A ripping yarn and a grand adventure, The Personal History of David Copperfield delighted me. It highlights just how magnificent a writer Charles Dickens was. The movie (penned by Armando Iannucci and Simon Blackwell, with direction from the former) re-imagines Dickens’ classic ode to perseverance through a largely comedic lens. Copperfield (Dev Patel) narrates his…
The Current War concerns the development of the electric light. But that prosaic premise belies a voyage of discovery, filled with intrigue and subterfuge. The race against time begins in 1880. On the one side is Thomas Alva Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch); and on the other is George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon). Both are men of principle…
It looks a bit like Die Hard in a hospital wing. Only the adamant John McClane has been replaced by the brave waitress Madison Taylor (Nicky Whelan) who has to save her own skin (and admittedly, that skin belongs to a beautiful, well-shaped body) while two mean-looking fellows are chasing her. And yes, the action…
This movie may have passed you by the first time as a sleeper and if so, now is the perfect time to bring it forward in your Netflix queue. A glorious revenge splatterfest set in an impoverished American suburb, I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore is movie gold. Movies don’t always have…
Every now and then I come across a completely unknown film I don’t really expect much from, despite the presence of a well-known sounding name, but which nevertheless pleasantly surprises me. The Vanishing is a thriller pur sang. A fictional story about a true event, namely the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in 1900 who…
In the days before the pandemic (remember them?), hype swirled around Disney’s adaptation of Artemis Fowl, the much-loved YA novel by Eoin Colfer. Originally slated for a (northern) summer release, COVID-19 torpedoed those plans and Disney moved it straight to its new streaming platform, Disney +. In hindsight, that could have been a wise move….
The Platform (El Hoyo) isn’t just a frightening movie. It’s a movie with a moral. A film that makes you think. Could you call it horror? You could have an extensive discussion about this. For some of the detainees who are locked up in the prison portrayed in this film, it’s indeed horror. It depends…
What a clever idea. Take a huge musical figure and add an element of intrigue to captivate an audience in a period thriller. In writer-director John Stephenson’s Interlude in Prague, that figure is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Aneurin Barnard). The year is 1787. Mozart – usually based in Vienna – is still recovering from the death…
What an amusing movie The Banker was. It’s the kind of movie you start watching and before you know it, the end credits roll across your screen. Even though the subject won’t get you very excited. The world of real estate and banking. A world populated with stiffs in perfectly fitting suits who prefer to…
Unlike a lot of filmmakers, Steven Soderbergh seems quite content being part of the streaming revolution. Alongside The Laundromat, the director booked another film for Netflix. High Flying Bird is rather more subdued than The Laundromat, but it shares some of that film’s DNA. Both are concerned with corporate power; and although the earlier release…
