Another year of cinema…and another year lacking written reviews! Resolutions die on making them it seems (see my last post back on December 31^st, 2022!). Never mind. Please take this post as a 2023-round up review of those twelve months. 

2023 was an interesting year for film. While the Hollywood studio behemoths are clearly starting to stagger with their plans for fatiguing franchises (Disney re-makes and the MCU), some old intellectual properties have been revived well (see Dungeons & Dragons, Indiana Jones, Super Mario Bros. Movie and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget).

In particular this year, there were a number of films that told unconventional stories on familiar themes of identity, relationships, and memory, including Davy Chou’s Return to Seoul, Felix von Greningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains, Celine Song’s Past Lives and Clement Virgo’s Brother (to name a few). Some big-budget biopics on significant figures have also been worth chewing over (Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer) while others were better left to history (Ridley Scott’s Napoleon). 

If there has been one prominent theme in the last twelve months, it’s been ‘cancel culture’. Todd Field’s Tár and Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario bookended the year with this contested idea (read more below). While the discussion over the separation between art and artist has featured in the past, it seems this prominent skirmish in the ‘culture war’ is now receiving representation in mainstream cinema. Perhaps it will feature further in the potentially fractious political year of 2024?

MY TOP 10 FILMS OF 2023 (in no particular order): 

• TÁR 
• 브로커 (BROKER)
• WOMEN TALKING 
• DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES
• LE OTTO MONTAGNE (THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS)
• RETURN TO SEOUL
• PLAN 75
• SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
• BROTHER
• DREAM SCENARIO 

Here’s extended reviews of four favourites from 2023:

TÁR: Blanchett Conducts Herself Masterfully In Field’s Feverish Film.

Director: Todd Field / Screenplay: Todd Field

Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is a highly accomplished conductor at the peak of her career. A fierce, subversive, and passionate professional, her life is conducted with the same precision as her orchestra. Yet, when an accusation of inappropriate relationships with her proteges are made against her, the hairline fractures in her life begin to widen until they break apart completely. 

Field’s compelling drama slowly works its mysterious spell over you – its creeping stillness soon devolving into a fever dream. The real power of the film lies in how it delves into the ferociously topical though thorny territory of ‘cancel culture’ and the separation between art and artist. Of course, Blanchett is a tour-de-force in a career-best performance. She alternates effortlessly between Tár’s poised theatricality, cold mendacity, and vulnerable paranoia across the eponymous tragic hero’s inevitable fall. How sympathetic we as the viewer should feel for this deeply flawed but artistically brilliant figure is left for us to decide – as in art, as in life.  

Where to Watch: Tár can be watched on Amazon Prime and NOWTV.

My Verdict //  ★★★★★

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RETURN TO SEOUL: Chou’s Intensely Intimate Identity Crisis Drama Comes Alive Through Lead Ji-Min Park.

Director: Davy Chou / Screenplay: Davy Chou 

Many years after being adopted as a baby by a French couple, Freddie (Ji-Min Park) returns to her native South Korea ‘by accident’. Ostensibly there to just try the local social scene in Seoul, she attempts tentatively to contact her biological family. But Freddie is no easy character to be with, lurching between provocation and withdrawal erratically on her detour through Korea. When she hears that her father would like to see her, she travels to his coastal town to meet the family. But things don’t go to plan for either side…   

Chou’s exploration of emotional self-discovery and cultural alienation is an absorbing if distressing watch. Lead Ji-Min Park is magnetic as its messy central character. Her unhappiness about being unmoored from her fragile sense of belonging, her erratic attempts at gaining social control, and her troubled, confused longing are all held within the actor’s often silent facial and physical performance. There is little that is tidy or trite in Chou’s screenplay. Instead, he lingers on the blurry relationship that many have with their cultural and emotional identities in this immersive, engaging drama.  

Where to Watch: Return to Seoul can be watched on Amazon Prime and Curzon Home Cinema.

My Verdict //  ★★★★★

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SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE: All Travel and Travails In This Triumphant Sequel.

Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson / Screenplay: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham

Full podcast review here.

Question: Does Across the Spider-Verse live up to 2018’s smash animation hit Into the Spider-Verse? Answer: Yes, yes, and yes!

