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Film Reviews 2024

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Susan Kelly ● 471d185 Comments

Replete with several Oscars I finally got to see this in Chiswick. I also found the film too long but it is to be commended I believe for finally shattering the "whore with a golden heart" image that Hollywood seemed to love when handling this type of story and placing stories of sex workers in a more honest context. Mikey Madison in the title role of Anora definitely deserves all the accolades she has received for the reality she brought to the role, as does Sean Baker the first person to win four Academy Awards for the same film (Director, Editor, Writer and Picture). The film also seems to reflect a positive trend developing in the last year which is that great and most critically financially successful films, can be made on modest budgets (this one was made for US$ 6 million) versus the big blockbusters as shown by the trailer for the latest Mission Impossible trailer shown before this film..

Joe Conneely ● 28d

I thought it was time I watched this and it really is very good.I would love to have been a fly on the wall as this plot was being pitched to the studio but it just works

Susan Kelly ● 98d

I’m out of sync with everyone else, so will re-post some of my reviews of not yet opened movies as they come up on the 2025 thread

Sara Nathan ● 98d

I think of the Holdovers, zone of interest, poor things and Perfect Days (my overall favourite)as last yearsThis last season  I thought Lost Ladies, A Real Pain, Emilia Perez, the next room, Radical, Touch, a complete unknown were my preferred movies.

Sara Nathan ● 100d

In a way Roy Cohn is more interesting than Trump and less of a cartoon: he blackmails people for being homosexual while he is very much in the closet - and Trump is very much his apprentice - and a quick learner at that. It’s a loathsome collection of people doing some vile things.The script isn’t great but the relationship is intriguing. Don’t think I need a sequel…

Sara Nathan ● 102d

Yes, There's Still Tomorrow is well worth inclusion: looked sumptuous and kept my guessing to the end.

Susan Kelly ● 105d

Must admit I did not make it to the cinema as much this year (not due to what was being shown but personal reasons) so of those I saw my top choices would be:The Holdovers (finally a Xmas film that was truly different)C'e ancora domani ("There's still tomorrow")The Zone of InterestHow to steal grandma's millions & The Bibi Files (best documentary of many which I saw this year)

Joe Conneely ● 105d

Sadly the Thai equivalent of NHS is only for poor people like in the USA who do not want to go and use the many private hospitals (the irony in the film is the woman has has millions in her property but the family members have too much interest in their potential inheritance).The other sad cultural aspect is parents often leaving estates to their sons not daughters. There is an early scene in the film where Grandma approaches her brother to whom all the family estate was left and he refuses to help her.The Chinese family connection explains why the great wish is to be buried in a graveyard plot(as finally happens courtesy of her grandson). Most Thais being Buddhist are usually cremated and the ashes kept in an urn in the family home.

Joe Conneely ● 105d

I'm going, in order of release, with:Poor Things, The Holdovers, Perfect Days, La Chimera, Crossing, Sing Sing and My Favourite Cake.If I had to choose just one it would probably be Perfect Days. Who knew that a film about a lavatory attendant in Tokyo, in which not much happens, could be so endlessly fascinating?

Susan Kelly ● 105d

I was perhaps a little disappointed by this. It felt predictable. There was a certain suggestion that the younger generation are a big disappointment to their elders in places like Thailand, where they have rejected all the old ways, which was interesting.The grandmother seemed to be ethnically Chinese and that seemed to be important which made me aware of how little I know about places like Thailand.It appears that if you need chemotherapy in Thailand, then you have to go along to the hospital and queue for it, which suddenly makes the NHS look like a model of efficiency. People leave their shoes in a queue while they sit down where they can, which is an image which will stay with me.

Susan Kelly ● 105d

Young Icelandic man gets job in a Japanese restaurant in London in 1973. He falls for the bosses daughter.Some is set then and much of the movie at the beginning of lockdown. Lots of flashback - which works fine.It’s a rather charming story of love and loss over decades and continents.I enjoyed it.

Sara Nathan ● 107d

It’s a clever conceit: A fixed camera recording all the drama that has happened on this spot, in this room, here over centuries.And then cuts between them. But is of course missing the grammar of film in that it’s a single wide shot for a couple of hours.And a tad hard to follow. Great graphics though.

Sara Nathan ● 107d

Towards the end of WW2, a Sicilian soldiers finds refuge in a really remote village in the north Italian mountains, falls for local girl, but it doesn’t end well.It’s a long two hours. Every frame a Rembrandt with fabulous scenery.That may not be enough. There’s a dearth of plot; the characters don’t develop much and there are no laughs. Slightly hard work.

Sara Nathan ● 108d

Required viewing amongst my family members! Though I admire the considerable technical skills on display (and very clear like with the new Dr Who series, that Netflix's involvement boosts both the budget and the special effects), I sadly never find W & G that funny.Available on Netflix from January 3rd I believe if you missed the Xmas TV screening.

Joe Conneely ● 108d

This is written and directed by Mike Leigh, so you go in expecting it to be gritty and miserable. And it does.A miserable portrayal of a miserable family being vile to each other, with the main character, Pansy, being vile, angry and depressed for the whole film. She is sustainedly rude and horrible to her husband and son, tornado people in shops and car parks, to anyone in the NHS she can find. It’s rather wearing. There’s no plot, just vitriol. Only her sister manages to cope and stay both civil and sane. NOT a jolly watch.

Sara Nathan ● 109d

I saw it in Soho with a mostly young audience and got the impression that those who understood Thai were getting more out of it than those of us who relied on subtitles. There was a lot more laughing, gasping and indeed sobbing from some seats so I wonder whether some of the dialogue was literally lost in translation? Lovely film, great cast, annoying music.

Norman Redfern ● 109d

New bride travels from her village to Mumbai to start married life. But she is hopeless at it and hardly knows her husband.I think it’s supposed to be a comedy but the humour passed me by…

Sara Nathan ● 109d

Feathers McGraw may be incarcerated in a high security zoo, but he’s still making trouble and subverting Wallace’s latest invention: a garden gnome who is a DIY expert.It’s really about the dangers of AI:..A bit plonking compared to the earlier masterpieces, but an amazing amount of craftsmanship - and a few proper laughs.

Sara Nathan ● 109d

1955 Chile. A woman is accused of murder and the secretary of the investigating judge gets over-involved and rather flees her mundane, crowded, noisy and exploited life. That’s it really. It makes her think about feminism. There’s a very extended hoover metaphor…It does jump about a bit and I wasn’t sure I really “got “ it. But worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 109d

When her husband is killed in the line of duty as a policeman, Santoshbis offered his job which she takes as there aren’t any good alternatives. Then she gets. Involved the disappearance of a young low- caste girl.She discovers that some are untouchable because of their low caste and others because of their higher one.It’s a quiet, thoughtful movie with a good lead. I found it compelling though Saf.

Sara Nathan ● 109d

She very sweetly and at no charge, headlined a benefit for Refugees at Home in 2019 - which was ever so nice of her. So I would be minded to be in favour, but this movie was still dreadful…

Sara Nathan ● 113d

This is a beautifully shot in black and white, miserable story of a young woman in Copenhagen in 1918. She works in a garment factory, can’t afford the rent and her husband is missing in action. Inevitably, her vile employer takes advantage and she ends up pregnant and trying to commit an abortion - with a knitting needle. And it’s all down hill from there….It’s based on a true (and repellant) story and is very much worth seeing

Sara Nathan ● 113d

Took the grandchildren to ActOne and a nearly full cinema - which is always cheering as is the chocolate cup with a random range of goodies in it.So that’s a good start… the infants had seen it with the other grandparents but happy to go again… also I thought a good sign…But it’s not up there with Paddington 1 or 2.It’s a shaggy bear story about looking for Aunt Lucy and El Dorado in Peru. Antonio Banderas and Olivia Colman are the new characters and Emily Mortimer replaces Sally Field as Mrs Brown. Don’t miss the High Grant cameo at the end.The production values are high, there are half a dozen real laughs and all those British stars, but it’s not as coherent as the earlier films.The message that you can be at home and loyal to more than group, tribe, culture or country is well-expressed and quite moving. But not quite enough.

Sara Nathan ● 113d

The "Bibi" of this well made documentary film is Benjamin Netanyahu, the youngest Israeli prime minster at 46 and for many years since, including as will be known currently. The "Files" are the evidence against him for political corruption, an investigation that went on for many years and led to criminal charges finally being filed against him in 2019.The film is able to use leaked film recordings of police interviews held in investigating and pursuing these charges plus recent interviews on camera with many of the witnesses in expanding on what is shown. Israel seems to have suffered several cases of corrupt Prime Ministers across the decades including one who appears in the film (Olmert), who was sent to jail.As well as presenting what seems pretty damning evidence on the corruption aspects which have clearly been present over a long time, the film also provides a biography on Netanyahu showing how he has survived politically across the years by switching allegiances as needed. The film ends up in the present day and the current brutal conflict in progress and his prior controversial attempts to control the Israeli Supreme Court, with his critics all agreeing his simple aim is to stay out of jail by any means possible.I knew much already about Netanyahu and his many failings including corruption over the years, mainly from the annual Jewish Book Festival in London where he has never enjoyed a good press. What this documentary does is lift the curtain especially on his family. His wife seems to be the power and the likely cause of many of the corruption charges made, plus an extreme right wing and arrogant son.  Like the current Middle East situation, I came away hopelessly depressed. With a leader like Netanyahu in charge of Israel, you despair that any lasting peace let alone justice on the corruption charges will ever occur.

Joe Conneely ● 114d

I rather enjoyed it - though not as good an exploration of grandma/grandson relationships as the Thai film.I liked June Squibb’s feisty independence and indomitability. And that, at 93, she was a producer.So I found it less depressing about old age and quite funny in a number of places.

Sara Nathan ● 116d

A coming of Age movie where Elliott (who calls a girl Elliott?) takes some ‘shrooms and meets her 39 year old self. Should she follow “my old ass”es advice?Really clever idea - a little Freaky Friday - with a good script and interesting dilemmas.We thought this was an astonishing indie/art house movie to come out of the USA, which doesn’t generally do these things well. And then discovered it’s a Canadian movie, set in the wonderful Ontario countryside. And we’re less surprised.A good watch and a good length

Sara Nathan ● 117d

Do go - it’s one of the best of the year.

Sara Nathan ● 117d

Is the story of Bob Dylan from when he arrived in New York in 1961 as the eponymous hero until he plays Newport Folk Festival in 1965 as a superstar on (shock, horror) an electric guitar. Includes his relationships with the older musicians (Pete Seeger comes across as the nicest man ever) and his torrid affaire with Joan Baez. I actually saw her live once - singing with Dolly Parton in about 1978!If you love American folk: Woody Guthrie;Pete Seeger; Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, you should love this - it’s jam-packed with music. Which I could accept as perfectly OK covers but devotees could take a dimmer view.Anyhow, it’s all there from This land is your land & house of the rising sun though blowin in the wind, Times a changing, Mr Tambourine man etc etc. Also Timothee Chalamet does a really good job as the young Dylan - who comes across as a bit of a shit but absurdly talented. Chalomet isn’t my favourite actor but he is really outstanding here… candidate for best actor?

Sara Nathan ● 118d

It's definitely scheduled at Act One from Boxing Day.

Susan Kelly ● 118d

This film is great evidence of how national cinemas can be much better at depicting local issues than the Hollywood versions (remember "Crazy Rich Asians"?). This film captures very well the psych of Thai (and most S E Asian) families especially the generational differences and the approach to elders and the passing down of wealth. It is no surprise given how well the story is told and acted, that it has become the largest grossing film in Thailand's history plus enjoyed similar success and audience attendances across many other SE Asian countries. As well as being very observant on how families behave around key events (in this case the family matriarch learning she has terminal cancer and the resulting behaviour of different family members), it is also full of simple humour that makes the film feel very uplifting and as Sarah observes, it never feels sentimental or depressing.Hopefully independent cinemas will ensure it gets a wider showing in Europe and North America.

Joe Conneely ● 119d

M is a young man with an ambition to make a living with online games. It makes him poor company and both insular and selfish. When his cousin inherits a huge house because she looked after a relative until he died, M realises he could do the same for his grandma. He hasn’t shown much interest in her for years. But she is a redoubtable character who brought him up in his early years.Their relationship develops but takes a battering when she gives her house to her no-good, loser son. It’s a very interesting take on family dynamics and dysfunction. It was rather moving and felt genuine rather than manipulative (NOt mawkish!)This is a delightful film; beautifully shot and with great turns from M and the woman who plays his grandmother - and has never acted in a film before.

