A poor family, the Kims, con their way into becoming the servants of the privileged Park family. But complications arise when their deception is threatened with exposure… Bong Joon-ho’s film won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2019 and four Academy Awards including Best Picture in 2020. You have to admire Bong Joon-ho – first… Parasite Read More
The Personal History of David Copperfield 4.5 stars
There is little to criticise in Armando Iannucci’s pacy, exuberant, free-thinking and hilarious film, though as a keen baker I had to turn away when faced with Uriah Heep’s mother’s “heavy cakes”, a seemingly never-ending procession of giant overcooked monstrosities with which England’s dark satanic mills could easily have been built. Beyond those inedible indelicacies,… The Personal History of David Copperfield Read More
Bait 4.5 stars
Despite its tough subject matter, there’s a magic saturating writer-director Mark Jenkin’s film, shot on a vintage 16mm camera using black and white Kodak film that he then hand-processed. Jenkin’s methods (you can read more about them in my interview with him here) result in a film both grittily realistic (harking back to those 1960s kitchen… Bait Read More
Dusty & Me 2.5 stars
Dusty & Me is beautifully staged (it’s set in the 1970s, and looks of its time without being drenched in memorabilia), though one design element did grate. It was the Del Monte tinned fruit cocktail the family had for their tea one night, where I spotted a pink cherry in each bowl. No way did one… Dusty & Me Read More
Massacre At Central High 3 stars
A new student starts at a high school and discovers it’s ruled by a clique of bullies. Luckily he finds a near-kindred spirit in a sweet female classmate. Soon a series of horrific deaths rock the school, but no one realises they are actually murders. And then new bullies move up to fill the vacancies…. Massacre At Central High Read More
Finding Your Feet 3 stars
This is a film of two halves – the first is bright and brilliantly funny with lines delivered to perfection by some of our greatest thespians, and touches on themes much grittier and darker than I expected. The second half is less funny and follows a familiar path; at times even the sadness feels like… Finding Your Feet Read More