A few years after the events of the first film, Gwen Stacey (otherwise known as ‘Spider-Gwen’, voiced by Hailee Steinfield) encounters a major crisis when her cop-father discovers her alter-ego. Before horrific consequences can take place, Gwen is whisked away by a multi-dimensional elite taskforce of Spider-People. Meanwhile, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) finds he has similar issues balancing his family life with his duties as the neighbourhood hero. When the two reunite, they realise they are part of something far bigger than either of them could imagine…and with far greater consequences.

Into the Spider-Verse was an incredibly difficult movie to follow, but this sequel clears the bar sublimely. The first film’s thoughtful core thematic (‘who writes your story?’) is expanded as much as the cornucopia of new characters, art styles and nostalgic references. Here the certainty of canon, and the subversive breaking of it, are made clear in the major conflicts of both our protagonists and antagonists. It’s a film that is bursting (almost to overload) of action, designs, and ideas, that it demands a rewatch.

It is a beautiful, triumphant follow-up that begs the question once again: will Beyond the Spider-Verse stick the landing or become tangled up in its own meta-ness? 

Where to Watch: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse can be watched on Amazon Prime and NOWTV.

My Verdict //  ★★★★★

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DREAM SCENARIO: No Rest for Nicolas Cage In Borgli’s Perfectly Nightmarish Satire.

Director: Kristoffer Borgli / Screenplay: Kristoffer Borgli

When people begin to dream about American biology professor Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage), the unassuming family man can’t believe the attention. It’s a welcome distraction from his humdrum, neurotic personal and professional life. Perhaps it’s even an opportunity to get his book on ant-life published. Yet, when collective dreams become collective nightmares, the whole tone of his audience’s attention changes. Despite doing nothing wrong, Paul finds himself as the mercy of a population grown hostile to the very idea of him…

Borgli’s dark satire could be an extended episode of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror in both reflecting (once again) the topicality of ‘cancel culture’ while also delving into the theme of dreaming. Unlike Field’s Tár however, the real insistence is that Cage’s cranky, eccentric, pathetic academic doesn’t do anything wrong to deserve the treatment that befalls him. It dramatises the awkward rush to judgement based on faulty impressions and how this might lead to devastating consequences. The director-writer’s film only errs towards its conclusion in an unnecessary sci-fi turn, though Cage’s typically gurning, comically earnest performance is well worth catching.

Where to Watch: Dream Scenario can be watched on Amazon Prime.

My Verdict //  ★★★★☆

And now for some notable mentions, surprising watches and the must-avoids! 

브로커 (Broker) (Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, Screenplay. Hirokazu Kore-eda): Full podcast review here. When baby Woo-sung is left by his young mother at a baby deposit box, it begins a sequence of events that draws in some well-meaning, opportunistic ‘brokers’, a mischevious orphan, the mother herself, and the pursuing police. While his latest drama continues Kore-eda’s typical theme of tough family relations (see Shoplifters, After the Storm and Like Father, Like Son), the performances are incredibly charming and the drama difficult. Despite the occasional bleakness, the director-writer’s usual optimism shines through.  My Verdict // ★★★★★

