The greatest mysteries tend to have simple, even prosaic explanations: motives can mostly be distilled down to love or/of money. In Rian Johnson’s traditional murder-mystery, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is rich and lonely, with a huge grasping family so used to him paying for them that they’ve forgotten that he doesn’t have to (though he… Knives Out Read More
Le Mans ’66 5 stars
“A pure racer”, car designer and ex-Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby calls Ken Miles, expat British racing driver and quirky non-conformist. For a film set in California and France, Le Mans ’66 is very British. Its hero hails from Birmingham, he drinks gallons of tea, and his gentlemanly behaviour risks snatching defeat from the jaws… Le Mans ’66 Read More
The Knight Before Christmas 3 stars
14th century English knight Sir Cole Lyons can chop a Christmas tree down in one axe stroke, which rather concerned me when I started considering what his job might be back in snowy medieval Norwich – especially when he later captures a purse thief and wastes no time telling the pickpocket exactly what his punishment… The Knight Before Christmas Read More
Judy & Punch 4 stars
Brazen, bouncy and hugely entertaining, this is part fairytale and part Punch and Judy origins story – and like many fairytales it has become sanitised in its journey to what we know as a Punch and Judy show today. Our modern Mr Punch, by now fading even as a children’s entertainment, is *only* a wife… Judy & Punch Read More
Vivarium (London Film Festival 2019) 4 stars
A young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses. *** Read my interview with Vivarium director Lorcan Finnegan *** Everyone has their own line in the sand which they will not cross when it comes to settling down. Mine is those massive white canvasses with… Vivarium (London Film Festival 2019) Read More
The King 3 stars
Henry V’s Chief Justice, William Gascoigne (Sean Harris), puts the realities of kingship best to the young English monarch: “Promise must be fulfilled. Promise must never be an end in itself.” He’s not showing much promise when we first see Prince Hal; his father Henry IV is still on the throne, and Hal is a… The King Read More
The Third Man 5 stars
I never thought I could be so enraptured by sewers, but Vienna’s are particularly impressive. Vast caverns running with water, spiral staircases, huge underground open spaces like cathedrals, with darker brick tunnels running off across the city and towards the Danube – the network beneath Austria’s capital is a perfect metaphor for the underground nature… The Third Man Read More
Klaus 4 stars
Director Sergio Pablos’s yuletide fable is surprisingly unsentimental, considering this time of year tends to brings out as much treacle in movies as in the traditional festive gingerbread. A Santa Claus origins story, it’s surely destined to become a Christmas classic – as lonely woodsman Klaus’s unshakeable belief that “a true selfless act always sparks… Klaus Read More
Last Christmas 2.5 stars
Twenty-something me had quite a lot in common with Kate, the twenty-something heroine of Last Christmas: blonde bobs, a love of fake leopard print, and a job in a Christmas shop. As I’m now an ancient 48, you could say I’m her Ghost Of Christmas Future, and if that’s not a warning to her to… Last Christmas Read More
Mickey And The Bear 4 stars
Hank, a veteran of the Iraq War, now spend his days looking for ways to dull the pain of PTSD and his painkiller addiction. His daughter Mickey, nearly 18, looks after him, their parent-child relationship turned on its head in too many ways. A coming-of-age drama about trying to escape when others are trying to… Mickey And The Bear Read More
A Reindeer’s Journey 3.5 stars
Part informative documentary, part anthropomorphic family film, this story about the first year in a reindeer calf’s life is a captivating and stunningly beautiful journey, as reindeer calf Aïlo grows up in the ancient forests and valleys of arctic Lapland – its remoteness no protection from the realities of climate change. That anthropomorphism sometimes grates,… A Reindeer’s Journey Read More
The Good Liar 3 stars
It was the hideously old-fashioned bedside lamp in Betty’s spare room that first brought me up sharp. No way would Betty, a widow who favours silk and satin and wears an elegant dove-grey overcoat, and who collapses when new boyfriend Roy suggests a holiday on the Costa del Sol, buy that monstrosity – especially in… The Good Liar Read More
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