Sara Nathan ● 119d

A romance but wholly non-linear so takes a little getting used to as to what happens when. Which gives an unusual structure.So Tobias (Andrew Garfield) meets Al (Florence Pugh) when she runs him over. Surely it can only get better? He does IT for weetabix, she is an amazing chef. It’s pretty much a two-hander.I went because a British romance with those two actors… of course I went. But it was strangely unmoving. I was expecting to weep buckets and didn’t.Which was odd as I’m a serious weeper in movies..Maybe the problem is that Tobias is a bit of a drip and you can’t quite understand what the whirlwind woman sees in him.But there are some good scenes - especially the one in the petrol station (once you have seen it, you’ll know which I meant but don’t want too much of a spoiler.Anyhow, a bit mawkish and strongly reminiscent (for us oldies) of Love Story.

Sara Nathan ● 119d

I found this hard to get into and the character of Anu really annoying. Mumbai looks horribly crowded and seems to suffer from permanent torrential downpours.The cinematography somehow makes it look more like a documentary then fiction.I did look at my watch a few times.

Susan Kelly ● 120d

Can't stand Aisling Bea. She's what we Irish call a Notice Box. 'Look at me! Look at me!'

Susan Kelly ● 120d

The ending of Queer was quite messy and hard to tell what was real and what wasn't.

Susan Kelly ● 120d

A British mockumentary about cheating and shenanigans in the giant vegetable growing competitions world.Profoundly mis-conceived and not in any way funny.(Only watched as in my voting group - I doubt anyone got to the end.Has Aisling Bea in it, which ought to be a good sign but the script gives her no chance.

Sara Nathan ● 120d

Was that it then? No resolution? Actually the drug (mostly ketamine) induced hallucinations in Kneecap are brilliant and very funny….

Sara Nathan ● 120d

1950s. Lee is an American 'of independent means' living in Mexico. There he preys on young men but, for some reason, they're not interested in a sweaty, middle-aged alcoholic unless there's money involved. He becomes obsessed with Eugene, a young man whose sexuality is unclear. The two travel to Ecuador where Lee has heard tell of a plant which can enhance telepathic powers. They go on to Bolivia where they encounter a weirdly cast Lesley Manville as a botanist/doctor who has supplies of this plant and who looks as if she's been dragged through mud.I wish film makers would realise how BORING scenes of drug-induced hallucinations are, then maybe they wouldn't be so keen on them.The film is too long and a bit slow. Lee is too unlikeable to care about. Still, it kept my attention, just about.

Susan Kelly ● 121d

Finally got to see at. packed Chiswick cinema so still doing great business. Maybe because I am a Catholic and over the years seen enough papal elections and read about the different factors and turns at play in each event (especially the Italian cardinals who are a disproportionate number represented and always seem to think another Italian pope is long overdue) I found a lot of the details shown fascinating.As other reviews have stated the acting is top class and the script with its twists of a very ecclesiastical detective story keeps you gripped all the way. I had not read the book by Robert Harris so did not know the ending which felt like the denouement in an Agatha Christie novel in that I would never have guessed.

Joe Conneely ● 121d

So the Daniel Craig character is a louche, alcoholic, not very engaging homosexual man in Mexico in the 40s with a private income and time to eye up all the prettier young men around.One in particular catches his eye. After a steamy courtship, they go off looking for some mind-altering substance in the Ecuadorian jungle. Lesley Manville pops up implausibly, as a bald American weirdo doing research in the jungle. She saves them from her guard-viper.At which point, we were an hour and forty five minutes in and I had lost the will to live and left.If anyone gets to the end, they can tell you what (if anything) happens.Least favourite film of the year so far: feels like a shaggy dog story; the characters are unlikeable and unlikely; script isn't tight enough and it's not redeemed even by Daniel Craig and Lesley Manville.And the dense jungle is very close up and  looks like some cleverly arranged plant pots.And I paid to see this one too - which I resent...

Sara Nathan ● 121d

This is sold as a docu-drama (mildly off-putting?) and the three leads play themselves - but there is quite a lot of drama too.These two drug-dealing low-lifes come across an Irish-language teacher with a love for hip-hop and together they form this Irish-language rapping group. And it does astonishingly well.It's a really engaging film and very original - with a fantastic use of graphics. Took a little getting into and working out quite who was doing what for and against and with who. But that clears and then it's a great watch - in spite of the appalling language, a bit of violence and some graphic drug use.Also, on the plus side, it has Michael Fassbinder and some very, very funny lines and moments.Definitely worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 121d

age:Is a bio-pic of opera diva, Maria Callas and a vehicle for Angelina Jolie - who is in almost every shot and gives a stunning performance.The problem is that, while it looks and sounds fabulous and is directed by Pablo Lorraine (definitely an auteur and directed Jackie which. Is linked and very much better) the narrative arc doesn’t work and the tone is too similar throughout and rather repetitive.First shot (with date) is clearly of her death. The rest of it tracks her last week, with a number of incorporates flashbacks and a device of making the narcotics, to which she was addicted, a character.But there’s no surprise or suspense and it seems longer than its two hours.

Sara Nathan ● 123d

Lusaka 2024. Shula is driving home from a party when she comes across the body on her Uncle Fred dead on the road. She calls her father who promises to come but doesn't. Her cousin Nsansa turns up, drunk, and calls the police who says they are busy and will come in the morning. As the large family gathers for the funeral there's a lot of wailing and keening and criticising of the widow. Shula goes to fetch her cousin Bupe from her university halls but finds her in a state of breakdown.It soon becomes clear that Uncle Fred was a serial abuser of the family's girl children, something covered up by the older women as well as the men. Shula is neither an alcoholic, like Nsansa, nor shattered like Bupe but is her cold demeanour and lack of affect a sign that she too was a victim?Oddly, this film is billed as a comedy. I'd say it's ideal for anyone who's worried about feeling too cheerful!It's in a mixture of English and the local language, often in the same sentence, but all subtitled so there's no confusion.

Susan Kelly ● 123d

Tells the true story of the only battalion of black women to be posted from the USA to Europe in World War II. 885 women were shipped to Birmingham to sort out a two year backlog of mail that was undermining the morale of American troops and their families.The way into the film is via one young woman who joined at 18 after a sad romance. Kerry Washington plays the charismatic leader of the battalion and has some great speeches. She is brilliant. The director said it was 90% true but no-one has heard of it - partly because the rumour at the time was that the women were shipped over more as troop comforters to stop American black soldiers consorting with British girls - which white Americans resented. But actually they did an amazing job on sorting the mail - at which other units had failed.Seen as an important part of black womens history (which is probably why the US ambassador - presumably not for much longer - introduced the screening)Much better than expected: quite a traditional piece of film-making, but not the worse for that.

Sara Nathan ● 124d

Not a lot of plot but a hymn of praise to Mumbai and a village outside it. Two nurses share a flat and work in the same hospital. One has a husband she hasn’t seen in years - almost since their wedding; the other is in love with a Muslim boy. Which is not on. Also there’s a cook who is being evicted and the women help her go back to her village on the coast. Somebody washes up and the first nurse saves his life. I’m honestly not sure what’s happened next but I think it’s her imagining saved man is her husband.It’s a slow film. Not a lot happens. But it’s beautiful to look at.And has won or been nominated for many awards. First film at Cannes for decades/ever and it triumphed.

Sara Nathan ● 125d

Is a vehicle for Amy Adams who is in almost every shot and is rather wonderful as a “mother” with no name who is bringing up a two year old with minimal input from the “husband”. She was a successful artist now full-time mom and it’s driving her crazy. That’s it really. Extended animalistic metaphor works pretty well.I found it quite funny - though am not sure everyone would. And unusual in that the frustrations of parenting and specifically mothering are seldom addressed so head-on in a mainstream movie.Worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 125d

Two cousins travel to Poland to see where their grandmother came from. It’s tricky because one of them is certainly A Real Pain. But he also feels real pain.Written, directed and starring Jesse Eisenberg (Starred in the social network) which isn’t usually a recipe for a good outcome.But this is both funny and engaging and quite sad.How can someone so charismatic and charming be such a pain in the neck and why is being the sensible one so boring?First feature film to film in a real extermination camp - a distinction of sorts - but it’s handled really sensitively and well.Also loads of Chopin throughout which is rather lovely. It’s nominated (recently) for a lot of golden globes…

Sara Nathan ● 126d

Shelley has danced in the Razzle Dazzle casino show for  30 years and now it’s suddenly closing as it’s too dated for words and the punters aren’t interested. But what’s a show dancer in her late 50s supposed to do next and why did she decide to devote her life to this rather than anything else?Pamela Anderson carried all this off with elan and Jamie Lee Curtis is a startlingly raddled friend. But the script is very slight and the characters not very defined. The answer seems to be because she was young and pretty and not very bright. Which isn’t that helpful. At 89 minutes, it felt a little long.

Sara Nathan ● 128d

Jang comes back to his home town in the Gobi desert after a ten-year prison sentence. When he left the town flourished and he had some fame as a band member. Now he’s an estranged convict and the town is dying. He is employed as a stray dog warden - that being the only population growing and flourishing and comes across the eponymous black dog: he might be rabid. Or not. But they do develop a relationship.There is very little script but some wonderful shots and the relationships develop powerfully.The ending is rather long but apart from that it’s a powerful look at decay and rebuilding.

Sara Nathan ● 129d

This is set in occupied Italy just post WWII. Poor, put-upon woman has a hell of a time of it with her brutal husband and his revolting father. But is there a way out? Maybe, though it’s dangerous and unexpected. Twist at the end rather jolly.Beautifully acted and in black and white with an unusual ratio that makes it feel very 40s but with a 21st century sensibility.

Sara Nathan ● 129d

This is a most original movie. It’s a musical but the songs are very much incorporated into the plot and action. The central character is a badly-treated Mexican lawyer who is hired by a dangerous monster to take on a very unusual assignment. she manages and, some time later, they join forces again.I’m not going into the plot in any more detail because it is quite unusual.It’s all rather compelling and the four central actresses jointly won best actress at Cannes this year.I’d tip it to do well at BAFTA and Oscar: certainly a contender for film not in the English language.And I thought that before I sat there dutifully at the screening reading the credits (the price you pay for BAFTA screenings) and blow me, my nephew’s name came up as lead orchestra. I squeaked with astonishment. He says that just means more of his work was left on the cutting room floor than anyone else’s. But I’m a proud auntie…

Sara Nathan ● 129d

As Sara says, this film is charming and very unusual. I wouldn't call it slight.The two women have very different prospects: one husband is sweet and gentle while the other is a drunken brute whose first wife died in mysterious circumstances. Hardly surprising that bride #2 is in no hurry to be found, especially as she's an educated woman who longs to go to agricultural college and learn organic farming.It's listed on Netflix at Laapataa Ladies. Do watch it.

Susan Kelly ● 132d

This may be my favourite film of the year so far.It’s a fairly slight story about two women who get married on the same auspicious day in the traditional garb of central India. Then they get mixed up and lost on their journeys to their new husbands families and villages.They are two very different women with wholly different expectations and inclinations. Will they find their ways back or on?It’s funny and poignant and very Indian, with much of it shot on real trains and stations. The characters are beautifully developed even/especially the minor ones. The feminist take is clear but hardly any of the men are villains and spoke surprising ones turn out to be allies.If you can find it, do try and watch: it’s wholly delightful.Streamed on Netflix but I don’t know about cinema release.

Sara Nathan ● 133d

This documentary is nearly four hours long. I’m never going to get to the end so thought I’d mention it here. It’s a bit of a hotch potch and the reason it’s so long is that there is loads about his current creative processes, which I didn’t think very interesting. There is quite a lot of music but surprisingly little from his core Simon & Garfunkel period: nothing on how they came to do the music for the Graduate for instance or about the five years touring and super-stardom. Quite a bit about the break-up - which sounded as exciting as these things so often are, especially as they had been friends since high school. Then the early solo career - at which point I stopped (after Mother & Child Reunion)I’m a real fan and I lost it after an hour and three-quarters.

Sara Nathan ● 134d

A Zambian woman finds her uncle’s corpse in the road. During the family mourning period, it transpires that dying was the only good thing he did. But the whole family has kept quiet and protected him.I thought it rather gripping - showing a culture about which I know nothing.And the actress playing the lead character, Shula, is very good in what might be her first role. Definitely worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 134d

I saw it last night at a packed Act One. I hadn't read the book. I found it absolutely gripping and loved all the twists and turns. The cast were excellent. Highly recommended.

