Actually it’s Katherine Newbury – doyenne of a late night chat show with its glory days behind it – who blames her, er, tools. With ratings down, Katherine (Emma Thompson) is told her job is on the line and she’ll be out if she can’t turn things around. Her all-male, all-white, all-privileged Writing Room are,… “You’re the writers and I think it’s your fault” – You tell em, ‘Em! Read More
Colette (London Film Festival) 3.5 stars
I am the real Claudine, the young women of Paris all cry, as Colette’s series of novels about a young French woman hit a nerve. Born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (she shortens her name later as she starts to create a new identity for herself as the author of her books), she is a woman ahead of… Colette (London Film Festival) Read More
The Happy Prince 4 stars
Rupert Everett’s broken Oscar Wilde is sombrely, slowly riveting as he claims to be making plans to reconcile with his wife while at the same time hurtling towards his own self-destruction. As Oscar remarks to his literary executor, friend and sometime lover Robbie Ross (a believably steady Edwin Thomas): “Why does one run towards ruin? Why… The Happy Prince Read More
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 3.5 stars
There’s a cosiness to the word-count guzzling Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society, in a lie-back-and-think-of-postwar-England kind of way. We know what we’re going to get: fabulous 1940s fashions (wide-leg high waisted jeans, here I come); clattering typewriters; bosom-hoiking landladies; beautiful views. Plus love, loss, and employment for several British national treasures. But it… The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Read More
One Never Had Any Bill Money And One Is Bill Murray
One of these repeatedly made the same mistakes in his private life day after day. And the other is Bill Murray, star of Groundhog Day. And the other is Bill Murray, star of Groundhog Day.
Nim’s Island 3.5 stars
I will be eternally grateful to Nim’s Island as it meant an afternoon not watching my children’s current fave, “Home Alone 4”, a movie which does for family franchises what Hannibal Lector did for Chianti sales. Set on a remote South Pacific island, Gerard Butler plays Jack Rusoe (Ja… Crusoe, geddit? No? Oh well), a widowed… Nim’s Island Read More