It’s without surprise that Meryl Streep shines as Florence Foster Jenkins in Stephen Frears’ pleasantly amusing biopic of the tone-deaf socialite who fulfilled her wish of singing – if you can it call it that – in front of thousands at the Carnegie Hall. This is a biopic that favours frothy entertainment over tragic drama, thus the darker aspects of Jenkins’ life, such as her battle with syphilis, are never dwelled upon. Continue reading “Review: Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)”
Jon Favreau’s enthralling live-action spin on Rudyard Kipling’s beloved novel is the latest in the line of Disney reinterpretations after recent hits Maleficent and Cinderella. Priding itself on heart-pumping dramatics and masterful visuals that recreate all on display, excluding Neel Sethi’s man-cub Mowgli, it manages to honour the old (both Kipling’s source material and the animated classic) while celebrating the cutting-edge in equal measure. Continue reading “Review: The Jungle Book (2016)”
The director of Oculus collaborates with star Kate Siegel on Hush, a crafty home invasion chiller that was snapped up by Netflix shortly after its SXSW premiere. The premise is simple – a deaf woman (Siegel) is tormented by an unnamed assailant (John Gallagher Jr.) in the middle of nowhere – but it’s captivating nonetheless. Continue reading “Review: Hush (2016)”
Kristen Stewart is out and the A-list duo of Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt are in for The Huntsman: Winter’s War, the prequel-cum-sequel to Snow White And The Huntsman that no one asked for. Save for the talent, this is in no way an improvement on what came before – if anything, it’s a duller and more muddled affair that quickly loses attention. Continue reading “Review: The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)”
Each week in the UK sees the arrival of a handful of films – sometimes more, sometimes less. I don’t always get a chance to see all of them, but from now on – week to week – I’ll be documenting, along with a few words’ review, each of the films I do see. Continue reading “What I’ve Seen: March 11, 2016”
John Hillcoat’s corrupt cop thriller boasts a talented cast, yet still manages to be a disposable misstep, weighed down by a messy, convoluted script. The film starts well, with a striking sequence involving a bank robbery establishing the various characters, five dodgy cops led by mastermind Michael (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who are blackmailed into a risky heist by the Russian mafia. Continue reading “Review: Triple 9 (2016)”
The space race becomes child’s play in uninspired Spanish-produced animated comedy Capture The Flag. Mike (Carme Calvell), the descendant of not one but two wannabe astronauts, takes matters into his own hands when NASA launches a space mission to stop an evil billionaire from mining the moon dry. Continue reading “Review: Capture The Flag (2015)”
Seven years after Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman returns with a stop-motion animation that’s as distinctive as it is inventive. Michael (David Thewlis), a motivational speaker and author in Cincinatti for a conference, is distant to everyone, yearning for connection amidst a world of uniformity. He sees – and hears – everyone around him as the same person, all of them voiced by Tom Noonan. That is, however, until he meets distinctively voiced Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Continue reading “Review: Anomalisa (2015)”
Anchored by a pair of rich, intricate performances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, Room – self-adapted from Emma Donoghue’s bestselling novel – somehow manages to be both fascinating and uplifting in the face of unrelenting bleakness. Ma (Larson) and Jack (Tremblay) live in a cramped shed, locked away from the outside world by their captor. Continue reading “Review: Room (2015)”
Fresh from the imaginative Birdman, which secured several award wins, director Alejandro G. Inarritu returns with a bang – more specifically a survival thriller of intense power and raw visceral beauty. Leonardo DiCaprio takes the lead as Hugh Glass, a 19th century frontiersman who’s left for dead in the harsh American wilderness after being brutally mauled by a bear. Continue reading “Review: The Revenant (2015)”
Empty Screens 