Chris Hurley ● 135d

Latest from Disney is a sequel to the 2016 Moana about a young Polynesian girl saving her people by persuading a demi-god to return the heart of a mountain he stole. Demi-god definitely star of the first show but sadly slightly less central in the second one (odd really in that the actor with the voice, Dwayne Johnson, is now executive producer.)Anyhow the sequel is much more scary than the orignal and I kept having to whisper to grandson that it would be alright in the end. It was of course, this is Disney.It's all set up for part 3 too.There's a slight feel of cultural appropriation but mostly its just a good yarm about good and evil and having cute animals to help you out along the way. And a demi-godd of course.The animation is amazing but the songs are no longer by Llin Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame)and marginally less memorable. But not bad at all.It's a rather luscious watch. Grandson said it was better then the first one (once he'd stopped shivering with terror)

Sara Nathan ● 135d

Now showing on Netflix. I found this more engrossing than I expected. I had forgotten how much hostility there was towards the IVF programme in the 70s -- from the public, the media, even other scientists such as Nobel Laureate James Watson.As Sara says, Jean Purdy was the unknown third and the focal point of the film. I'm not clear how much of her backstory is true: as a committed Christian, we see her shunned by her local church and her own mother for her work on these 'Frankenstein babies'. What is undoubtedly true is that she was dead of cancer before the age of 40. Nature is cruel.Great cast, with a shout out to the great Joanna Scanlan as Jean's judgemental mum.

Susan Kelly ● 139d

The film of Robert Harris's novel is quite ponderous, but then so is the process of choosing a new pope. Ralph Fiennes is the Dean, in charge of the conclave and we have Hollywood royalty in the shape of John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci. The senior cardinals all claim not to want the job and some of them may even be telling the truth. There's a popular African cardinal who thinks that gay men should be hanged and then burn in Hell and another who wants the church to become more conservative if not quite to that extent. And is it true that the late pope sacked one cardinal on his last day on earth and, if so, what for?Meanwhile suicide bombers are attacking Rome.The ending remains one of the silliest of any story I've ever read but the main actors are all compelling.

Susan Kelly ● 143d

Suspect the answer to your question of why the extensive use of Elstree/Herts may be down to the major tax credits the UK government were offering to attract US films especially.May also explain why certain Netflix series were being shot almost entirely on location in the UK (notably the recent two series of "The Candidate") though its excellent storyline does require a UK setting.

Joe Conneely ● 146d

Long-awaited and, indeed, jolly long.this is just the first half - up to the interval in the stage show with the second half shot and nearly edited but not due for release for a while.Part 1 is two hours and forty minutes.You must know, but this is the pre-quel to The Wizard of Oz and explains how the two witches became the people they were.The leads are Cynthia Erivo and Araina Grande, so it's both glamourous and beautifully sung. And some of the songs are amazing production numbers - - especially "Popular" and of course "Defying Gravity"Visually it's very appealing and the special effects pretty stunning. Plus the singing numbers are beautifully staged and the production values off the top of the scale.But it's a little flabby and also derivative - of Matilda and Legally Blonde - and not exactly in an homage way.It was all shot and recorded in Elstree and around London (they didn't explain why but the whole, huge team was clearly camped in Hertfordshire for months.)It was glamorous - made more so by a Q&A with the stars - and it will really appeal to afficionados of either the show or of Ariana Grande or both. Didn't quite do it for me.

Sara Nathan ● 146d

I didn't get round to seeing this odd little Canadian film during its limited release but it's now on Amazon Prime.18-year-old Elliott is about to leave home for university when she gets high on drugs one night and is visited by her future self at the age of 39. Future Elliott warns her to avoid a boy named Chad at all costs.Shouldn't be a problem, given that Elliott identifies as gay, but then Chad comes to work on the family farm for the summer.I was unsure about this for a good 20 minutes as I found Elliott quite annoying in a typical teenage-girl way, but then it began to grow on me and it's certainly an original story.Worth a look.

Susan Kelly ● 147d

1940. 9-year-old George, a mixed-race boy from Stepney, lives with his mother and grandfather. He is angry when told he must be evacuated to escape the bombing and, one hour into the train journey, jumps out of the train and hops another one back to London, where he promptly gets lost.Predictably, he meets good people, notably Ife the wise Nigerian ARP warden, and nasty ones in the shape of a gang of cartoon villains robbing bombed businesses of their valuables. It's all very *obvious* -- what any of us would write if tasked with telling this story. There's a not-at-all-casual racist incident every 20 minutes or so, lest we forget. Also, while the boy playing the lead is very good there are a dozen other child actors who are all horribly wooden, but at least that means they match much of the dialogue.The shots of London on fire are impressive, though.

Susan Kelly ● 150d

I thought it brilliant too: Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton are compelling giving beautiful performances and it is a thoughtful, nuanced film almost like a play in that really only the two central characters matter.Some interesting speeches including the one about “fighting” cancer.It might have been mawkish or dull but is neither.Good music too - and the house - second only to the one in Parasite in desirable locations to die in.

Sara Nathan ● 151d

Its the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of a 14 year old girl and her parents (Jared Harris, Juliet Stevenson) appeal for her to come home. Then she does. Or is it the right girl? And if not, why not?Of course, classy central performances and it's a good mystery, although quite a few very loose ends.We sort of know what happened by the end and so does he, but does she?Quiet but gripping. And very sad, throughout.

Sara Nathan ● 151d

There’s a sort of Pretty Woman vibe (though coarser and more potty-mouthed) to start with but it soon toughens up. The search for Ivan is too long but otherwise it’s a really good watch - we thoroughly enjoyed it: seaminess, atrocious language and all. An original take on the tart with a heart romance and a very unaffectionate look at Russian families and mores. I

Sara Nathan ● 152d

Much of the charm on the first two films lay in watching Paddington come to understand British people and our weird ways and I feared that taking him back to Peru might be a mistake.However, he takes the whole Brown family with him so the roles are, to some extent, reversed and I found much to enjoy in the film and many guffaws.Antonio Banderas is the baddie this time, though perhaps more misguided than plain evil, as Paddington searches for his missing Aunt Lucy with the ?help of Olivia Colman's Mother Superior from the Home For Retired Bears.

Susan Kelly ● 154d

This is the latest of the Denziel Washington project to make films of all the August Wilson’s plays. And involves his whole family either directing or starring.Seven more to go apparently. This is about a piano and the lesson it teaches - rather than about a piano lesson. In 1911 a piano carved with black faces is removed from a white persons house. A man does.25 years later, his children are squabbling about whether to keep it for its history or sell it to buy land and security. The universal themes are of family relationships but, apart from that, it’s very grounded in the black American experience and therefore quite a hard watch for Londoners. I never really tuned in to the extreme southern accents, so found it difficult to follow.It’s very much a play, filmed with a little opening out and special effects not available on stage. The music - by Alexander Desplat and recorded (a little implausibly) by Strictly’s Dave Arch in London- is compelling.Overall, I preferred Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom - an earlier one in the series. But the rest of the screening audience clearly appreciated it.

Sara Nathan ● 155d

First world problems in the north London liberal elite over house-selling, business problems, ethical dilemmas all come to a head at a dinner party for old friends.Doesn't sound promising.But actually it's very tightly structured, written and performed in a very choreographed way. A bit like a filmed play exploring some knotty ethical issues but not at undue length. Some moments of sheer idiocy/farce and the clafoutis joke wears a little thin, overall I enjoyed it. It's funny.I love Rufus Sewell and Shirley Henderson is excellent too.

Sara Nathan ● 156d

Forgot to say but the music is extraordinary as are the production values.

Sara Nathan ● 156d

This is a monster of a movie at 3.5 hours including an intermission. And, mostly, it’s absorbing throughout.Adrien Brody (remember the pianist?) does his Jewish artist emerging from the camps shtick - but this time it’s as a Bauhaus architect with a substantial practice in Budapest - which of course counts for nothing with the Nazis and - as it turns out not for much with most Americans. But he stays with his cousin in Philadelphia and is commissioned to rebuild a rich man’s library. Said rich man being very wealthy and with an artistic bent but with the odd character flaw.Essentially it’s the story of their relationshipAnd of Lazlo (who is a fictitious composite reminiscent of a Jewish Corbusier) reuniting with his wife.The first half is really excellent and then it goes off rather and feels very long. There is a wholly unnecessary sub-plot about heroin addiction that just holds it up and contributes to the excessive length. But overall it’s a compelling watch. Dunno how many cinemas will be willing to schedule it however.

Sara Nathan ● 156d

Widowed at 28, the woman who became Veuve Cliquot is determined to carry on her husband's business and vineyard. And succeeds. She also invented pink champagne which some think a good thing but fear is still an abomination.The film is slow, has (of course)a modern consciousness of perceptions of women in business and homo-erotic overtones. It's also unfathomably clean.It's an interesting story buyt not a gripping movie.

Sara Nathan ● 157d

A Netflix movie that feels like a filmed play, but maybe isn't.Three daughters await the death of their father in his Manhattan apartment. There's a lot of conflict and a lot to resolve and sort of they do.It observes all the unities. there are no laughs. I don't think I'd go to the cinema to see it.

Sara Nathan ● 157d

is a documentary about a programme in American prisons to get the daughters of incarcerated fathers to go into jail for a dance and date with their dads. It's been going 12 years.What it really highlights is the complete inhumanity of the American prison system: some jails haven't had ANY face-to-face visits since 2014, just on video link. So the children grow up with little connection and increasing resentment.But this programme gets the dads into group counselling before the big day, provides them with a suit and tie to replace the orange jump-suits, facilitates and persuades the mums and generally lays on the spread. It's clearly life-changing.The amazing outcome is that 95% of the fathers never go back to prison if they get released or paroled.So the film - sort of like Sing Sing but more compelling - shows the preparation,the dance and then does some follow-up for four years.

Sara Nathan ● 158d

It's really tough being a 12 year old, mixed-race girl with completely hopeless parents in Gravesend. So Grace is obsessed by birds and filming them. She also has to parent her smaller, and larger half siblings. And her parents to some extent.And then this chap - called Bird - comes along - looking for his family.Gravesend is still vile but at least there's some magical realism to help things along.It's a very odd film but interesting and absorbing, if a fraction long.It's written and directed by Andrea Arnold, famous for Fish Tank, who thus has a reputation for edgy.It is. But an absorbing - if deperessing - watch.

Sara Nathan ● 158d

A budding tennis star finds her coach is suspended after another girl kills herself. But is he to blame? And what is his relationship to Julie. And why won't she talk about it to anyone?It's not just the title that is quiet. Apart from the tennis, it's a very still film. Contemplative even. And a little long. But the new actress - in every frame - is very good.

Sara Nathan ● 158d

A cantor can’t sing anymore - which is tough if you earn your living singing. But he bumps into his former music teacher and she decides to have bat mitzvah. He coaches her. He rediscovers an interest in life.Truly this is the worst film I have seen in years. Full or cliches and steeeotypes, terrible script. Awful lines that are supposed to make you laugh and don’t. “edgy” camerawork. Just don’t. Try Nobody Wants This on Netflix if you want a hoot rabbi and meet/cute story

Sara Nathan ● 160d

The novella was one of the best things I have read in recent years but I have to agree with Sara that the film doesn't quite live up to it. Minutes on end are spent lingering on Murphy's brooding face  and it's all incredibly dark. Okay, it's Christmas and the darkest time of the year, but really?Emily Watson is wonderfully malevolent as the Mother Superior. If the Devil is the Father of Lies, she will surely be welcome in Hell for all the ones she tells.

Susan Kelly ● 161d

Ani is a lap dancer and occasional prostitute. She meets Vanya, son of a Russian oligarch, who offers her $15k to spend the week as his girlfriend. On a whim, he flies them to Vegas, then proposes. They marry.Vanya's parents are furious. They have goons, one of whom is called Igor, and they want the marriage annulled right away. The goons are no match for Ani. 'She's just a little girl'. 'She doesn't fight like one'!The film is noisy and frantic and a bit too long but it's funny and fresh and I enjoyed it enormously.It's an 18 certificate: there are a good few sex scenes and if you don't like swearing then it isn't for you.

Susan Kelly ● 162d

So we’ve all heard of Steptoe and Edwards, right? The ground-breaking pair who created the first test-tube/IVF baby: Louise Joy Brown in the early 80s. But mostly we haven’t heard about the third member of the team - a research nurse called Jean Purdy. Because she was only a nurse and a girl etc. But Edwards always said he couldn’t have done it without her.So this movie, starring Bill Nighy as Steptoe, Thomasin McKenzie as Jean and James Norton as Edward’s tells the story of the decade behind the success.  And it was quite a success: 12 million IVF babies have been born since then.I thought it quite compelling and very moving (but I was on the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority for some years, so am a sucker for this story) Anyhow, first film of the year to make me cry!

