In Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, Fern (Frances McDormand) is a loner. The highly capable 61-year-old has little to her name. She’s averse to traditional societal norms. Now she leads a frugal, nomadic life with memories of the past with her now-departed husband. Fern has always been a free spirit. But she settled in a nondescript house…
Trust is in short supply in the Disney animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon. That’s because 500 years ago, sinister monsters known as the Druun turned most of the people and the dragons (who until then had lived in harmony) to stone. But the collective energies and special powers of five dragon siblings saved…
A Writer’s Odyssey is intriguing and a tad exasperating. This intricately woven crime fantasy explores power and loss … and making it as a storyteller. It crams a lot into its two-hour plus running time and requires concentration to follow. Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin) is heartbroken and isolated. He used to be a happily married…
Patricia Cornelius is one heck of a writer. She doesn’t pull her punches. Her dialogue hits you between the eyes. And so it is with RUNT, which she has co-created with her collaborators in an earlier multi award-winning work, SHIT, Susie Dee and Nicci Wilks. RUNT benefits from a stellar solo showing by Wilks, a searing…
The controversial topic of euthanasia comes under the microscope in Roger Michell’s drama Blackbird. Lily (Susan Sarandon) is in her late 60s and is terminally ill. Her husband, Paul (Sam Neill), a doctor, has the medication, which is legal in several states, but not where they live. He intends to administer it and make up…
Fight for what you believe in. Fight for decency. Fight for who you are. In fact, just fight. That is one, perhaps uncharitable, representation of Malcolm & Marie. This black-and-white two-hander focuses on an African-American filmmaker Malcolm (John David Washington) and his live-in partner Marie (Zendaya), a former drug addict. It’s 1 a.m. and they’ve…
Adapted from a 2012 graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, Days of the Bagnold Summer is a gently funny coming-of-age story. Sue Bagnold (Monica Doland) is a 52-year-old English librarian. She’s raising her son Daniel (Earl Cave) alone. Daniel, 15, is on school holidays and looking forward to travelling to the US to spend time with…
A slow burn drama with comedic elements, Minari weaves its magic over time. The film follows an immigrant family having a hard time of things. We’re in 1980s America. Jacob (Steven Yuen) is an accomplished chicken sexer who works fast, distinguishing the male chicks from the females. It’s a job he’s had for a decade,…
Who was responsible for the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother? And why? Were the two young women convicted of his murder duped into supposedly pranking him when, instead, they were applying a deadly nerve agent known as VX? These questions are answered in the comprehensive and compelling documentary, Assassins. It…
Time and tide wait for no man, they say. In the sci-fi drama Synchronic, a chemist invents a time travel drug that sends people back. It has greatest impact on those with young minds. They’re the most inclined to be high … and what a trip it sends them on. Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis…
