Given that both of director Damien Chazelle’s previous outings (Whiplash and La La Land) were exercises in dislikeability, First Man manages to bring some humanity to what is essentially an engineering story. This thread is largely held together by Clare Foy, as Janet Armstrong. Gosling’s tabula rasa face has its… Continue reading
Set in Europe some 20,000 years ago (yes, roughly the age Brexiteers would like to return us to), this stylised account of the domestication of dogs has its fair share of stunning visuals. The mixture of animatronics, CGI and real animals doesn’t quite avoid wonkiness in some places though. And… Continue reading
Following on from impressive and individual outings in Frank and The Room, Lenny Abrahamson’s latest project is a Sarah Waters adaption. It starts from the distinct disadvantage of not being the Handmaiden, which is pretty much a model in how to adapt a great book but making it something entirely… Continue reading
When I heard Dogtooth & The Lobster’s director new film was a period piece about Queen Anne, my initial thought was ‘how will we get a typical Yorgos Lanthimos take on that?’ Within the opening few scenes, when the passenger on the coach opposite Emma Stone’s Abigail begins pleasuring himself… Continue reading
Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik’s new film follows survivalist father Will & his 13 yr old daughter Tom. They live in a vibrant green forest national park outside Portland, in a makeshift camp. We follow them going about their tasks of preparing food, fixing the camp and growing provisions with… Continue reading
In Klansman Spike Lee combines the razor sharp dissection of racial politics of Do The Right Thing with the crowdpleasing thriller narrative of Inside Man, to produce his finest work for a long time, and possibly the film of the year. It relates the incredible but true story of black… Continue reading
Every year there seems to be one film that features a child in a dysfunctional family operating at the edge of fantasy and reality. See for example, A Monster Calls and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Giants follows young Barbara, who struggling to deal with her mother’s terminal illness, has… Continue reading
Lynne Ramsey gave us We Need to Talk About Kevin & Ratcather, so her latest offering was never going to be a bubbly rom-com, but this is bleak even in her oeuvre. Powerful, moving and interesting too. But bleak. Phoenix plays a traumatised war vet Joe, a familiar enough trope,… Continue reading
Steven Soderbergh came out of retirement (surprise!) with this low key psychological horror, shot entirely on iPhone over ten days. For the practically non-existent budget of $1.5M it’s an impressive reminder of what you can do with a decent script and central character who can hold the screen (everyone’s favourite… Continue reading
This account of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and the subsequent clash between his mother, Gail, and ‘richest man in history’ Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom is directed by Ridley Scott. It turns out Scott is still a very competent director when he has a fixed… Continue reading