Sara Nathan ● 162d

A former congressman lives with his wife and five children just by the beach in Rio de Janeiro. It’s pretty idyllic and has a distinct Garden of the Furze-Contini (which I’m currently reading) feel about it.Because this is 1970 and there’s a military dictatorship recently started.He is having a new house built and has a busy professional life, but clearly is involved in something more secret.One day he is arrested. The next day his wife and daughter are taken in for questioning. It’s clearly not going to end well.Daughter is quickly released, a couple of weeks later, so is his wife. But what has happened to him?The film is really about the wife and family stepping-up, adjusting, investigating.It’s compelling stuff, beautifully shot and acted. And quite moving.Definitely worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 163d

This is likely to be Clint Eastwood's last film at the age of 94. Also, he's annoyed that the studio has given it only a limited theatrical release in the US.Justin is a pleasant Everyman in Georgia, a recovered alcoholic with a heavily pregnant wife, who is called for jury service and chosen for the jury on the murder case of a man accused of killing his girlfriend on a deserted road one dark and stormy night. Prosecutor Faith is running for DA and a conviction won't hurt her polling numbers.As the case opens, Justin is horrified to realise that he himself killed the woman that night; he thought his car hit a deer. He decides that his best hope is to get the defendant acquitted but the evidence against him is strong and the rest of the jury are certain of his guilt.We seem to be getting into 12 Angry Men territory but Eastwood's film is more nuanced than that and largely a study in guilt.It's a solid picture, worth seeing. I'd have picked up the pace personally but then I'm not 94. I have a theory about why the studio went lukewarm on it: Americans audiences have a certain mindset when it comes to crime stories, they like to believe that the justice system works, and Eastwood wasn't going to pander to that.It'll keep you guessing to the end.

Susan Kelly ● 164d

This is another movie featuring the Catholic Church - which emerges as the complete villain as it concerns the Magdalene laundries in Ireland, where single pregnant women were incarcerated in virtual slavery - a practice that went on for decades and affected 56,000 woman. And it’s also based on the book of the same name by the peerless Claire Keegan. She is a wonderful spare writer: doesn’t waste a word and writes beautiful, short fiction. I came across her through an earlier move: Foster which was wonderful.This, sadly, isn’t. Much more Hollywood (produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and starring Cillian Murphy - huge box office right now)But Cillian Murphy’s cheekbones are not enough. It’s very, very slow. Beautiful to look at but…Even Emily Watson - who is great as the vile mother superior, isn’t on screen for nearly long enough to help.Whats odd is that a very short book is made into what feels like a rather long film… and then stops before the end. It was great to see so many people at ActOne watching it, but we were rather bemused by the positive critical reception. Read the book instead!

Sara Nathan ● 164d

Based on the book by Robert Harris and almost wholly set in and around the (mocked up?) Sistine chapel, this is the story of the election of a new pope and all the shenanigans surrounding that.I had worked it the final twist about half way through the book, forgotten about it and then it all came flooding back about two minutes in.But anyhow there’s no suspense if you’ve read the book, so no matter.And this rattles along satisfactorily (though like my next review reflects rather badly on the Catholic Church)And the cast is fabulous: Ralph Fiennes is wonderful a fb in almost every scene. Stanley Tucci also, as ever a great watch. And John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini also compelling. Would you guess he just turned 79 - in the middle of his current run in Giant at the Royal Court. Given it’s an arcane subject, almost nothing actually happens and the end is unsurprising, it’s a jolly good watch.

Sara Nathan ● 164d

Ingrid and Martha are old friends but haven't met for a while. Ingrid, who has just written a book about how terrified she is of dying, is shocked to learn that Martha is dying of cervical cancer. Even more shocked when Martha asks her to accompany her as she embarks on an assisted death via a suicide pill bought on the Dark Web. The two women go to a beautiful rental n upstate New York where Martha intends to take her pill at the moment of her choosing. Ingrid will know it has happened when her bedroom door is closed one morning.This is Almdovar's first English language film and may suffer a little from that fact. I found it riveting but It's only fair to say that the friend I went with absolutely hated it and repaired to the bar after an hour!

Susan Kelly ● 167d

It’s a bit of a challenge being the sixth wife of Henry VIII. And how are you to know you will outlive the fat, old monster? Especially if you are a radical Protestant with heretic friends and Simon Russell Beale out to see you volunteer at the stake. Historically, this is a load of old tosh about Catherine Parr. But she’s played by Alicia Viksander, the old king, brilliantly, by Jude law and the aforementioned SRB as the wicked Bishop Gardiner. So it’s worth watching and not dull. However it gets more implausible in the last third.Also it feels seriously made on the cheap in one location and a small, if starry cast. Worth seeing for Jude Law, essentially.

Sara Nathan ● 172d

Paris 1935. Madeleine, an aspiring actress and Pauline, a newly-qualified lawyer with no clients are living a poverty stricken life together. Madeleine has a boyfriend who is the son of a rich man but he means to marry an heiress and offers her only the role of his mistress. When a theatrical producer is shot dead shortly after a meeting with Madeleine, she decides to confess to the murder, claiming that she was defending her honour against a would-be rapist. Pauline defends her. It's a high risk strategy.The film is deftly plotted and the cast are (over)acting with great panache but it's easily the silliest film I've seen this decade.

Susan Kelly ● 176d

This trawl through Donald Trump's early life is fascinating. Trump did what he could to stop it being released but it isn't the hatchet job I was expecting, or not for the first 90 minutes. We see him getting out from under the thumb of his bullying father, only to be lured in by reptilian lawyer Ron Cohn, who uses blackmail to win his cases. We see him fall in love with Ivana and win her away from her boyfriend. We see him mourn the death of his alcoholic brother, Fred junior. New York in the 70s is a crime-ridden mess but the young Trump had faith in its ability to rise from the ashes and plays his part in rebuilding it.Things start to turn in the last half hour as we see the lout we have come to know and hate emerge, as he tires of Ivana, and of the dying Ron, and starts to pop amphetamines to deal with his ballooning weight.I think Trump's hatred of this film is based on the fact that it shows him as vulnerable, certainly in his youth and looking weak is something he can't bear.Sebastian Stan looks very like a young Trump in his blond wig/dye job and, just as importantly, captures his way of speaking. Jeremy Strong is magnificent as the awful Cohn.Maybe there'll be a sequel for his later years?

Susan Kelly ● 178d

Inside the eponymous prison is a programme called rehabilitation through arts and this tells the story ( starring mostly now freed graduates of the programme) of what those on it do inside. It’s not a complex plot but it is redemptive. Feels like a long promotional video for the benefits of arts in prison (in this country the Koestler programme and Pimlico Opera - both of which have operated in the Scrubs- demonstrate the validity of the core point)So it’s not a great film but as almost a docu-drama, it’s jolly interesting.

Sara Nathan ● 184d

The latest Steve McQueen tells the story of London in the blitz. It squishes almost every memorable event in a year or so into about 48 hours of narrative.Stars Saiorse Ronan (again) and Paul Welles with cameos as the baddies by Stephen Graham and Linda Burke and (local man we think) Benjamin Clémentine and a LOT of CGI. As often, having one person - however talented - as both writer and director leads to a lack of pushback. So it’s a picaresque and episodic piece following the nine year old hero: a mixed race boy coping with not just the war but racism and an absent father. For me, too many episodes based on fact and not enough character. Others may love it.

Sara Nathan ● 184d

This is a rather charming film about a 70yo woman alone in Iran and very lonely as she is widowed and her kids have left. She is emboldened by her friends - who she hardly sees - to make the first steps to meeting a new chap. The end is a little predictable but the film is lovely and the heroine a star who will face down the morality police.It’s beautifully acted and shot and definitely worth seeing.

Sara Nathan ● 184d

Edward has facial deformities which make  people gasp with horror at the sight of him. He lives in a grotty flat in New York, though he has no visible means of support. mIt's the sort of block where neighbours commit suicide. Ingrid, an aspiring playwright, moves in next door and Edward is rather smitten but knows that no woman will look at him.He is offered a place on a drug trial. It works brilliantly and the growths on his face peel off, leaving a normal, rather handsome man. Wanting a complete break, he tells everyone that Edward is dead and reinvents himself as Guy. Soon he's a successful estate agent, living a much better life.One day he passes a theatre where Ingrid's play 'Edward' is in rehearsal. He auditions for the lead role and gets it, making himself a mask of his old face.  But then Oswald erupts into his life: a British man with facial deformities but happy in his skin -- confident, outgoing, even attractive to women. Soon he has taken Guy's role.Okay, we know it's what inside that counts. Our mothers told us that when we were young. We also know that it isn't really true when it comes to success in life. I found this film dragged rather. It could have made its point more quickly.

Susan Kelly ● 188d

This is showing at Act One from Friday. Strongly recommended.

Susan Kelly ● 190d

I know the French system of justice is very different to the British one. The judge and jury retire together for instance. But this did seem extreme and odd.I found it took a while to get going but got more engaging as it progressed. Goldman was indeed weird. Nobody seems to have minded much when he was murdered only three years after he was released. Not to have been very interested in finding out who did it. As court-room dramas go, it was quite compelling.

Sara Nathan ● 193d

Aden is an aspiring actor. We first meet him lying on the floor covered with blood, a corpse in a lame TV detective show. He is humiliated in various auditions and, in an odd scene, accepts money from a grieving woman to play the role of her dead son for her, to the horror of her husband. His flat mate is a junior doctor, overworked to the point of hallucinations. Both young men are clearly very depressed.Then Conrad moves in as a third sharer. He's confident, up beat, clearly on the way up. Aden, in a surreal way, starts to try to become Conrad. This felt very fresh and original. It's a tight 90 minutes and I thoroughly recommend it.

Susan Kelly ● 196d

What a strange man Pierre Goldman seems to have been. Did he ever shut up? He turns the courtroom into a circus and, in a British court, he would have been taken down to the cells.I don't know if this is a famous case in France. Nobody here has heard of it. Did I enjoy it? Let's say that I was glad to have seen it.It's worth remembering that France still had the death penalty for murder until 1981 and that the word guillotine is mentioned.

Susan Kelly ● 196d

It’s a biopic about the model turned Vogue photographer who took some amazing photos in London during WWII and then went to France for the closing stages and liberation of Paris and then on to concentration camps.Starring and produced by Kate Winslett. And with some excellent support particularly by Andrea Riseborough as the embattled editor of Vogue.I found it quite compelling and thought the framing worked.Some good script-lines and the reconstruction of some of the iconic photos was great. Kate Winslett, as ever, compelling.Good to see ActOne so full too. Apparently it’s doing good business.

Sara Nathan ● 202d

It’s 1976, and Pierre Goldman, a French Communist activist with a penchant for armed robbery, is facing his second trial for a particularly nasty double murder. His defence is in disarray after he sacked, and then rehired a lawyer he dislikes on the grounds that he is an “armchair Jew”, and he refuses to allow any character witnesses because his character is irrelevant to his innocence.This is a fascinating reimagining of Goldman’s trial with all the theatre of a French courtroom, rowdy interruptions from the public gallery and Goldman’s uncompromising approach threatening to undermine his own defence. It’s very wordy (in French, so lots of subtitles) and almost never leaves the courtroom, but I found it gripping.

Norman Redfern ● 203d

In the West Bank before October 7th but it’s still grim and an English teacher is trying too keep it together for the oppressed boys of his class.The Israeli occupiers are vile, especially the settlers. And his home life is complex and tragic. Then a boy is killed.Plus an Israeli-American soldier has been kidnapped (by Hamas? Unspoken)It’s never going to end well.And up pops the beautiful English volunteer. (Imogen Poots) as the wholly gratuitous love interest.It’s rather leaden and the writer/director/producer and online begetter doesn’t seem to know how or when to end it.But the lead actor (who was also in the Bands Visit and The Blue Caftan - both of which were excellent) Saleh Bakri is a compelling star and the best thing about it.

Sara Nathan ● 203d

This documentary about the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo isn’t revelatory. And I still prefer the 2002 film starring Selma Hayek, Alfred Molina and Geoffrey  Rush (as her lover, Trotsky yet!) Apparently this is based on the same source material.This has no narration and is mostly culled from her letters and diaries.The best thing is the animation of her art. Which is pretty good.There is almost no moving footage of her and no recording of her voice. So it’s a challenge maybe better served by fictionalising. But the animation helps.

Sara Nathan ● 204d

Lesley Manville criminally underused!

Susan Kelly ● 205d

All true but Ian McKellen is masterful as the waspish critic hero/villain. And the portrayal of closeted, cottaging gay London life is thoughtful.Rather under-used Lesley Manville and Romola Garai.And the decor, design and cinematography are divine.Had made me want to read Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn on which it is (maybe quite loosely) based.