Women Talking (Dir. Sarah Polley, Screenplay. Sarah Polley, based on the novel ‘Women Talking’ by Miriam Toews): When a group of women are systematically raped in a closed community and their (known) attacker is sent to the hospital, they gather to discuss their options: to do nothing, stay and fight, or leave forever. This is a dark, deeply sensitive adaptation from director-writer Sarah Polley. Bringing together terrific performances from an ensemble cast including Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy and Judith Ivey, the arguments between the women tussle and flow wonderfully. This contained drama offers little respite and tough admissions. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (Dir. Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Screenplay. Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Michael Gilio): Full podcast review here. After being stitched up on a heist and ending up in an icy prison, bard Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) manages to escape with help from burly buddy barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez). Darvis gathers a hapless fellowship to rescue his daughter (Chloe Coleman) from the con-artist who betrayed him – Forge Fitzwilliams (Hugh Grant). A pure fantasy romp that, while not the most original satire of the genre, certainly entertains with its lovable performances, engrossing action, and funny dialogue. A delightful blockbuster that shouldn’t really have a sequel- don’t do it Paramount… My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Le Otto Montagne (The Eight Mountains) (Dir. Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Screenplay. Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch): One summer, young Italian city-boy Pietro is whisked away a remote Alpine retreat. He begins a fond friendship with the only other boy there – the rural-loving and diligent Bruno. As the years pass and family frictions develop for both, the two boys keep returning to the mountains – to build, to reflect and to grow as men. Director-writer duo Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch have created a beautiful, absorbing but melancholy piece of cinema here, traversing the ups and downs of relationships over time. The stunning cinematography of the Italian Alps lends to the film’s themes of incline and decline, growth and decay, which is also embodied in the affectionate, believable performances of Luca Marienelli and Alessandro Borghi (who play the two boys as adults). It’s a transfixing and lasting depiction of men’s’ hopes and hubris. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Plan 75 (Dir. Chie Hayakawa, Screenplay. Jason Gray, Chie Hayakawa): To deal with the rise of hate crimes against their older citizens, the desperate, bureaucratic Japanese government institute ‘Plan 75’. It’s a voluntary euthanasia programme for those over seventy-five, who are offered a significant cash incentive to go through it. Caught in a life of solitude and destitution, the elderly Mishi (Chieko Baisho) ponders this decision carefully. Will she decide to accept a moment of luxury and spare herself a life of pain and loneliness? Hayakawa’s dystopian drama is an intensely bleak watch. It explores the human consequences of a not too fictional conflict between generations. The natural performances from all the cast (Hayakawa depicts all levels of this alarming new system: from the programme’s sales workers to its euthanasia nurses), led by a quietly powerful Baisho, rise above any weaknesses in the plotting. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Brother (Dir. Clement Virgo, Screenplay. Clement Virgo – based on the novel ‘Brother’ by David Chariandy): Brothers Francis and Michael (Aaron Pierre and Lamar Johnson), sons of Jamaican immigrant Ruth (Marsha Stephanie Blake), move to Toronto in the early 1990s. As the years progress, the small family struggle against deprivation, deferred dreams and institutional prejudice. Events come to a head when Francis outgrows his mother’s depressive care to pursue both his artistic ambitions and personal freedom. Younger brother Michael watches on as their life shifts from difficulty to disaster – especially one incident that marks the family forever. Director-writer Clement Virgo’s exploration of delayed grief and the hardships of the immigrant experience in Canada is an absorbing, tender, though heart-wrenching watch, especially as the film moves towards its tragic culmination. Reminiscent of Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (2016) and If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) with its intimate cinematography and social themes, Virgo allows the character’s emotional experiences to wash over the audience. This is a captivating, brooding feature with deeply empathetic performances, especially from the familial trio of Blake, Pierre and Johnson. My Verdict //★★★★☆

Corsage (Dir. Maria Kreutzer, Screenplay. Maria Kreutzer): An unflappable Vicky Krieps plays Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, in this wildly unconventional historical revisionist drama from director Maria Kreutzer. Attempting to break free of her gilded cage and estranged marriage, the decidedly bored royal decides to discover who she really is. Using anachronistic locations, props and sensibilities, Kreutzer draws together the past and the present in this satirical, feminist expose of patriarchy. Much like Yorgos Lanthimos’ award-winning subversive historical dramedy The Favourite (2018), this portrayal of history highlights the gendered absurdities of a bygone era, but suggests (not so subtly) that they continue to exist today. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Oppenheimer (Dir. Christopher Nolan, Screenplay. Christopher Nolan – based on the biography ‘American Prometheus’ by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin): Full podcast review here. After Christopher Nolan’s twisty, torturous Tenet (2020), he returns to depicting historical events unconventionally in this dense, propulsive, three-hour epic. Cillian Murphy plays the eponymous physicist dourly as a man struggling to deal with the consequences of unleashing the nuclear age. It is an intense, intricate piece of cinema that boasts chillingly powerful sequences and considered portrayals of heroism and hubris. Nolan keeps his focus sharp on the bomb-maker, leaving the terrors of the epoch-defining explosion(s) at the edges of the biopic. It leaves an unedifying impression of everyone involved…though leaves the question open of whether this was Nolan’s intention. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Past Lives (Dir. Celine Song, Screenplay. Celine Song): Na-young and Hae-sung are childhood sweethearts on the cusp of their first relationship. But it’s not to be when Na-young’s family migrate from South Korea to Canada forever. Twelve years later and Na-young, now calling herself Nora (Greta Lee), resides in New York. Longing for the past, she discovers Haesung (Teo Yoo) is still eager to see her. As they connect online, will distances dissipate or is the past truly irretrievable? Song’s serene, insightful feature debut is a quiet study in emotional fulfilment and closure. Performed wonderfully by Lee and Yoo, who bring varied, complex authenticity to their characters’ lives and histories onscreen, Song allows the audience to soak in the ambiguity and trepidation of this difficult (if sometimes all too familiar) life experience. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Dir. James Gunn, Screenplay. James Gunn): Full podcast review here. After the events of the (MCU)niverse-shattering Avengers: Endgame (2019), the Guardians regroup to face the music one final time. This long-awaited sequel that completes director James Gunn’s Guardians trilogy is a mostly triumphant swan song for those charmingly roguish misfits introduced almost a decade ago. While allowing for the usual silly, childish irreverence, Gunn uses some of the style from his version of The Suicide Squad (2021) to go all grisly in the ultra-violent action sequences. Focal star for this final feature, raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), pulls all the heartstrings with a manipulative, harrowing backstory. It’s a decent final ride for the Marvel’s most beloved gang. My Verdict // ★★★★☆  

