The spirit of the late great Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman permeates this gentle but ambiguous drama from French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Love (The Father of My Children) which blurs the line between fiction and reality. Filmmaking couple Chris (Vicky Krieps, from Phantom Thread) and Tony (Tim Roth) arrive on Faro Island, located in the Baltic Sea…
Growing and maturing get a twist in the animated feature Turning Red. Meilin (the voice of Rosalie Chiang) is a very bright and dutiful 13-year-old. She diligently follows her overprotective – and, at times, overbearing – mother’s lead and always does the right thing by her. But one night the totally unexpected happens. Meilin turns…
I couldn’t think of a more appropriate name for a cliche-riddled film that fails to ignite than Off the Rails. When Anna she dies of cancer, she leaves European rail passes for her three good friends to revisit their past adventures. Each of the middle-aged women have their issues. Cassie (Kelly Preston), who plays a…
Although it’s a cliched romantic comedy, Book of Love is not entirely without humour or charm. Henry Copper (Sam Claflin) is an academic turned writer whose debut novel The Sensible Heart is not exactly a page turner, nor has it been flying off the shelves. In fact, when he holds a meet-the-author session, the book…
Early on in Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Miss Marx, the writer-director makes it clear she considers her subject to be a kind of punk rock icon. Pity then that her film largely shuns that angle and instead meanders into becoming another tepid costume drama. The film ostensibly features a fiery feminist icon, but it plays out as…
In Matt Reeves’ dark vision, The Batman, Gotham City is a cesspool of evil and corruption. For two years Bruce Wayne – a.k.a. The Batman (Robert Pattinson) – has been trying to clean it up, but to no avail. The situated has deteriorated further. Promises of renewal and change have not materialised. Now a madman…
Truth or fiction? I greatly appreciated the intensity and mystery in Lili Horvát’s film Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time. The director brings intrigue and I was genuinely left speculating as to what was real and what might not be. Brilliant neurosurgeon Marta Vizy (Natasa Stork), meets the man of her…
Writer and director Mike Mills (20th Century Women) makes superb, insightful films that tap into the human condition … and now here is another. C’mon C’mon is a remarkable, sensitive work about tapping into your feelings. Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, who – along with a few colleagues – is making a radio documentary. They are…
Based on a true story, Hive tells of the tragedy of the aftermath of the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s. Specifically it focuses on its impact on the village of Krusha e Madhe. The film follows one woman, Fahrije Hoti (Yllka Gashi). Her husband disappeared seven years earlier, leaving behind not only her,…
Although Cyrano de Bergerac was a real person, most of the works that bear his name stem from Edmond Rostan’s 1897 play. Film versions of the story date back to 1900, but recent efforts include Roxanne (1987) with Steve Martin, and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) with Gerard Depardieu. But the latest has a more circuitous…