Sara Nathan ● 205d

Based on a memoire - so nearly a true story - of a troubled young woman who lives a wild, alcoholic life in that London and goes home to the Orkneys to recover and become/stay sober.Saiorse Ronan is the lead and very compelling. She also produced so is in pretty much every shot.Orkney and its islands look amazing - but quite challenging as a place to live.It’s introspective and a little long at just under two hours. But interesting and rather beautiful to watch.

Sara Nathan ● 207d

There's something a bit OFF about this film. It's set in 1934 and Ian McKellan is a vicious theatre critic who has it in for Gemma Arterton's Nina. But when he's fired from the Daily Chronicle and he realises that the new proprietor is obsessed with Nina, he sees a chance to help both of them: he will big up her career and she will stop the Viscount from firing him.The period setting is nice enough, aesthetically, but, as so often, it's all sanitised. References are made to the fact that the critic has a black boyfriend but they are nowhere near as horrible as they would have been in real life. The plot just doesn't quite hang together.

Susan Kelly ● 210d

EPicMahin is a 70-year-old widow, a retired nurse, living in a nice house in the suburbs of Tehran. Her children moved abroad 20 years ago and she sees them and her grandchildren only on Facetime. She has some women friends but they are mostly obsessed with their ailments and she  is lonely and depressed. One day she notices a taxi driver in the 'pensioner's café' and gets him to drive her home, then invites him in. She cooks him dinner, they drink some illegal wine, they dance, he does a bit of DIY; within a couple of hours they're declaring their love for each other and she's invited him to stay the night. If the Morality Police find out, they'll be arrested, and there are always neighbours anxious to snitch.This sweet, sad film has caused problems for the husband-and-wife team who made it. Their passports have been confiscated. Maybe because of the wine and the dancing, but more likely an early scene where Mahin berates some Morality Police who are trying to arrest young girls for showing a few strands of hair. In a way, I took a message that we have more in common than divides us.

Susan Kelly ● 213d

1546. Henry VIII is old and sickly but still happy with his sixth wife, Catherine Parr. But things start to change as he and Bishop Gardiner round up radicals, including Catherine's old friend Ann Askew, whom he burns at the stake. Plays fast and loose, as all such films do, but there is a good sense of menace because, although we know that Catherine survived, she had some very near misses. Henry is well portrayed by an almost unrecognisable Jude Law (complete with massive naked stunt bottom) as a common domestic abuser, the sort of man who lashes out at his wife with his fists (or an axe) when disgruntled.

Susan Kelly ● 221d

John Whitfield is serving 25-life for a murder he didn't commit. Another man later confessed but the American Justice system doesn't like admitting to its mistakes. In Maximum security Sing Sing he is instrumental in setting up a theatre group and even writes plays of his own. A new inmate suggests they cheer everyone up with a comedy and their director comes up with a mad romp involving ancient Egyptians time travelling and encountering gladiators, pirates, Robin Hood and Hamlet.It makes a change to see a film set in an American prison which isn't all doom and gloom (drugs and rape). Discipline is strong in Sing Sing (a certain alarm forces all inmates to spreadeagle themselves on the ground) and the cells are minuscule.I believe some of the supporting actors are genuine graduates of the Sing Sing theatrical programme. They are all excellent.Highly recommended.

Susan Kelly ● 228d

Belfast the 2010s, two young men and an older one start a Hip Hop band rapping in Irish against a backdrop of continuing sectarian violence.I loved this film. It's an 18 certificate so be prepared for some serious violence, sexual scenes, lots of drugs and swearing. It's also clever, inventive and very very funny.Mostly in Irish with subtitles.Really, one of my favourite films of the year but not for everyone.

Susan Kelly ● 231d

Saturday 31st. Cheap seats to be had everywhere and plenty of good films.

Susan Kelly ● 233d

Slater KIng is the billionaire owner of a tech company, called out a year ago for MeToo behaviour. He did a big Mea Culpa and had therapy, bought a private island where he chills out and keeps chickens. At a gala dinner for his charitable trust, waitress Frida falls in his way (literally) and he seems smitten. Soon he's invited her and her best friend Jess to his island. Did her mother never tell her not to get in a private plane with a strange man?There are half a dozen men and a similar number of young women. Lots of servants, none of whom speak English, and a few venomous snakes gliding around It's all luxury, gourmet food and the best alcohol and drugs. So why can't Frida remember anything that happens between dinner and breakfast the next day? And why do women have unexplained bruises?Echoes of Jeffrey Epstein, who had his own pervert island, though I doubt it got as nightmarish as this. It's an enjoyable feminist parable but not for the faint hearted.Haley Joel Osment hasn't aged well!

Susan Kelly ● 234d

Provincial China, 1995. Captain Ma Zhe has just been put in charge of the detective division. Almost at once, an old woman is murdered in a riverside village. She had taken in a waif or stray, a mute man whom the locals call the Madman. It seems pretty cut and dried but Ma wants to investigate properly. It seems that the small boy who reported the corpse wasn't the first to come across it. Other suspects come into view, such as an illicit couple meeting without their parents' knowledge. And who is the mystery woman with the fashionable haircut and why is the local hairdresser so keen to be accused of the crime?The Madman is locked up but escapes. Meanwhile, Ma and his pregnant wife receive the disturbing news that their baby may have a genetic defect and quarrel bitterly over whether to abort or not. As stress builds on Ma, he starts to lose his grip on reality.It starts off like an ordinary whodunnit but the setting and the time, in a China emerging from the hard-line Communist days, make it a fascinating watch.

Susan Kelly ● 238d

Adam is of mixed race and hasn't seen his Pakistani father since he was very young. He works the night shift at a burger bar in what must be the grimmest motorway service station in Britain (I'm guessing A1) -- the eponymous Sky Peals. He's withdrawn and has no friends. His mother is moving to live with her new bloke in Herefordshire which means that Adam must vacate their depressing house. Then his uncle rings to tell him that his father has been found dead in his car, one assumes by suicide.With all this going on, it's no surprise that Adam begins to lose touch with reality. He's having blackouts and convinces himself that his father is actually an alien, though that doesn't really go anywhere.Low-key, low-budget, rather sad. A fair few British actors whom you'll recognise even if you can't put a name to them. Can't really recommend.

Susan Kelly ● 244d

Lily Bloom is in Maine burying her father with mixed feelings. He used to beat her mother and almost killed her High-School sweetheart, Atlas, when he caught them in bed together. Back in Boston, she meets sexy neuro surgeon Ryle and the attraction is instant. Very soon they are married, but Lily doesn't realise how damaged her new husband is. When she runs into Atlas again, he becomes jealous and controlling and soon she has some bruises of her own.What seems to start out as a Rom-Com morphs into a story about abusive relationships and their tendency to cascade down the generations. Is Lily in danger of ending up like her mother or can the pattern end?I enjoyed this rather more than I was expecting though the dialogue frequently provokes the reaction that nobody would ever say that in real life. Lily's clothes are plain weird as are the names of the characters. Seriously: Atlas? Lily Blossom Bloom?

Susan Kelly ● 249d

Thelma is 93, not long widowed, living alone in her rather charming flat. Her daughter and son-in-law are busy-busy-busy but she gets frequent visits from her sweet if rather hapless grandson, who finds life a struggle. Then one day she is scammed out of $10k. The police shrug their shoulders, just like here, and her daughter starts to mutter about it being time for her to go into a Home.But Thelma wants to get her confidence back as well as her money. She heads for the local Care Home in search of old friend Ben (Richard Roundtree (Can you dig it?)) to 'borrow' his mobility scooter. He catches her in the theft and insists on going with her and they stop by another old friend to 'borrow' her gun.I was a little disappointed by this. The tone is uneven: I laughed out loud a couple of times but it often lurches into sentimentality. The anal daughter and son-in-law are badly underwritten and I found it hard to believe that even an American would be daft enough to send $10k in cash through the post to a scammer.It's not a great advert for old age.

Susan Kelly ● 267d

We're in Georgia, near the Turkish border. Retired schoolteacher Lia is trying to find her niece Tekla after a death-bed promise to her sister. Tekla was cast out for being trans. Local boy Achi knew her slightly and offers to accompany Lia to Istanbul to look for her. Lia has very little money; Achi none. He has a few words of English and even less of Turkish but speaks of finding work there although he may also be looking for his mother, who abandoned the family when he was very young, went to Turkey and was never seen again.This odd couple set off on this wild goose chase of finding one person in a city of 15 million. We meet a trans lawyer who acts for the downtrodden and is close to getting legal recognition for her new gender. Is she Tekla?The odd couple traipse around Istanbul, sometimes quarrelling, reconciling each time. They encounter the lawyer who knows a madam who knew Tekla but has no idea where she is now, having ejected her from her brothel for using drugs. Finally Lia decides to give up and go home though Achi intends to stay and make a new life for himself.Excellent performances in a film which wrong footed me twice. Very different.

Susan Kelly ● 270d

Soo-Jin and Hyeon-Soo are a happily-married young couple expecting their first baby in this tense Korean film. He is an up-and-coming actor and she works in an office, but trouble starts when his sleep becomes disturbed; he scratches his face horribly, drawing blood, resulting in his being sent home from the film set where he is working. Then he starts to sleepwalk, becoming a danger to himself and others.Soo-Jin gets him to a sleep clinic where he is assessed, offered advice and given medication to help him sleep. Their daughter is born but Hyeon-Soo's actions are still disturbing. Soo-Jin's mother calls in a shaman who says that he is possessed by the ghost of a man who wants Soo-Jin for himself and will stop at nothing to achieve his ends. It's all nonsense. Isn't it? And is it connected to the rather creepy old man who lived in the flat below until his recent death?It's a claustrophobic film, 90% set in their small flat, and becomes increasingly tense as you fear that something truly terrible is going to happen and that not everyone is going to make it out alive. It's disturbingly gripping.It's the last role for leading actor Lee Sun-Kyun, who died by suicide last year.For the second time this week I was the only person in a screening at Act One.

Susan Kelly ● 276d

After more than a month where all the new films seemed to be too long, too grim or both, finally something I thought I would like.Sophie lives in Montreal with Xavier, her partner of 10 years. They are academics, intellectuals: the first scene shows them at a dinner party discussing philosophical ideas. They have just bought a cabin in the mountains and, with Xavier away at a conference, Sophie is left to go up there alone for the weekend to meet the contractor who will do the much-needed repairs. He is Sylvain, a rough and ready man with a almost comically hick accent, but the chemistry is instant and they soon fall into bed together.Meanwhile, Xavier's father is succumbing to dementia and his mother is struggling to cope while nagging the couple to give her grandchildren. Can Sylvain be Sophie's way out of all this stress? His life seems so simple: hunting, fishing, mending things. Even though she's constantly correcting his grammar and vocabulary, Sophie soon decides that she is in lerve and leaves Xavier.The film is middling only, with Sophie hard to like as she clings to the fantasy of her mid-life crisis.

Susan Kelly ● 281d

This is the latest Yorgos Lanthimos movie… his first since Poor Things which both did the business and was critically acclaimed.This also stars Emma Stone and William Defoe.It’s a trilogy of stories with the same actors in each. Not linked plots or characters though maybe the themes were. Maybe.But scripted, directed and produced by Lanthimos. Which is maybe asking too much. Contemporary so not the amazing costume and production design of Poor Things. It’s very long - nearly three hours - and I just didn’t  get it. Some of it is just weird and all of it is quite mannered. Maybe I’m missing something…

Sara Nathan ● 295d

I really enjoyed the first half of this but then felt that it began to get flabby and lose its way. I am, however, grateful to it for reminding me that I wrote a short story 30 years ago about a (female) police officer who does the same sort of entrapment work, so I dug out an old copy of Ellery Queen magazine and read it!

Susan Kelly ● 306d

This likeable film about a geeky professor with a sideline in being a fake hit man who gets those who want to hire him to murder someone, is based on a true story - very, very loosely. The scenario is based on fact but the Rom-com which is tbh, most of the film, is clearly fiction…. And deeply implausible. Not that that makes it less enjoyable.It’s directed by Richard Linklater, who directed The School of Rock, and has two  appealing stars in Glen Powell and Adria Arjona.It feels a little like the Fall Guy, I’m not quite sure why but Powell is talked of as the new Gosling apparently. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sara Nathan ● 310d

Who knew that the first woman to swim the English Channel was a German New Yorker who took up swimming after nearly dying of measles. And did it in 1926?Not me, or anyone else it seems.Given that - predictably - there’s a LOT of swimming in this movie, it’s actually rather a good watch. Daisy Ripley (also co-produces) plays the lead but the rest of her family are terrific. And Stephen Graham has a delightful cameo. The interesting part is actually the family dynamics, which are gripping.The sexist establishment feels like the most fictional part. Music is good.It was going straight to Disney streaming, but try-out audiences loved it so it got a cinema release and a posh screening suddenly became the U.K. premiere with all the stars attending - and us. So that was jolly!