The Fabelmans (Dir. Steven Spielberg, Screenplay. Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner): Back on the fertile ground of teens encountering otherworldly things, famed director Steven Spielberg decides to navel gaze on his own adolescence this time. But rather than having his fictional stand-in Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) meet some extra-terrestrial, it is the powerful awe and horror of cinema that the young Jewish boy must grapple with. When his parent’s marriage starts to crack and collapse (the temperamentally-juxtaposed couple played wonderfully by Paul Dano and Michelle Williams), Sammy finds solace in filmmaking…until it begins to dominate his life. This semi-autobiographical movie distils Spielberg’s love of film and family into one visually sumptuous, well-acted piece of cinema. My Verdict //★★★☆☆

The Whale (Dir. Darren Aronofsky, Screenplay. Samuel D. Hunter – based on the play ‘The Whale’ by Samuel Hunter): Former 90’s action-hero hunk Brendan Fraser delivers a disturbing, poignant performance as the morbidly obese Charlie. When a recent health scare gives the reclusive, online-only English tutor a limited time to live, he desperately seeks to reconcile the shattered pieces of his life. Fraser wins us over by delivering powerfully on his protagonist’s indefatigable optimism and violent self-loathing. Hong Chau as his tough love friend and Sadie Sink as his venomous, hurt daughter completes this often unpleasant watch. Much like his biblically-inspired blunder mother! (2017), Aronofsky over-blows much of Samuel D. Hunter’s screenplay, creating pure melodrama. But there’s still moments of genuine emotional weight amid the cinematic excess. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆     

Pearl (Dir. Ti West, Screenplay. Ti West, Mia Goth): Mia Goth goes Dorothy Gale-meets-Kathy Bates’ Annie Wilkes in this disconcerting villain-origin story from horror director Ti West. Going back into the past of his previous entry X (2022), West shows how Goth’s Pearl became the first film’s psychopathic antagonist. When the sweetly demonic teenager gets a chance to escape her humdrum home, she discovers a world of pain and humiliation. West’s Technicolor nightmare is a perversely entertaining insight into the terrifying delirium of a traumatised young woman. Perfectly self-contained from the original feature, Pearl is also a terrific showcase of Goth’s startling acting talents. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆    

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Dir. Aaron Horvarth, Michael Jelenic, Screenplay. Matthew Fogel): Full podcast review here. Nintendo’s famous bro-duo are back in a glossy, computer-generated adventure of their own. Family plumbers Mario and Luigi (voiced by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) get into a whole heap of trouble after tumbling down a pipe and into another universe. A harmless, nostalgic but fun movie that features a revamped role for Anya Taylor-Joy’s Princess-with-Purpose Peach (over her previous damsel-in-distress depiction in the old video games) and Jack Black’s musically eccentric King Bowser as the movie’s lovable big bad boss. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆    

The Little Mermaid (Dir. Rob Marshall, Screenplay. David Magee – based on the 1989 Disney animated feature ‘The Little Mermaid’): In their current trend of taking animated movies from the Disney canon and dusting them off to be resold in live-action, the studio has now got round to remaking the first animated feature of the ‘Renaissance‘ era: 1989’s The Little Mermaid. Halle Bailey delivers a superbly sweet performance as the mermaid who falls for a human. Her vocals can be goosebump inducing (especially in the stand-out solo ‘Part of Your World’), and her slightly dazed enthusiasm seem appropriate for the role. Screenwriter David Magee dives a little deeper than the stereotypical Disney romance between Ariel and Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) though there’s not too much creativity elsewhere. Unfortunately, despite terrific costuming and make-up, Melissa McCarthy doesn’t reach the late Pat Carroll’s deliciously camp presence for the vaudevillian sea-witch Ursula. While not as soulless as recent remakes (Aladdin, The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan and Wendy…yes, all of these came out in the last half decade), Marshall’s rote adaptation still doesn’t make the case for Disney’s ‘re-envisioning’ of its beloved back catalogue. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

