In writer-director Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables, cop Stéphane (Damien Bonnard) has just moved to Paris. He’s joined a tough unit – an anti-crime squad, patrolling the impoverished Paris suburbs of Montfermeil*, where many residents live in crowded high-rise apartments. His immediate superior, Chris (Alexis Manenti), is a piece of work. He starts by giving Stéphane…
Okay, a few caveats. I am most definitely not the target audience for Trolls: World Tour – because I’m not 8 years old. That disconnect makes reviewing this film difficult, because what I see isn’t what an 8 year-old sees. The character design alone made me nauseous; but they’ll love it. The film operates on…
If you can imagine James Bond, mixed with Harry Potter and topped with Edge of Tomorrow, you might have some idea what Christopher Nolan’s new epic Tenet is all about. In terms of scope and ambition, this is one of Nolan’s grandest films. But the big ideas get lost in an overly complicated script and…
Not everything is spelt out in writer-director Itay Tal’s drama God of the Piano. In Israel, Anat (Naama Preis), makes a shocking decision in hospital after receiving unexpected news following the birth of her son. The daughter of an elite piano teacher, Arieh (Ze’ev Shimshoni) Anat never reached his heights, despite her talent. She never…
From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban ruled over Afghanistan with an iron fist. During this time, many basic human freedoms were curtailed and public executions became common place. All are highlighted in The Swallows of Kabul, a remarkable portrait of life under Sharia law. Specifically, we are in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in the summer…
Paul Murphy’s NZ feature Lowdown Dirty Criminals is an enjoyable but somewhat derivative crime-comedy. The darkly comic caper cribs from the Guy Ritchie playbook, with a lot of his flashy visual flourishes. The non-linear narrative structure uses plenty of flashbacks and replays scenes from different perspectives. The film opens with a Mexican standoff in a…
“Dead bodies usually mean something bad…” It’s 1945, towards the send of WWII. The German navy are even sinking hospital ships. When the film opens, a group of survivors from a sunken hospital ship are adrift somewhere in the North Atlantic. Tensions are high as they are desperately short of food and water. This motley…
If you’ve ever seen Karel Reisz’s superb The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981); or Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), you may find something familiar in Nicolas Bedos’ La Belle Époque. This brilliantly conceived drama of love and loss is inventive, poignant and compelling. Bedos is an actor who’s turned to directing. That…
The lure of Italy is strong – especially for filmmakers. It seems every story of transformative discovery needs to play out against a sun-dappled backdrop in Sicily or the Veneto. But of course, Tuscany is particularly beloved (see Under the Tuscan Sun, and its ilk). So it’s not exactly surprising that British writer-director James D’Arcy…
An ostensibly by-the-book police procedural, Force of Nature nevertheless has a few surprises that give it a kick along. In New York, Detective Cardillo (Emile Hirsch) is making out with his cop partner (and fiancé). Against the woman’s protestations, Cardillo answers a call of duty and everything changes. Then we cut to Puerto Rico, where…
