Starting as a fairly fun social climb tracking the inner machinations of Queen Anne’s rule this piece develops into a manipulative and then dark drama on trust, vulnerability, love and power. It’s a film that’ll mainly be remembered for the
Jojo Rabbit
What a great little film! Although it’s pretty easy to see why it sat on top of a screenplay blacklist for years (getting made only when Taika Waititi became one of the hottest properties in Hollywood). A delightful piece about
Spencer
The main things I took from this were: being impressed at how Timothy Spall was able to keep his facial expression looking exactly like a dog’s anus for the whole film, thinking that Diana’s chambermaids ushering her along a corridor
Munich: The Edge of War
Bit of intense war drama here: and definitely not a PR piece for the allies, with Jeremy Irons’s Chamberlain coming across as something of a tit. Some nice stuff about adolescent bonding overcoming contemporary politics and a few nice tense
The Tender Bar
Christ, I don’t even remember watching this. Vaguely recall something with Affleck in it, playing a troubled-yet-serious-regretful-type. Hey ho, that’s the downside of leaving a few months between watching average films and writing about them. 👎
The Unforgivable
Quality bit of acting from Sandra Bullock in this one – you want to empathise with her, whilst at the same time being wholly unable to relate to her situation (unusual, as it is). Throw some personality quirks in as
Don’t Look Up
The film that everyone’s calling “the most insightful bit of satire in years”, and which the critics are complaining about – I think it was just excellent. Some great performances by A-listers in non-blockbuster roles, spinning a tale dripping with
The Professor and the Madman
Not that I’m hugely clued in on Hollywood these days, but I wondered how I’d never heard of this given the people involved – but it turns out it’s one of those where they swap directors part way through, artistic
Spotlight
Does Mark Ruffalo ONLY act in films about uncovering large conspiracies? This one’s about systemic child abuse by the Catholic church, along with the institutional coverup orchestrated by its hierarchy – Australians would no doubt be familiar with Cardinal George
Big Night
I’ll be honest – I don’t think I “got” this. I was attracted by the names… Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub make for an attention-grabbing casting, for sure. Throw in Alison Janney, and it seems a cert. But pastiche characters