For those of you still missing the soaring strings of a certain English drama, try Belgravia. Set in the early Victoria era, a time in which the aristocracy was losing its treasured sons to the Napoleanic wars, Belgravia is a lavish and grandiose production in which evidently no expense has been spared. Beginning with the…
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…
“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…
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…
Marcel Marceau was regarded as the world’s foremost mime artist. But I dare say many would be unaware of intriguing his back story, as covered in Resistance. From his earliest, Marceau (Jesse Eisenberg) was driven to “perform”; something his religious Jewish father, Charles Mangel (Karl Markovics), railed against. There was a reason for that, which…
Mirage is a sparkling French-Canadian-German production that has a little of everything, and lots of what is essential to the success of a romantic thriller – sizzling chemistry between its two lead characters. As Claire wakes up alone in her Thailand hotel room, she hears screaming. Water is rising outside, and soon the panicked human…
Not all superheroes wear capes. Some are immortal ass-kickers. The Old Guard is a high-concept action-thriller that provides an origin story for what the producers no doubt hope will be a tentpole franchise in the future. The Old Guard was originally scheduled to be a high-profile summer release in the northern hemisphere; but the pandemic…
A mildly interesting, D-grade creature feature, Black Water: Abyss concerns a marauding crocodile in an Australian cave system. Five people set out on an adventure to explore the caves, which aren’t on any tourist map. Outside, a tropical storm is closing in. Once the group have rappelled into the depths, they’re caught in a torrent….
Tom Hanks both stars in and scripts Greyhound. And with his writer’s hat on, he does a pretty solid job in adapting C. S. Forester’s novel The Good Shepherd for the screen. Aaron Schneider – whose last film was the far more unconventional Get Low (2009) – steps into the director’s chair. And the result…