Sara Nathan ● 316d

A trip down memory lane for 60s/70s music fans, especially of the Rolling Stones. The life story of Anita is told in this film with the help of her two children with Keith Richards (both are interviewed in the film) making available home videos and photos plus an unpublished autobiography she wrote before her death but told nobody about.Read by Scarlett Johansson, the voice over extracts read and the interviews with people who were close across her life reveal is a woman who was more in control of her life from early on than most of the history written about her to date recalls. Sadly that free and tough spirit with all the drug aspects that the late 60s/70s and the Stones especially revelled in, came with a price.What makes the film really work in capturing the lady's allure and lifestyle are the extensive voice over comments by Keith Richards. His comments on their history and life together come across as largely honest and not self serving, in the admissions on his part as to why it happened and did not work ultimately.Life after the Stones has a few surprises such as  I did not know Kate Moss and Anita were so close in more recent years with Moss seeing her as a mentor and model for her own life. Sadly no reference to her allotment in Dukes Meadows or the clip from "Absolutely Fabulous" but an illuminating documentary for those with any interest in the lady's life in and out from the Stones.

Joe Conneely ● 332d

Its 1989 and we're in a rundown part of New Mexico where Lou runs a grungy gym owned by her father and fends off the amorous attentions of a flaky young woman named Daisy. Lou and her father are estranged as she holds him responsible for the disappearance of her mother 12 years earlier: the old man runs guns over the border into Mexico and his wife may have been about to talk to the FBI.Jackie rolls into town, hitch-hiking from Oklahoma to a body building competition in Vegas. She gets a job at the gun range, also run by Lou's father, and she and Lou are soon an item with Lou introducing her to steroids.Lou's sister Beth is married to a wife beater named JJ, also employed by Dad, and Lou is horrified to learn that Jackie slept with JJ to get the job. Like Joe, I don't want to give away too much of the convoluted plot and agree that the ending goes a bit weird but the film is compelling, gripping and deeply strange.

Susan Kelly ● 333d

This is a truly unusual film… I think there were many references to classical Greek myths but all of them subtle.Josh O’Connor is infinitely more impressive than in Challengers: extraordinary that he filmed half of this then went to do that and then came back to film in Italy.It’s beautifully shot, has a great score including a lot of Monteverdi, and is engaging throughout. It’s all quite shrouded in mystery and almost magic….Very much worth seeing

Sara Nathan ● 335d

Italy in the 1980s. Arthur has just been released from prison and returns to the home of his girlfriend's mother. The girlfriend is described as missing but it later turns out that she died. The mother has a dogsbody named Italia in the house and she is concealing two children from the old woman. She takes a shine to Arthur. We learn that Arthur is a grave robber, ransacking Etruscan tombs and selling the artefacts. He's like an evil Indiana Jones only not so good at evading boulders. He has a gift for finding the tombs, rather like a water dowser. Meanwhile the old woman's daughters are plotting to put her in a care home.Some good questions are raised. Do the Etruscan artefacts belong to everyone or no one? Does the abandoned railway station where Italia finally sets up home belong to everyone or no one?Josh O'Connor is Arthur, establishing himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation with director Alice Rorhwacher cementing her reputation for odd, quirky but utterly fascinating films.Highly recommended.

Susan Kelly ● 337d

This so feels like one of those ‘70s Roger Corman/John Carpenter produced exploitation films updated for a 21st century audience although set in New Mexico, USA around 1990. Directed and written by British film director, Rose Glass, whose first UK horror film “Saint Maud” I have not seen. This her second film, follows gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) who hooks up with homeless muscle-bound Jackie (Katy O’Brien) hitching her way to Las Vegas to enter the women’s Body Building Championship. Provision of steroids by Lou to Jackie to help her muscle building and the sex and action soon pumps up (sorry!) with Lou’s dad (played by a weirdly wigged but sinister Ed Harris) and her abusive brother-in-law causing conflicts leading to violence breaking out.To say more would give away the many twists the script follows and keeps the story moving along so effectively. Filmed in Albuquerque it has the feel of “Breaking Bad”/” Better Call Saul” and more Coen Bros. than Tarantino in how the tale is depicted. I found the end denouement a bit odd but also see why the film has been such a commercial success especially in the USA given the target audiences.

Joe Conneely ● 343d

This is an unremittingly grim and bloody portrayal of war, a very uncomfortable watch.  You are plunged into extreme horrors and violence from the get go.  I would have preferred there to have been something in the narrative that deals with the  political mis-steps that brought about this hell.  That would have made it a more valuable film in my opinion.  Instead we have a degree of human interest as we follow the travels of some extremely brave or foolhardy journalists on their quest to interview the President.  A sort of road movie through inferno.  Not for the faint-hearted!

Alastair Banton ● 343d

I was dithering over seeing this as I'd seen a couple of very bad reviews but it's well worth the entrance price. The best thing about it is the in jokes about the movies. The action sequences all lasted too long for my taste, and were too damn loud, but there are plenty of stunning stunts.

Susan Kelly ● 344d

A stunt man who’s had a nasty accident is called back to a shoot in Sydney Australia. But the leading man - for whom he used to be the stunt double - has disappeared. Can he find him? This is a hoot! Completely daft but with a really witty script that takes nothing l, not even the movies, very seriously. Also the stunts.Also a humdinger of a cast with Ryan Gosling as the fall guy, Emily Blunt as as the love of his life - and director and the fabulous Hannah Waddingham as the film’s producer.It’s laugh-out-loud funny - which is always jolly in a full cinema - and Screen 1 at ActOne was nearly full early on a Sunday evening.Given the choice of this or Challengers, it’s this every time.

Sara Nathan ● 344d

This film was a sensation at the Italian box office last year, knocking the Hollywood pap like Barbie aside. Now it has a well-deserved cinema release in the UK and I would urge anyone to see it.As Joe says, given the subject matter, you would expect this to be thoroughly depressing but the domestic violence is mostly kept firmly in our imaginations.I don't agree with him that the ending is an anti-climax: I thought it brilliantly clever and unexpected.

Susan Kelly ● 347d

This landed on Amazon Prime today so I watched it. It's a likeable film which made me care about the two leads, with Nicholas Galitzine seeming much sexier than he did in the recent Sky drama Mary & George.It's good on the destructive power of social media. One of Hathaway's friends says of the trolls 'They can't bear the idea of a woman being happy' and I think she may be on to something!

Susan Kelly ● 349d

Must admit the two reviews posted have put me off having any interest in seeing this film! Interestingly there is a four episode documentary on Netflix currently called "The Vatican Child", which is an investigation of a much more recent kidnapping and disappearance of a child in the Vatican, which seems to evidence such events are not isolated (or easily investigated)!

Joe Conneely ● 349d

The film certainly captures the wild countryside and village life of Western Ireland very well, plus the under-current of the  characters who are urban dwellers (from Belfast and Dublin) not fitting into such an environment easily.Seems like Netflix is acquiring several Irish productions to its schedule - there is a series called "Kin" based on the violent drug wars and gangs around Dublin, which has had good reviews.

Joe Conneely ● 349d

Looking like a Italian neo-realist films from the 1940s/1950s, including being shot in black and white, this film moves quickly in its depiction of the lives of a poor Italian family struggling to live in Rome after the end of WW2. Delia (played by an excellent Paola Cortellesi) is the bullied and long-suffering wife of a brutal and controlling husband Ivano, as is made very clear from the opening scenes. She lives in a crowded basement flat looking after her three children and a bed ridden father-in-law, while doing a host of other small side jobs daily to try and make ends meet. For a film that depicts so much domestic abuse, it does an amazing job of being very amusing. This is due to its sharp script and performances catching the honesty and sarcasm of the neighbours and Delia’s best friend who confide in each other, alongside the social mores of Italian society of this period. The oldest daughter struggling to get an engagement into a more prosperous bourgeois family to escape her oppressive family and the father’s devotion to everything his selfish father says, only adds to the pathos of the situation. Early on Delia receives a mystery letter which leads to an ending which is unexpected given all that has preceded and felt a bit of an anti-climax, to this non-Italian viewer. An offbeat movie that despite its depiction of domestic violence I must admit I found a very enjoyable watch.

Joe Conneely ● 349d

I’m staggered that Susan enjoyed this. I thought it one of the most tedious, badly-written films I’ve seen in years.Huge amounts of unrealistic tennis (I don’t like tennis, maybe down to being brought up in Wimbledon and learning to play on the former all-England courts - then re-purposed as school playing fields) And an unappealing triangle of two shits and a drip.I found the cutting to and from mostly irritating.It all felt very long. I didn’t care. And the soundtrack was weird.

Sara Nathan ● 349d

I could have done without the director at the start with his almost comical Italian accent. And I'd like to tell him to cut, say, 20 minutes from the film.It's a fascinating story, though the sort you feel belongs in the Middle Ages rather than the mid 19th century. The Unification of Italy has a vital role to play as the Pope loses his political power and is reduced to a solely religious figure and, after his death, a hate figure.As Sara says, there are some odd fantasy scenes. My favourite is when four Jewish blokes turn up to circumcise the Pope (he wakes up screaming), though Jesus getting down from the Cross and wandering off in his loincloth was also a high spot.

Susan Kelly ● 351d

My idea of a jolly trip to the cinema might well be to a Rom-com. I love them.Also I love Anne Hathaway. So seeing a movie in which she is the mature love interest for a young boy-band star, 16 years her junior (and maybe modelled on Harry Styles) is a bit of a dream gig for me..Think Notting Hill but with social media not just paparazzi - and tbh not quite such brilliant dialogue.Nicholas Galitzine stars opposite and the relationship is believable and fizzy.The least likely part is why her sleaseball ex husband would have ever left her in the first place…There’s a little too much concerty stuff - so a bit long -and the dialogue is OK rather than stunning. But I and the others in the long queue for the ladies loo afterwards all said we had thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sara Nathan ● 351d

This is based on a true story from mid 19th century of how a six year old Jewish boy was removed by the Jesuits, on the orders of the Pope, from his family in Bologna - because it was alleged he had been secretly baptised by a maidservant as a baby. The boy is delightful and some of the rest of the cast especially his mother, the appalling but infallible Pope and a couple of priests, was excellent. But it’s quite heavy going, especially the second half when the boy’s story blends into Italian geo-politics. And becomes quite sweeping.There’s some interesting magical realism but maybe not enough of it.Safe to say the Catholic Church doesn’t come out of this well, nor does the pusillanimous Jewish community of Rome….Rather astonishing score featuring Mahler, Shostakovich and Arvo Part… which is as discombobulating as the magical realism… It starts with an in-vision plea from the director urging the audience to spread the word about what a good film it is… but there were only three of us in our ActOne screening. It’s definitely worth more than that.

Sara Nathan ● 352d

Tashi was once a brilliant tennis player but an injury means that she now coaches her husband Art. He has won six grand slams though never the US, but is now recovering from an injury of his own and has lost his confidence. Tashi persuades him to enter a Challenger tournament in upstate New York to get some wins under his belt, but there he finds himself face to face with old friend/rival Patrick who also once dated Tashi.We move back in time to when all 3 were in juniors and Patrick and Tashi started dating. But after a blazing row, he wasn't courtside when she had her career-ending injury. Art, however, was and dashed in with help and comfort. Patrick's career has gone nowhere and he is sleeping in his car because he can't afford a hotel at the tournament.We intersperse watching the tournament final between the two men with following the lives of the 3 young people from age 18 to 31. Patrick is an unpleasant, manipulative man but we fear that he is actually Tashi's first choice above nice guy Art so who will win the final and who will end up with the girl?The tennis scenes are riveting and the love triangle always intriguing.

Susan Kelly ● 353d

This is only on Netflix, but everybody has Netflix, right?It's 1974 and an IRA Active Service Unit makes a mess of a car bombing in Belfast, in that they kill 3 small children who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They flee across the border into a small town in Donegal. In the town lives Finbar: he's a hitman, but one that specialises in killing people who have evaded justice. He's ready to retire but, when he realises that a local child is being abused, he has one last job to do. But the abuser is a member of the ASU and war breaks out.The film has a great cast: Liam Neeson is Finbar; Ciaran Hinds woefully underused as the local O'Plod; Niahm Cusack; Colm Meaney; Jack Gleeson (Joffrey from Game of Thrones (unrecognisable)). We have an evil villain called Doreen (who knew that was an Irish name?)The music has a Wild-West vibe. Donegal is the Wild West of Ireland, where everybody has a gun and a grudge.

