, but still.

Susan Kelly ● 1042d

I really wanted to like this animated film -- the true story of an adolescent gay boy who fled Kabul and settled happily in Denmark after many setbacks. It's beautifully made with many different types of animation interspersed with genuine news footage from the 80s, but I found it too depressing for enjoyment.

Susan Kelly ● 1046d

It's not clear why Kenneth Branagh spends his time and talent on these Christie remakes but, to be fair, he does so with considerable panache. I think everybody knows the core plot but the scenery, the costumes and, above all, the boat are a wonder to behold. Branagh and his screenwriter have tweaked the plot quite a lot so that there are still a few surprises.

Susan Kelly ● 1051d

Finally got to see it and good to see Kenneth Branagh has more to offer than Agatha Christie remakes (which I must admit I see as largely a pointless exercise).I think I enjoyed it as much for showing what it was really like at street level in Belfast as the Troubles started, with Protestant intimidation from the outset. The nicely captured family moments seen through the youngest son's eyes across events, reflecting I presume Branagh's own memories, I have to admit bordered on being too romanticised for me but I think also explain why this film has been such a success with Academy nomination in navigating that borderline. For me the outstanding performance was the mother (Caitriona Balfe) rather that the grandparents and not until the end titles did I realise it was the recently deceased John Sessions in the Christmas Carol stage scene!

Joe Conneely ● 1059d

I've never been able to "get" Almodovar -- I've seen several of his films and always forget them within a couple of days.  I thought I'd give this a go, though, because of the good reviews and its presence at Act One.  It's not changed my mind.  I found it a perfectly neat little melodrama, well acted, with a plot contrivance, a strange plot hiccup and a superfluous lesbian scene and then, when the main plot is wrapped up neatly, all happy endings -- transgressions forgiven, lovers reunited -- it takes a hard swerve into the subplot of the mass grave, as if wanting to be remembered for something much more resonant.  Almodovar's appeal continues to elude me.

Adam Kimmel ● 1059d

I loved this - and its currently on at Act One - highly recommended.

Chris Hurley ● 1068d

I agree on beautifully shot and the production design is amazing - as you expect from del Toro. Plus great turns from Bradley Cooper and Toni Collette amongst others.But the plot is contrived... with the arc to with the end rather forseeable. And I couldn't understand the motivation of the Cate Blanchett character at all.It felt very long to me.

Sara Nathan ● 1068d

This is the tale of two women who share a hospital room while giving birth. Both babies are accidents and the father is not in the picture. Photographer Janis is almost 40 and thinks that this is her last chance to be a mother while Ana is just 17 and less enthusiastic about the whole thing, especially given the poor mothering skills of her own self-involved mother.Janis ends up offering Ana a job as nanny/housekeeper after Ana's own baby suffers a cot death. But there is a large fly in the ointment.There's a subplot about Ana wanting to excavate the mass grave which contains her great-grandfather and other men from the village who were murdered in the early days of the civil war. That's how she meets her baby's father, Arturo, a forensic archaeologist. She is also shocked when Ana seems to know nothing about the civil war or the long Franco dictatorship. Is that history not taught in Spanish schools?It's a gripping melodrama if not on a par with Pain & Glory, which I loved.

Susan Kelly ● 1070d

This is Guillermo del Toro's take on a classic American Film Noir, and a fine one it is too.1939. Stan burns the body of his father, along with their derelict house and walks away. Soon he falls in with a travelling freak show and they let him stay on to do odd jobs. He lodges with Zeena and her drunken husband Pete who do a mentalist -- mind reading -- act and Stan soon learns the tricks of the trade.There's a rather sweet young woman named Molly who does a show with electricity. She and Stan decide to leave and set up a mentalist act together.Two years later, they're doing very well, making good money working expensive supper clubs. One night they come across Lilith, a psychologist, Cate Blanchett in full Femme Fatale mode. She introduces them to the rich, important and disturbed members of the community who want their services to gain absolution for the awful things that have happened to them and the awful things they have done. Molly is not happy with the new regime and wants to leave but Stan believes they can make their fortune. Stan, previously teetotal, is starting to drink.Sure enough things start to unravel. It's quite a long film but never drags. Visually beautiful too.

Susan Kelly ● 1074d

I saw it yesterday at Act One and loved it

Chris Hurley ● 1076d

Just to add that a large number of the audience applauded at the end of the film. Doesn't happen often.

Susan Kelly ● 1078d

1969 and the troubles are kicking off, starting with Protestant paramilitaries firebombing homes belonging to Catholics in what they consider a Protestant street. The film centres tightly on one family: father, mother, two sons and the father's parents. These last are the heart of the film, played by Ciaran Hinds and Judy Dench, emphasising her role as national treasure with a totally convincing portrayal of an Ulster granny.Dad is working in England and comes home only for the occasional weekend. As violence escalates, he is offered a permanent job in England. It seems like a no-brainer, but his wife and sons have known nothing but Belfast and leaving home is not an easy decision for them. Plus Granddad is dying of a lung disease, the result of years spent working in a coal mine in Perfidious Albion.The central family are brilliant and we care deeply about them. Other roles feel a bit underwritten. Colin Morgan does his best as a one-dimensional Protestant Hard Man, though it's his threats which finally bring the family to a decision. The notes for the role may just have read 'brutal and shouty'.Filmed mostly in a luminous black and white, this is a fine film, despite a hint of sentimentality.

Susan Kelly ● 1079d

Wasn't it just? The most exhausting and stressful film I've seen in forever. And Fed & Watered didn't get our custom afterwards: we were too stressed to eat posh British food for some time....Might try Jones & Co in Dalston one day - the whole thing is shot there...a real restaurant doing the sort of food Andy was so good at.

