So formulaic I could have written it: Champions reviewed
Champions is an underdog sports movie starring Woody Harrelson as a baseball coach forced to take on a team with…
Devastating: Close reviewed
The Belgian film Close, written and directed by Lukas Dhont, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes and is up…
Eight angry women
Women Talking, which has received Oscar nominations for best picture and adapted screenplay, is one of those films that, on…
Both compelling and repulsive: The Whale reviewed
I can’t work out if Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, which stars Brendan Fraser as a man weighing 600lb – that’s…
Cheesy but full of love: The Fabelmans reviewed
There can’t be anyone anywhere who hasn’t somehow been touched by a Steven Spielberg film. Some of us, for example,…
Formulaic and untrue: Bank of Dave reviewed
Bank of Dave is the ‘true(ish)’ story, as this puts it, of Dave Fishwick, the Burnley businessman who wanted to…
Riveting: Tár reviewed
Todd Field’s Tár stars an insanely glorious Cate Blanchett – if she doesn’t win an Oscar I’ll eat my hat…
I beg Sam Mendes to stop writing his own scripts: Empire of Light reviewed
Sam Mendes’s Empire of Light, which he wrote as well as directed, is billed as a ‘love letter to cinema’…
Mesmerisingly sad: Corsage reviewed
Corsage is a biopic of Empress Elisabeth of Austria who was prized for her beauty and fashion sense and may…
Quiet yet beautiful – and there’s plenty of sex: Lady Chatterley’s Lover reviewed
If you’re of my generation, I expect your first encounter with D.H Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was the (well-thumbed) book…
I soaked my jumper with tears: The Last Flight Home reviewed
If you’re planning on seeing The Last Flight Home at the cinema, don’t make any plans for afterwards as you’ll…
Ralph Fiennes at his most terrifying: The Menu reviewed
The Menu is a comedy-horror-thriller set in an exclusive restaurant on a private island and it gives the rich a…
Astonishing cinema: No Bears reviewed
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears is, first and foremost, a wonderful film. More than this, you don’t need to know but…
Heartbreakingly tender: Living reviewed
Living is a remake of one of the great existential masterpieces of the 20th century, Kurosawa’s Ikiru (1952), which didn’t…
Pure scorn without wit or insight: Triangle of Sadness reviewed
The latest film from Ruben Ostlund received an eight-minute standing ovation after its screening in Cannes and also won the…
Harry Styles's behind is the only draw: My Policeman reviewed
My Policemanis a forbidden love drama starring both Harry Styles – whose bid for movie stardom continues apace – and…
Ravishing, daring biopic of Emily Brontë: Emily reviewed
The life of Emily Brontë is an enduring object of fascination. So small, the life, so sparse, so limited. Yet…
Unforgettable story, forgettable film: The Lost King reviewed
The Lost King is a comedy-drama based on the 2012 discovery of the remains of King Richard III beneath a…
Pleasantly untaxing: Mrs Harris Goes to Paris reviewed
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is a comedy-drama based on the 1958 novel by Paul Gallico about a cheerful, kind-hearted…
I'm too tired for Lena Dunham: Catherine Called Birdy reviewed
Catherine Called Birdy is written and directed by Lena Dunham and it’s a medieval comedy about a 14-year-old girl resisting…
A David Bowie doc like no other: Moonage Daydream reviewed
Moonage Daydream is a music documentary like no other, which is fitting as the subject is David Bowie. If it’s…
Gore-fest meets snooze-fest: Crimes of the Future reviewed
You always have to brace yourself for the latest David Cronenberg film, but with Crimes of the Future it’s not…
A compelling, if pitiless, journey: The Forgiven reviewed
The Forgiven is based on the novel by Lawrence Osborne and stars Ralph Fiennes (terrific) and Jessica Chastain (ditto) as…
Schlocky and silly but fun: Beast reviewed
Beast is, the blurb tells us, a ‘pulse-pounding thriller about a father and his daughters who find themselves hunted by…
Absolutely nuts: My Old School reviewed
My Old School is a documentary exploring a true story that would have to be true as it’s too preposterous…