Susan Kelly ● 353d

That's the title of the film, not a cry for help.Fran lives along in a dreary town on the coast of Oregon, working in a dreary office at the Port Authority. She barely speaks and her co-workers, while a kindly bunch, have clearly given up on getting through to her. Then Robert comes to work there and makes a real effort to get to know her. They go out a couple of times but when he asks her the smallest thing about herself, she accuses him of prying. She imagines elaborate scenarios in which she dies.I'm not sure how this film came to be greenlit. It's slow and dreary and, ultimately, frustrating as there is no clue why Fran is the way she is.

Susan Kelly ● 360d

The trouble with bio-pics about famous rock stars who die young is that the second half has a grim inevitability about the drugs or other substance abuse and then death (Someone pointed out to me that the recent Elton John was an exception - but can’t think of another)So poor Amy Winehouse… so talented, so successful and dead by 27. Not a lot of suspense. It’s very well-acted in the lead roles and no-one comes out as badly as they might in real life. I don’t think it really explained the self-destruct button and the conclusion that she died because ex husband’s partner had a baby seems to have little validity. It’s very gritty and lots of proper London locations from Camden to the zoo.And a famous director.But slightly less than the sum of its parts

Sara Nathan ● 360d

The very near future, and the US has embarked on civil war #2, with much the same scenario as #1 -- some states want to leave the Union, in this case California and Texas, who have joined forces, and Florida.In New York, journalist Joe and Photographer Lee are heading to DC where the insurgent forces are about to take control. They hope to get a last interview with the President before he gets killed. They pick up old timer  Sammy, but also the very young Jessie, who wants to be Lee when she grows up.It's a more thoughtful film than you might expect, though that doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of explosions and dead bodies. It's very LOUD. It's a useful reminder of the senseless destruction of war, where each side seems intent on destroying the very things they are fighting over.

Susan Kelly ● 363d

In this German film, supply teacher Clara Nowak is settling in at an understaffed secondary school though the permanent staff are a bit stand-offish. But then there is a spate of petty thieving and fingers point at a Turkish boy, which she suspects to be racism. Clara sets a trap for the thief and videos what appears to be the school secretary stealing from her own unattended wallet. The woman vehemently denies it and it's suggested that Clara was out of order putting her spycam in the staff room.Things escalate. Rumours circulate. The secretary's son is in Clara's class and subject to some bullying before the kids turn on Clara. Is the fact that Clara's parents were immigrants from Poland in any way germane to the sudden hostility?I have friends who were teachers, all delighted to be retired, and can envisage the truth of the grotesque pettiness of staff room life, but I felt as if there was some more portentous metaphor here which was completely passing me by and I left disappointed.

Susan Kelly ● 368d

And that ending- such a shocker

Chris Hurley ● 370d

I don't think I've seen a Japanese film that wasn't set in a city, teeming with people. Here, we are in the hills a few hours from Tokyo, in a community of about 6000 people living at peace with Nature. Takumi is the village odd-job man, chopping wood, fetching water from the pure springs and looking after his 8-year-old daughter, Hana, teaching her the names of trees and animals.Into this idyll strides Evil Capitalism, in the form of a company that wants to set up a Glamping Site, including a septic tank which will pollute the pure springs. The envoys are a man and a woman who expect to steamroll over the simple natives. In fact, they are not unsympathetic, but their boss back in Tokyo sees only yen signs. It's a slow burn with lots of shots of the tree canopy from beneath, and the pure gurgling streams, but it's charming and gripping.Yet another terrific film, courtesy of 2024.

Susan Kelly ● 370d

This is a film by an Italian director though the main language is French. Not French as you learned it at school, but French as she is spoken in large parts of Africa. It actually took me a while to realise that it was French that they were speaking and not a tribal language.Seydou is a 16-year-old Senegalese, living with his widowed mother and numerous kid sisters in what seems to be a happy life. He is still in school. But he and his cousin Moussa are determined to head for a better life in Europe and do odd jobs after school to save up. The first trafficker they approach won't taken them, telling them 'Europe is not what you think it is. It's not how it looks on TV', but they won't be put off and are soon on their way by bus to Mali, where they pick up fake passports, then into Niger, where they have to bribe the border guards, then on the dangerous trek across the Sahara, some of it by car but much on foot; it's littered with the bodies of the fallen.I found it very gripping but it's harrowing in parts. That said, it's also oddly sanitised as some people are unexpectedly kind and helpful.It ends slightly frustratingly, in that I was muttering 'Okay, but what happens next'?!Well worth seeing, though, and on at Act One.

Susan Kelly ● 372d

Prime North London, we are in Tom and Sarah's gorgeous house. They met at university and have invited another couple from that time, Richard and Beth, round for dinner. They turn up with Jessica, a fellow student who is a flaky mess. Such a flaky mess that after the main course she goes and hangs herself in the garden. I'd have had pudding first. Tom and Sarah are about to exchange contracts on the house as Tom has got them into a financial mess and don't want to tell the buyer about the body. So what now?This 'black comedy' is a disappointment. It isn't very comical unless you enjoy sneering at North London Liberals in trouble. It felt much longer than its 90-minute running time.

Susan Kelly ● 374d

Stephane is the illegtimate daughter of Serge and seeks him out in his mansion amidst France's most dysfunctional family. His shopaholic/extreme-hoarder wife blows hot and cold towards her and his daughter George is openly hostile, both assuming that she is after money. We know that Stephane is not honest: she lies about owning the business in Toulon where she actually works as a low-paid drone and there is no mention of the girlfriend doing time for manslaughter. But Serge, who has suffered a stroke, seems very pleased to see her, especially as his wife and daughter are seeking to have him declared unfit in order to take control of the business.I think the film goes a bit OTT in the last 15 minutes; I would have ended it with the women sitting around drinking Serge's wine. It's an all-woman film except for Serge, the epitome of toxic masculinity.The title refers to the family, I think. Presumably, all families.As Norman says, it's a great watch though I could have done without the frequent 'Portentous Music'. We don't need it.

Susan Kelly ● 381d

Suburban America, 1960. Alice and Celine are next-door neighbours and best friends, their young sons Theo and Max being the same age. This is the America of Mad Men, with housewives and mothers stuck in the home, in their smart dresses and little hats, everyone smoking and drinking like fishes. When Max dies in an accident, Celine is understandably devastated, but Alice soon starts to fear that she has her sights set on Theo. Is it true or is Alice paranoid, having a stay in a psychiatric hospital in her past? Based on a novel called Behind the Hatred, you don't know where this film is going or how it will end. Suburban America never felt more claustrophobic. Don't have nightmares.That apostrophe is in the right place, in case you were wondering.

Susan Kelly ● 382d

The first thing to say is, don’t read any spoilers before seeing it - and that includes the IMDb page which gives away one of the biggest plot twists.Serge is an elderly, very wealthy restaurateur living on an exclusive island in the south of France with his wife, daughter, granddaughter and housekeeper. One day a woman calls. She says she is Stephane, his estranged daughter from an adulterous relationship. Stephane is poor, in a dead-end job,  borderline homeless and her girlfriend is in prison. Serge’s family are suspicious, but Serge invites her to visit. And that’s when the fun starts.This is a very clever, funny thriller with some really cunning twists. Reviewers have compared it with Succession and Knives Out but it also reminded me of Saltburn. The almost entirely female cast are led by Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy, who is superb as Stephane.

Norman Redfern ● 382d

It makes Japanese culture feel very alien in a way that Perfect Days didn't. There's a little story about playground bullying in here struggling to get out. The child actors are excellent, though.

Susan Kelly ● 384d

How I loathed this film: such a waste of a good cast.Andrew Scott does imaginary gay sex. And other imaginary stuff too. Mostly in suburbia, sometimes in a tower block. Sigh.

Sara Nathan ● 384d

Sold as “If you liked Perfect Days, you’ll love this” Not true at all and actually just a language in common.Telling the story (sort of story) three times didn’t really help and, like Susan, I found it long and terribly hard work.

Sara Nathan ● 384d

Loved this so much I saw it twice. Wonderful sound track and perfect core performances. And loos to die for… Apparently in one area of Tokyo (there are now tours) would be great if London would commission some like these.

Sara Nathan ● 384d

Is a movie about the Homeless World Cup (no I’d never heard of it either but it is a thing since 2001.Stars Bill Nighy as a retired football scout taking a 4 a side team to the competition in Rome. It also stars Micheal Ward as troubled young Vinny - the star of the team.It’s all based on true stories and is, tbh, a bit worthy and with quite a lot of football.  But the script is by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, so some good lines and the small characters are well sketched.

Sara Nathan ● 384d

Most of us rebel against our parents in our youth; not many of us run off and join the IRA, as posh girl Rose Dugdale did in the early 70s, via a Marxist training camp in Cuba. She died last week and her obituary in the Times said that the IRA initially assumed that she was a British agent before realising that the security services would have come up with someone less implausible than this former débutante.Rose masterminded the theft of 19 Old Masters from a country house in Wicklow where the owners had clearly never heard of security. The haul included a Vermeer and was to be held to ransom for the release of a number of IRA prisoners, including the Price sisters. The thing that struck me most about this film is how disappointingly unsubtle it is, even clunky, though you spend most of the running time looking at Rose and thinking 'Silly Little Girl'. There are also tiresome but luckily brief scenes where we enter Rose's imagination which usually involves her dreaming of shooting someone dead.Baltimore is a village in Ireland, in case you were wondering. In the film, the IRA have a safe house there.

Susan Kelly ● 385d

I found this highly-regarded Japanese film, hard work. It's very slow and feels longer than its two hours. I also found it very hard to understand the characters motivation, at least until the last act.

Susan Kelly ● 393d

Philadelphia 1999. Jamie has just broken up acrimoniously with her girlfriend and insists on accompanying her uptight friend Marion on a visit to her aunt in Florida. They arrange a Drive-Away, where someone pays people to deliver a car from one part of the US to another. Trouble is, they accidentally take a car which has to deliver packages for some very bad guys, including a severed head.The film is by Ethan Coen without Joel but with his wife, who identifies as a lesbian. The script has been kicking about for some 20 years, apparently, which doesn't usually augur well, and a lot of people seem to hate the film. I rather liked it. It's different: brash, ballsy, occasionally a little psychedelic. Jamie and Marion are very likeable and the good end happily, the bad unhappily, which is one definition of fiction. The dialogue often sparkles, even when it's just Marion reading Henry James and correcting people's grammar.Matt Damon has a cameo as a Republican, 'Family Values' senator and possible future president, with a dirty secret he needs to keep at all costs.

Susan Kelly ● 396d

This is a film that I wish I could have seen without having been already told what it was about because a dawning realisation would have greatly enhanced it.  (I was lucky enough to see Gus van Sant’s Elephant with exactly that innocence!)Nevertheless Zone of Interest is an impressive study of how easy it can be to ignore uncomfortable facts even when they are close at hand.

Alastair Banton ● 414d

I greatly enjoyed this.  Conceptually it is in a similar ball park to ‘The Producers’ and about as funny.

Alastair Banton ● 414d

A mysterious but joyous film with a groovy soundtrack.  Very little happens as we accompany Hirayama through his daily routines and he is a man of few words.  But the small details of his life and his interactions with various people - his niece who suddenly appears, colleagues, bar staff - are fascinating and sometimes very funny.  Zen and the art of toilet cleaning.  Recommended!

Alastair Banton ● 414d

I found this a little dull though I imagine that many will enjoy it. Quite a starry cast with Timothy Spall genuinely sinister as the controlling father of Olivia Colman's dowdy and downtrodden spinster..

Susan Kelly ● 414d

Incidentally, Tokyo has much nicer public loos than we do (though that's not difficult). I was especially struck by the one with glass walls which turn opaque when the customer goes in and locks the door, but several looked like works of art.

Susan Kelly ● 416d

It's really looking like a golden year for film.Hirayama is a middle-aged man living in Tokyo where he works cleaning public lavatories. He takes great pride in his work, unlike his whiny, slapdash young colleague Takashi. Hirayama lives alone in his tiny house, reading and tending his bonsai. He listens to cassette tapes in his car. In his lunch break he photographs trees on an old-style camera with film in it. He seems to have no family or friends although he is greeted cordially at the bathhouse he frequents and the bars where he eats his evening meal. Is he lonely? It's actually hard to tell.It's a gentle, leisurely film with a central character who barely speaks but it's somehow a hymn to decency and kindliness. And cleanliness.In Japanese by Wim WendersOn general release and coming to Act One from Friday.

Susan Kelly ● 416d

Good to see a nearly full cinema at the evening screening for this jolly, if foul-mouthed British movie.It stars Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley with Timothy Spall and a couple of famous cameos.It’s based on a true story about some anonymous poison pen letters in Littlehampton in the 1920s and who wrote them. Towards the end, it’s rather farcical and sub-Agatha Christie but throughout its quite funny with some classy acting by the leads and a jolly watch on a weekend evening.

