The Painter and the Thief review: A brilliant, moving documentary October 29, 2020 Premiering at Sundance in January, Norwegian documentary filmmaker Benjamin Ree (2016’s Magnus) brings us The Painter and the Thief, an unusual tale of crime and reconciliation. We meet Barbara Kysilkova, a Czech painter based in Oslo, as she learns two of her most celebrated paintings have been stolen during the night. The authorities bluntly inform [...]
Pixie review: Tarantino meets Sligo in charming Irish heist October 23, 2020 Certain images can sell a movie almost without context: Jack Nicholson grinning through a hole in a door, or John Travolta and Uma Thurman doing the twist. Pixie may not be as iconic as those movies, but its accompanying show of Alec Baldwin, dressed as a priest and brandishing a firearm is certainly enough to [...]
The Secret Garden review – death by 1,000 adaptations October 23, 2020 Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden has been adapted numerous times for film, television and the stage, with the most recent being a 1993 version produced by Francis Ford Coppola. Times have changed, but the allure and magic of The Secret Garden was enough for the producers of the Harry Potter and Paddington [...]
Summer of 85 – François Ozon’s latest is a nostalgia ride October 23, 2020 French director François Ozon (Frantz, By The Grace of God) goes back thirty five years for his nostalgic teen drama Summer of 85. Félix Lefebvre plays Alex, a 16-year-old facing a serious police charge relating to the death of his friend, David (Benjamin Voisin). With the help of his teacher, he is able to piece [...]
Robert Zemeckis The Witches is a dark Dahl triumph October 21, 2020 Readers over a certain age will remember losing sleep over the 1990 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book The Witches, in which Anjelica Huston donned hideous prosthetics that are still unsettling to this day. It perfectly captured the spirit of Roald Dahl’s storytelling, which always towed the line between wonder and abject terror. Robert Zemeckis (Back [...]
Over the Moon film review: This family Netflix animation has heart and colour October 16, 2020 Netflix looks to get in on the booming appetite for family content with this whimsical animated trip to space. Cathy Ang voices Fei Fei, a young Chinese girl fascinated by science, as well as the stories of the Moon goddess Change’e (Phillipa Soo) told to her by her mother (Ruthie Ann Miles). When her mother [...]
Rebecca film review: Ben Wheatley directs Lily James and Armie Hammer but is too in thrall to Hitchcock October 16, 2020 In a peculiar turn of events, Netflix has become the saviour of cinema. The streaming giant has become the highest profile pipeline for cinemas during this unprecedented fallow period. Once seen as the death knell for the picture house, the company’s decision to give its Original Movies a brief theatrical run now provides cinemas with [...]
Tenet film review: Can Christopher Nolan save cinema with his latest time-bending blockbuster? August 29, 2020 Inception filmmaker Christopher Nolan is one of the few remaining directors whose name alone can draw in a crowd. His post-Batman films stand as outliers in this industry – adult-targeted, original stories with no potential for sequels or spin-offs. In fact, Warner Bros have such confidence in the director’s brand that all but the most [...]
Bloodshot review: A below-average Vin Diesel vehicle filled with mindless chaos March 16, 2020 Vin Diesel hopes to kick off a new franchise as superhero Bloodshot, a special forces operative killed in action only to be reborn as a supersoldier whose fractured memories begin to unveil a conspiracy. Diesel works best in an ensemble – even his signature Fast and Furious franchise only truly took off once bigger names [...]
Misbehaviour film review: Dramatisation of the Miss World pageant stormed by feminists lacks feeling March 16, 2020 This glossy dramatisation of the 1970 Miss World Pageant in London, during which feminist protesters stormed the stage and covered host Bob Hope in flour, is intended to be a tale of heroism when viewed through a modern lens, but ends up playing things a little too safe. The story unfolds from several perspectives. Kiera [...]