War Pony (Dir. Riley Keough, Gina Gammell, Screenplay. Riley Keough, Gina Gammell, Franklin Sioux Bob, Bill Reddy): Set on a modern-day Native American reservation, Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting) is a teenage entrepreneur running between his home and ventures; between two women and the children he’s brought into this world with them. When one of them asks him to bail her out of jail. Bill finds an unexpected, lucrative opportunity on the side of the road. Meanwhile, younger Matho (LaDainian Crazy Thunder) struggles to survive when his abusive father throws him out of the house. This is a hard-hitting, social realist drama that focuses sensitively on the lives of a deprived American community in 2016. The two young lead actors are completely compelling. However, certain mystical tropes and an unlikely heist towards the end do weaken this otherwise affecting depiction of contemporary reservation life. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Elemental (Dir. Peter Sohn, Screenplay. Kat Likkel, John Hoberg, Brenda Hseuh): Full podcast review here. In a world where the natural elements are animate (in more ways than one), a family of ‘fires’ move to Elemental City – a sprawling, multicultural metropolis that isn’t quite set up for these fiery people. Ember (Leah Lewis) struggles between maintaining loyalty to her family when she begrudgingly befriends the watery Wade (Mamoudou Athie). A sweet, smart story from Pixar that analogises the immigrant experience with its fantasy conceit. The film’s interesting exploration of multiculturalism is matched by its typical character building and incidental humour. A decent, if not standout, entry from Disney-Pixar. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Barbie (Dir. Greta Gerwig, Screenplay. Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach): Full podcast review here. In ‘Barbie Land’, everything is perfect. A pink paradise that revolves completely around the ‘Barbies’, with the ‘Kens’ as their hapless devotees. When ‘Stereotypical Barbie’ (Margot Robbie) is afflicted with morbid thoughts, she is challenged to go to the ‘real world’ to discover the truth of her identity. Director Greta Gerwig’s feminist exploration on the (in)famous Mattel toy has a huge dose of schmaltz and satire amid its lurid pizzazz. Despite the polarised reaction to this movie (unusual considering it was combined with Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb biopic Oppenheimer), it’s a mild critique of gender stereotyping that even gives it’s male co-star an oversized role. Still, Ryan Gosling is hilarious as the impetuous ‘Stereotypical Ken’. If there’s any criticism worth considering, it’s whether this film will have any lasting impact beyond its ‘moment’ last summer (time will tell), or how it probably managed to increase the stock price for a massive corporation. Satire can sell, clearly. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Arrête avec tes mensonges (Lie With Me) (Dir. Olivier Peyon, Screenplay. Olivier Peyon, Vincent Poymiro, Arthur Cahn, Cécilia Rouaud – based on the novel ‘Lie With Me’ by Philippe Besson): After many years, revered French novelist Stéphane Belcourt returns to his hometown to read from his latest novel. Though proclaiming himself a fantasist type of writer, it becomes clear that there’s more fact than fiction in his impeccable work. Painful memories from the past resurface during his stay, especially when he faces an unexpected confrontation. This pleasant, sensitive adaptation from director Oliver Peyton explores the power of memory and shame in Philippe Besson’s novel. Despite tragic circumstances all too typical of queer cinema, the film boasts some deeply poignant performances from actors both young and old. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Scrapper (Dir. Charlotte Regan, Screenplay. Charlotte Regan): After losing her beloved mother to cancer, young Brit Georgie (a terrific scene-stealing debut from Lola Campbell) eschews the social services and decides to fend for herself. However, when her estranged father Jason (Harris Dickinson) literally drops back into her life, things are about to change forever. A charming British drama that puts an optimistic spin on a father-daughter relationship after last year’s more probing, melancholy Aftersun (2022). This feature debut is a little rough around the edges (with some inconsistent stylistic choices) but blessed with equally humorous and heartwarming performances from Campbell, Dickinson and Alin Uzun. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Theater Camp (Dir. Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Screenplay, Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt – based on their 2020 short-film ‘Theater Camp’): When artistic entrepreneur and theatre-camp founder Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris in a glorified, yet glorious cameo) is put into a coma by a rogue strobe light, her disinterested, delusional son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) has to run the summer camp. Under mounting debts and lacking insight into the camp’s kids and counsellors, Troy faces some hefty decisions: whether to try and preserve this tiny space of joy or sell it to some parasitic investors. A funny mockumentary that acts as a tribute to all the exuberance and egoistic bitchiness of the theatre world. Extending their short film into an advisedly short feature, Gordon, Lieberman and the troupe capture the eccentricity and melodrama of luvvies both young and old. While the plot is predictable, simplistic, and mawkish, there’s enough hilarity from the actor-directors (with extra amusement from fake-it-till-you-make-it newbie counsellor Ayo Edebiri) that it will win you over. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆  