Sara Nathan ● 417d

Denmark in the mid 18th century. The King is keen to turn the deserted acres of Jutland into farmland but no one is interested, until Ludvig turns up. The illegitimate son of a lord, born of the rape of one of his maidservants, he has spent the past 25 years in the German army. Everyone tells him that nothing will grow in the soil but he's not a man who takes No for an answer and he's granted a plot of land.But the local bigwig Schinkel insists that the land belongs to him. He's a psychopath, straight out of Game of Thrones -- a rapist, murderer and sadist. Staying with him is his Norwegian cousin and reluctant fiancée, who takes a fancy to Ludvig.Denmark in the 18th century is not a kindly place. A form of serfdom operates and Ludvig gives shelter to two runaway estate workers whose recapture will not go well for them. He also convinces the local outlaws to come and work for him although it's against the law for them to do so. One is a little girl who is of a gypsy appearance and believed to bring bad luck. There's a lot of plot. You cling to the hope that the good will end happily and the bad unhappily but that's a bit optimistic in this cruel society.Unusual and thoroughly gripping.

Susan Kelly ● 421d

Probably best to eat before going to see it.

Susan Kelly ● 422d

The last time I saw a film which was all about food was in the late 1980s, being a Danish film "Babette's Feast", which similarly went into great lengths on the preparation of food and involved a French female chef.  The key difference is that earlier film had an underlying plot that drove the story line and action on screen. As Susan states, this film is very different being wholly about the cooking of (done in much greater detail with more roaming camera close ups than any TV cooking programmes) and the personal enjoyment of food and wines. In many ways, this is a film you feel only the French could make (though the director/writer is Vietnamese), with its numerous philosophical observations on food and wine tastes and the art of cooking, though dialogue is sparse across the two plus hours. I found it too long and ponderous saved largely by the amazing acting, especially the always excellent Juliette Binoche as the cook whose physical nuances underpin the separate relationship she enjoys with Dodin (Benoit Magamel), the creator of the food recipes cooked and the chateau where they live. P.S. Definitely not a film for vegetarians!

Joe Conneely ● 423d

We're in provincial France in the late 19th century. Eugenie is the cook at Dodin's manor house and she is fabulous at it. He's been in love with her for ages and would like to marry her but she thinks they're fine as they are.Only Eugenie starts to have fainting fits. She insists there's nothing wrong and refuses to see a doctor but she does agree to marry him and they announce their engagement to all their friends at a glorious open-air lunch.I had reservations about this film as it's well over 2 hours long and has very little plot but I needn't have worried. Long periods go by in which we watch people preparing, cooking, serving and eating with barely a word spoken and it's endlessly fascinating.  Huge amounts of food are prepared and you wonder why everyone doesn't weigh 25 stone.I did enjoy the subtitle about 'peasant pie' but am glad to report that the chef definitely said pheasant!

Susan Kelly ● 423d

American Fiction is a clever send-up of the publishing world’s obsession with “lived experience”, but what lifts it beyond satire is the witty, well-observed script and the superb cast. The Holdovers is an excellent film and the digital recreation of 1970s film, wobbly titles and all, is a great achievement. I just found American Fiction more fun to watch.

Norman Redfern ● 429d

I have not read the 2001 novel "Erasure" on which the film is based but can easily understand how this film has become such a current hit in the USA with its barbed comedic take on how black culture needs to be represented in literature to commercially succeed. The largely black cast are all well chosen, Jeffrey Wright in the lead role "Monk", being the one I knew best from his appearances in the HBO series "Westworld".Susan's synopsis sums up the story very well. For about the first two thirds the comedy dominates successfully trading off its many cynical observations (the comments and debates by the white publishers especially). In working through to its denouement, the film however seems to flag in comedic energy and starts to display a need to enter into philosophising on what is happening under the guise of a literary book award process. Maybe that is why the very smart ending intended felt deflated to me.Another great movie to start 2024 with but for me not quite in the league of "The Holdovers" as a complete film.

Joe Conneely ● 435d

Monk is a black literary novelist from a family of Boston Doctors. His books have not been selling well and his latest isn't finding a publisher at all. His work is 'not black enough'. Nothing much is going right, in fact: he's been suspended from his job lecturing in literature of the American south for using the N word, in context, which has offended his (white) students'; his mother is succumbing to dementia, his sister has a heart attack and his brother's marriage has collapsed after he accidentally fell out of the closet.When he writes a 'black' novel -- all crime in the ghetto stuff -- as a parody, he is shocked when publishers clamour to buy it and a producer offers millions for the film rights. Shocked and disgusted, but he needs the money to pay for his mother's Care Home so he tries to fit into his alter ego, a supposed fugitive from justice.This is a witty and clever film. I was kept guessing about how it might end. Witty and clever and perhaps a tiny bit lacking in heart.

Susan Kelly ● 435d

I find it very hard to know what to say about this film. I certainly recommend seeing it. Not much happens but that is part of the point: an ordinary family living next to one of the great murder machines of history -- the father working hard to keep up 'production', the mother stealing the belongings of the victims and fertilising her beloved garden with their ashes.I often wonder how German actors feel when asked to portray Nazis. They tend to be juicy roles but there must be an element of 'Not again!'.Still, lest we forget ...

Susan Kelly ● 436d

As I was leaving the Saturday screening in Chiswick, a cinema attendant asked me if it was a "good film", to which my immediate response was: "It's certainly memorable but not a film I would apply the word "good" to!"I do not know the Martin Amis novel on which the film is based but the "Zone of Interest' (being the German historic phrase applied to the Auschwitz concentration camp and its immediate environment), avoids any sight of the camp's interior. Instead, it only features in the distant background (visually and continual background sounds) with most of the film's actions taking place in the family home and grounds of the camp commandant Rudolf Hoss (Christian Friedel), located just outside the camp's wall perimeter. With his wife (played by Sandra Huller, the star of the 2023 film "Anatomy of a Fall"), what the film depicts too well is the extreme ordinariness of the people involved, keen to maximise their enjoyable family lifestyle and status while ensuring obliviousness to what is going on nearby. The other element shown is the depiction of the mass murders of Jews being run as an efficient industrial process, with Hoss clearly being a keen technical manager but not very smart at the management politics.The film’s director and script writer, Jonathan Glazer, himself a Jew, has made a more thought-provoking film than most other Holocaust films I have seen.

Joe Conneely ● 438d

A film so set in the early ‘70s that the opening screen has the old British censor’s certificate and historic film crackling sounds! I have not seen any of the director’s prior films (including “Sideways” from 2004 with Paul Giamatti, who stars in this) but this film is a great start to 2024 as Susan states.The film poster’s strap line “They’re all alone in this together”, captures the story perfectly of three ill suited individuals trapped to spend a Xmas together and despite their initial dislikes slowly helping each other out.Paul Giamatti as the cranky teacher with his continual acerbic comments dominates but the grieving cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and the problem student (Dominic Sessa in a first-time acting role) provide equally amazing performances.Not too difficult to see why the film is garnering so many plaudits and award nominations (including Oscars)!

Joe Conneely ● 438d

This is set to be one of the oddest films of the year and I may find myself mulling it over for some time.Andrew Scott's Adam is a gay man living alone in an almost empty new-build block of flats in London. The only other person there is Paul Mescal's Harry, who turns up at his door one night quite drunk and makes overtures, which Adam refuses. The two do move on from there over the next few days, though, and Harry seems like the sort of kind and nurturing person that the rather fragile Adam needs, having been orphaned in childhood when his parents died in a car crash.But then Adam heads down to suburban Surrey, to the house where he grew up and, behold, there are his parents, living in 1987 but recognising their middle-aged son and being happy to see him. His mother struggles with his homosexuality but, in general, there is a lot of love and he visits a few times.I didn't entirely recognise these 1980s but then I wasn't living in suburban Surrey.It's a four-hander, with Jamie Bell and Claire Foy playing Adam's parents, with sterling performances all round.

Susan Kelly ● 444d

If you are a fan of Anderson's visual style then you might enjoy this quirky exhibition in South Kensington. Fans have, over the years, taken numerous photos of places that could easily belong in a WA film, either by colour, architecture, or both. It's a fun way to pass an hour on a grim winter's day in a January that seems to have being on for months already.Looking at a photo of a pastel pink tube station in, of all places, North Korea, made me wonder why TfL don't paint our stations in more interesting colours.85 Old Brompton Road.https://awaexhibition.com/london/

Susan Kelly ● 447d

I put off going to see this, thinking it might be a bit worthy. There are no bells and whistles, just a plain telling of how Nicholas Winton rescued hundreds of (mostly) Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in 1938/9.Interestingly, the late and unlamented Robert Maxwell, himself a Czech Jew, was instrumental in bringing this story to wider public notice in the late 80s and reuniting Nicholas with dozens of those whose lives he saved.I cried a few times, mostly when children arrived safely at Liverpool Street and you knew that they would never see their parents again.

Susan Kelly ● 448d

It's Christmas 1970 and schoolmaster Paul, who teaches Ancient Civilisations at a New England boarding school, draws the short straw of caring for the boys who can't go home for Christmas. He was a pupil at the school himself and has taught there all  his adult life, which is rather sad. He starts off with five boys but four of them manage to get away on a ski trip, leaving him with 17-year-old Angus. Also present is Mary, the cook, whose only son has recently been killed in Vietnam.Both man and boy present rather as a-holes (as people keep telling them); in fact, they contain multitudes and, as the fortnight of the school holiday unfolds we grow to know and love them. The plot constantly surprises and has one of the best insults ever near the end.It's shaping up to be a great year for film, with this and Poor Things in just the first 3 weeks.

Susan Kelly ● 451d

Jodie Comer's 'Mother' gives birth to son Zac, the only character allowed a name, just as London and much of the UK succumbs to biblical floods. Towns and villages on high ground barricade themselves from people fleeing, but Mother and her husband manage to get past the guards to his parents, where they hole up. But with ports closed, food is soon in very short supply and, when everyone except Mother goes out to find some, not everyone makes it back.The government has set up emergency shelters and Mother and Zac are allowed in. There she befriends another woman with a new baby, who knows of a commune on an island where nice middle-class people are taking care of each other. When men with guns raid the shelter to loot, the two women set out to find the island.This has been getting great reviews and I wanted to like it but found myself looking at my watch more often than I'd do if fully engaged. We see how rapidly civilisation breaks down in an emergency and there is the inevitable nod to the world's refugee crisis, but somehow it's oddly lacking in excitement.Comer is terrific as is Joel Fry as her husband. A great supporting cast includes  Mark Strong, Nina Sosanya, Gina McKee and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Susan Kelly ● 452d

Very well acted and equally well told story of honourable people doing the right thing in the face of the gravest consequences.I enjoyed it very much.

Keith Iddon ● 454d

Having only recently caught up and slogged my way through two of the highest rated films of last year (Past Lives and Anatomy of a Fall) and felt nothing but despair, Poor Things was a welcome tonic. It was so inventive, with such imagination, such jaw-dropping designs and a magnificent performance from Emma Stone that, for the first time in a while, I felt invigorated when a film ended. Maybe 2024 can make up for the last two years of film-watching!

Adam Kimmel ● 456d

We're in a slightly alternative 1890s. Godwin Baxter is a surgeon who looks like Frankenstein's monster because his father experimented on him throughout his childhood. Like father, like son, so when God comes across a heavily pregnant young woman who has drowned herself, he takes the baby's brain, puts it in the mother's skull and reanimates her, naming her Bella. He recruits Max, one of his students, to help bring her up and keep detailed notes of her progress, then decides that Max and Bella should marry. But Bella, who has never left the house, wants some adventures first.It's only January but this may easily be the strangest film of the year. The sets are stunning, as are the special effects (Godwin has a chicken with a pig's head loose in his house), and it's laugh-out-loud funny. I loved it.

Susan Kelly ● 458d

In 1959, 14-year-old Texan Priscilla Beaulieu is in Germany with the army where her father is a captain. There she meets Elvis Presley who becomes infatuated with her. Elvis always swore that the relationship wasn't consummated until Priscilla was much older and director Sofia Coppola accepts that narrative. But back in the States, she moves into Graceland at the age of 17 though she is enrolled in a local school to complete her education and surrounded by Elvis's extended family of hangers-on. Elvis is very controlling, telling her what she can and can't wear, giving her the uppers and downers he takes himself, buying her guns though, as a Texan, she's cool with that. Later he gaslights her when she sees reports of his affairs with actresses in his films, telling her that she is paranoid. It looks creepy to modern sensibilities and can't have been normal even in the 60s, even in the Deep South.They marry. Lisa-Marie is born. In the early 70s, she's had enough and leaves him. The stor