Cinema
You won’t be able to look away: Shirley reviewed
This week, two electrifying performances in two excellent films rather than two mediocre performances in the one mediocre film —…
You're not going to get a better spin on bromance – brobably: The Climb reviewed
The Climb is, essentially, a bickering bromance as two longtime pals bicker bromantically down the years, and it doesn’t sound…
Like a weird episode of Downton – with less sexual chemistry: Rebecca reviewed
Rebecca is a new adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic, twisted, never-out-of-print tale of sexual jealousy. It’s directed by Ben…
Gripping high gothic psychological horror: Saint Maud reviewed
Saint Maud is a first feature from writer-director Rose Glass and it’s being billed as a horror film. But it’s…
One zinger after another – but it’ll leave you cold: Trial of the Chicago 7 reviewed
Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 — don’t worry, you haven’t missed six earlier films — is a…
Would be much better without Bill or Ted: Bill & Ted Face the Music reviewed
I think I am supposed to say that Bill & Ted Face the Music, the third in a franchise about…
Horrifyingly beautiful – but I will never watch it again: Painted Bird review
The Painted Bird opens with a young boy (Jewish) running through a forest and clutching his pet ferret. He is…
A James Bond film with added physics no one understands: Tenet reviewed
Tenet is the latest high-concept, time-bending blockbuster from Christopher Nolan and it’s the film that (unofficially) reopens cinemas in the…
Why have they made Pinocchio look like Freddy Krueger?
Matteo Garrone’s live-action version of Pinocchio is visually sumptuous and there are some enchanting characters (my favourite: Snail). And unlike…
I want to support cinema but I have my work cut out with Love Sarah
Some cinemas have reopened, with the rest to follow by the end of the month, thankfully. But the big, hotly…
Gorgeous and electrifying: And Then We Danced reviewed
The film you want to see this week that you mightn’t have seen if you weren’t stuck at home is…
Catherine Deneuve is at her most Deneuve-ish: The Truth reviewed
To tell you the truth about The Truth, even though it stars Catherine Deneuve at her most Catherine Deneuve-ish (i.e.…
What is driving the rise in extreme cinema?
Film-makers are increasingly turning to the violent, provocatively slow or viscerally repulsive.What is driving this rise in extreme cinema? asks Francesca Steele
The director of Persepolis talks about her biopic of Marie Curie: Marjane Satrapi interviewed
The director of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, talks to Sarah Ditum about her new biopic of Marie Curie, exile from Iran and her fears for the future of democracy
Astonishing to think Miss World ever existed: Misbehaviour reviewed
Misbehaviour is a film about the 1970 Miss World contest that was disrupted by ‘bloody women’s libbers’ — that’s what…
An algorithmic zero-to-hero narrative: Military Wives reviewed
Military Wives is a British comedy drama starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan. It is based on the true…
Deeply romantic and wildly sexy: Portrait of a Lady on Fire reviewed
Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is set on a remote, windswept Brittany island in the late 18th…
In this instance, greed isn’t good: Greed reviewed
Greed is Michael Winterbottom’s satire on the obscenely rich and, in particular, a billionaire, asset-stripping retail tycoon whose resemblance to…
You’ll laugh, cry, cringe and covet the hats and bedspreads: Emma reviewed
‘Too pretty,’ blithers Miss Bates in the Highbury haberdasher as she plucks at a silken tassel. ‘Too pretty’ goes for…
Fabulous and enthralling: Parasite reviewed
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite won the Bafta for best foreign film and is up for six Oscars and it is an…
Mad but terrific: The Lighthouse reviewed
The Lighthouse stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson (and a very nasty seagull) in a gothic thriller set off the…
Fun and likeable and forgettable: The Personal History of David Copperfield reviewed
Armando Iannucci’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield is a romp told at a lick, and while it’s fun and……
One of those films that never seems to end: A Hidden Life reviewed
Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life is a historical drama based on the true story of Franz Jäggerstätter, an Austrian who…
Gripping, immersive and powerful: 1917 reviewed
Sam Mendes’s 1917 is the first world war drama that this week won the Golden Globe for best film and…
Clever, spirited, vigorous and intelligent: Little Women reviewed
There have already been several film adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 1868 novel Little Women, and why not? After…