Fremont (Dir. Babak Jalali, Screenplay. Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli): Donya (a delightfully sustained deadpan performance from Anaita Wali Zada), an Afghan refugee, works in a fortune cooker factory in the city of Fremont, California. Struggling to adjust to her new life, she takes an unbooked psychiatrist appointment in order to get sleeping pills. At the same time, the untimely death of a co-worker gives her a new position – as the fortune cooker writer. She sends out messages hoping to find a special someone and change her own fate. It’s the best ‘Wes Anderson’ film in the last five years. All joking aside, Jalili’s composed, downbeat comedy is an unexpectedly stirring depicting of alienation and adjustment. It looks and feels reminiscent of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s work, especially touching upon the perennial yet topical problems within migrant experiences. Yet, Zada’s laconic protagonist and the surreal humour of Eddie Tang’s factory owner provide a grounding, with a satirical side, to this otherwise melancholic slice of cinema. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆  

The Old Oak (Dir. Ken Loach, Screenplay. Paul Laverty): Set in 2016, a busload of Syrian refugees are dropped off in a Northern town to an unhappy welcome from the locals. Pub landlord TJ (Dave Turner) tries to help, though feels compelled to stay away from the growing fray between his regulars and the newcomers. But when he offers to fix a broken camera for refugee Yara (Ebla Mari), it brings him into struggles both without and within. Loach and Laverty’s characteristically didactic, pared-down examination of broken Britain continues here after recent critical successes I, Daniel Blake (2016) and Sorry We Missed You (2019). This rugged realist drama raises the affirming idea of mutual solidarity across social divisions through a nostalgic, albeit contrived plot. While Loach and Laverty are more sentimental here than their previous work, isn’t there relief in seeing depictions of hope despite the UK’s current state of hopelessness?  My Verdict // ★★★☆☆    

Killers of the Flower Moon (Dir. Martin Scorsese, Screenplay. Martin Scorsese, Eric Roth – based on the non-fiction book ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ by David Grann): When the Osage Nation- a Native American people- discover an oil field on their reservation and build a prosperous society, white settlers begin to circle. Sneakily and systematically, they marry the Osage women to get their hold on the ‘black gold’. Ernest Burkhart( Leonardo DiCaprio), a buffoonish bumpkin just returned from the First World War, is mentored by the wily William Hale (Robert DeNiro) to marry Osage debutante Mollie Kelly (Lily Gladstone). Soon after, Mollie’s family begin dying around her and cries of foul play fall on deaf ears. This is both a typical and atypical work from Scorsese. There are his usual themes of male inadequacy, manipulative father figures, and mob violence, but placed in an obscure(d) piece of American crime history. DiCaprio’s gnarly, period appropriate teeth turn the actor’s face into a near permanent gurn, while DeNiro deftly assumes a role much like Joe Pesci’s soft-spoken godfather from The Irishman (2019). Unfortunately, despite her dignified, subtle performance, it’s Gladstone that is let down by the screenplay. The story’s focus moving unevenly between the Osage and their predators leaves Mollie’s interiority underdeveloped. Yet, the veteran director’s mastery of scale and the slowly unwinding structure still creates a compelling portrayal of these revealing, insidious events. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Wonka (Dir. Paul King, Screenplay. Simon Farnaby, Paul King): When he’s not playing lovestruck teenagers, or sensitive cannibals, or the dune messiah, Timothée Chalamet still finds time to channel Gene Wilder lightly in this sweet-hearted prequel to 1971’s Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Master Wonka, magician chocolatier, is an upstart trying to launch his own candy store in a town of hostile sweet moguls (Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, and Matthew Baynton). A visual treat- though with many immemorable musical numbers- Wonka seems to create some charm in Willy’s unlikely band of underdogs (Calah Lane, Jim Carter, and Natasha Rothwell, with Hugh Grant as a CGI’d, temperamentally lofty, Oompa-Loompa). Pretty much a Christmas pantomime (with Keegan-Michael Keye and Rowan Atkinson in silly cameos) though omits the nastier streaks in Roald Dahl’s writing and the darker undertones of the original movie. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆   