Sara Nathan ● 1079d

Modern-day Iran. Rahim is in prison for debt, having been sent there by his creditor. Apparently that's a thing in Iran. How Victorian. He is divorced but has a girlfriend whom he hopes to marry on release. When she tells him that she has found a bag containing gold coins, it seems his troubles may be over. On a two-day 'holiday' from prison, he finds that the gold won't cover his debt so announces his find. A woman comes forward to claim it and the TV and newspapers love the story and run with it. Rahim is a hero and his creditor is bullied into saying he will let Rahim leave prison. He's even offered a job by the local council.But then things start to fall apart. Cries of 'didn't happen' are circulating on social media. The HR man at the council wants proof of the story and Rahim can't find the woman whose bag it was (was it even her bag, as she seems to have been at pains to cover her tracks?). So he gets his girlfriend to pretend to be her. This runs at over two hours and has a leisurely pace but kept my attention throughout. It's not clear, even at the end, if Rahim is the sweet, rather hopeless man he seems to be, or a bit of a conman. Certainly he has a temper. As with the Director's two previous films, it's fascinating to see everyday life in Iran with no sign of the deranged clerics that run the theocracy, just ordinary people eking out ordinary lives.

Susan Kelly ● 1082d

Andy is head chef and part owner of an upmarket restaurant, but he's been struggling in life. We infer that his marriage has fallen apart and he's been sofa-surfing for two months. He's drinking too much. It's just before Christmas and the restaurant is booked solid. Among the clients are a group of 'Influencers' who insist they want steak and chips, a racist who's been allocated a black waitress and a celebrity chef who trained Andy and turns out to have an unforeseen agenda. Then there's the man who intends to propose to his girlfriend but she has a nut allergy: clear an unexploded bomb.The 90-minute drama is shot in one continuous take. I could feel my blood pressure rising as the evening progressed while wondering why anybody wants to work in a business which is stressful, poorly paid and requires anti-social hours.Brilliant.

Susan Kelly ● 1084d

Its long-listed at BAFTA and we are going to see it at Act One this evening - your review makes me look forward to it more than I was before....

Sara Nathan ● 1085d

A very aptly titled film about one evening in a trendy rising restuaurant (filmed in Dalston) where a new head chef only a few months into the role is watching his career and life unravel.Stephen Graham who appears to be in most good drama on TV recently, is the head chef supported by a well chosen cast none of whom I easily recognised. He is full on in his performance from the opening scene to the end in what has been made to feel like a one take film, continually tracking inside the claustrophobic setting and mostly shot in close up.The film works so well because it captures all the details and the real life pressure of such an enclosed environment for stressed kitchen staff made worse by laid back colleagues who do not care. Add to that the range of customers ranging from obnoxious complainers to a TV celebrity chef seeking to manipulate Graham as his prior apprentice and the pace is incessant!The 92 minutes sped by and I hope the film achieves great success.

Joe Conneely ● 1086d

I liked it. The two leads are excellent, the plot is bonkers in a good way and the 70s soundtrack is great. Kudos to Act One for getting the sound balanced correctly so the dialogue and music are clear without being too loud. And it’s fun finding out about the real people behind the characters in the film, if that’s your cup of tea. In reality the politician, for example, went on to be president of the Andy Warhol Foundation.

Norman Redfern ● 1092d

I have to sadly admit that the trailer for this film (which I often find is a quick and reliable taster for most films) which I saw on recent prior visit to Act One was enough to convince me not to go and see!

Joe Conneely ● 1092d

1973, California. 15-year-old Gary is a child actor. He meets Alana who is 25 and is smitten with her. He goes a bit stalky for a while but the two end up friends and business partners, selling waterbeds (they never really caught on, did they?). Gary then branches out into a Pinball Parlour. It's not clear when he goes to school. Alana starts working for an anti-corruption mayoral candidate who is hiding a secret. They have some comical adventures, notably an encounter with Barbra Streisand's sometime boyfriend Jon Peters when they sell him a waterbed. I'm surprised Peters hasn't sued!. We watch the Yom Kippur war unfold in the background, and the oil crisis.Some people have had a problem with the premise, what with the age gap and the fact that Gary is a minor but emotionally, I'd say they are much the same age. Plus the relationship is not sexual.It's too long, like most films, and drags a bit in the middle but there are many laugh-out-loud moments and the plot is original and, well, weird.Second visit to Act One and a good turnout for West London's newest cinema.

Susan Kelly ● 1092d

Brave choice for Acton One Cinema to open New Year with? Have to admit though that the 15-30 time showing I attended today was well attended so I hope their decision is well rewarded.The film is shot in black and white and in Academy smaller screen ratio so felt to me initially like a BBC TV Shakespeare play screening from the '60s/'70s. But this is 21st century so the sets and special effects plus music are much more impressive. It still came across as a stage set play and while  these look like a German surrealist film at times (think Cabinet of Dr Caligari etc) the film is shot wide in mock landscapes or close ups in the castle scenes.Thankfully there is no attempt to do Scottish accents the many nationality actors involved keeping their natural voices including Brendan Gleeson with his Irish brogue. Stand out performance for me was Frances McDormand who has apparently played the role of Lady Macbeth on the stage. Denzel Washington did not seem to convey very convincingly the descent into madness caused by his murderous actions but the adaptation(written by Joel Coen of Coen Bros. fame) is aimed at moving the story along so the largely unknown to me supporting cast help cover the cracks. Special mention to Kathryn Hunter who courtesy of CGI plays all of the 3 witches very memorably.The end titles where it states Joel Coen directed and wrote the script based on the play by William Shakespeare (yet most of the famous speeches in the play were still used) brought a smile to my face!