Saltburn (Dir. Emerald Fennell, Screenplay. Emerald Fennell): Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), an aspiring undergraduate from a modest background, is befriended by the privileged, posh Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) during their first term at university. Oliver is soon whisked away to the Catton’s family estate of Saltburn. But what lies beneath the snooty, aloof attitudes of Felix’s relatives? While paraded around as a cutting class satire, Emerald Fennell’s stylish thriller is best understood as an unconventional ‘vampire movie’. Despite becoming ‘meme-able’ for its mild sexually transgressive moments, Saltburn turns a bit tepid over its runtime. The desire to shock in its blackly comic conclusion reveals far too much for the audience (and I’m not talking about Keoghan’s dance sequence to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder on the Dancefloor‘). My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Napoleon (Dir. Ridley Scott, Screenplay. David Scarpa): As the ‘Reign of Terror’ ushers in a tumultuous period of French history, a little-known Corsican captain called Napoleon (Joaquin Phoenix) spies an opportunity for a promotion. His clever, if bloody, victory at Toulon catapults his rising star into the warring political arena. At the same time, a young aristocrat (Vanessa Kirby) catches Napoleon’s wandering eye. It’s a romance destined to forge and upset an empire. Despite grisly battles with majestic cinematography reminiscent of a bygone era of historical epics, the rest of Scott’s vision of this infamous French emperor is best described as a romp. It’s a devil-may-care depiction of history that can be extremely silly and not particularly insightful. Phoenix delivers a passable lead performance as the impotent, soft-spoken Emperor, though he seems to have as much interest in the figure as David Scarpa’s shallow screenplay. An unfortunate misfire of a movie. My Verdict // ★★☆☆☆

君たちはどう生きるか (The Boy and the Heron) (Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, Screenplay. Hayao Miyazaki): Full podcast review here. Ten years after his alleged final animated feature The Wind Rises (2013), visionary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki returns with an original fantasy adventure. After the tragic death of his mother during a bombing raid in Tokyo during the Second World War, Mahito is moved out to the country with his father and new stepmother (who is also his aunt). In this rural seclusion, the boy discovers a mysterious tower and crosses paths with a disagreeable heron. While retaining (even enhancing) the visual beauty from his previous work, the story of The Boy and the Heron is just bird-brained. After a poignant (though protracted) opening, the movie devolves into perplexing scenes of striking imagery that are barely held together by metaphysical musings and confusing doppelgängers. Perhaps one to watch again to be clearer on the storyline, but this is definitely not the powerful filmmaking that the Japanese storyteller is renown for. My Verdict // ★★☆☆☆

Asteroid City (Dir. Wes Anderson, Screenplay. Wes Anderson): Set within a documentary staging of a play about a remote desert town near to a meteor crater, Asteroid City is where the conventional and the cosmic commingle. A grieving family (led by pipe-chewing Jason Schwartzman) breakdown in this weird little place just as visitors from outer space arrive. What to say? Anderson allows style to completely overcome story in this tediously quirky, off-beat comedy. Yes – every shot could be a postcard picture, but the depth of the narrative is about the same as the piece of card it would be printed on. My Verdict // ★★☆☆☆

Fast X (Dir. Louis Leterrier, Screenplay. Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin): Vin Diesel and the motor-head gang crash and burn everything after vengeful Jason Mamoa recreates the Camp VillainTM going on a road rampage across the globe. While admittedly I’m not a long-time fan of this long-running franchise, I understood little when I went in and understood even less when I came out. And apparently it’s only Part One of the saga’s finale. My Verdict // ★☆☆☆☆

65 (Dir. Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Screenplay. Scott Beck, Bryan Woods): Adam Driver on Jurassic Planet…with all the enthusiasm that this statement implies (for those looking for a reason to my suggested aversion, check out the podcast’s Jurassic Park nostalgia series starting here). My Verdict // ★☆☆☆☆

I will try not to make promises I can’t keep again, but I will try to update the blog with new podcast episodes and written reviews soon!