Film
Remarkably moving: The Dig reviewed
Just before the outbreak of the second world war a discovery was made in a riverside field at Sutton Hoo…
So good I watched it twice: Netflix's The White Tiger reviewed
The White Tiger is adapted from the Booker-prize winning novel (2008) by Aravind Adiga. It is directed by Ramin Bahrani…
The acting is very Scooby-Doo: Blithe Spirit reviewed
The comedy Blithe Spiritwas written by Noël Coward in 1941. It is, essentially, about a séance going wrong and a…
Riveting: Dear Comrades! reviewed
Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades! is based on a true event and set in 1962 in the Russian city of Novocherkassk…
Even I, a bitter and cynical middle-aged woman, felt stirred: Sylvie’s Love reviewed
Sylvie’s Love is an exquisitely styled, swooning, old-school, period Hollywood romance and while it has been described as ‘glib’ in…
It’ll blow you away: Collective reviewed
When I recommend this documentary to people, telling them it follows the journalistic investigation into a fire that broke out…
Like a never-ending episode of The Jerry Springer Show: Hillbilly Elegy reviewed
Hillbilly Elegy is an adaptation of the best-selling memoir, published in 2016, by J.D. Vance and it’s quite a story.…
This is what cinema is for: Netflix’s Cuties reviewed
Cuties is the subject of a moral panic and a hashtag #CancelNetflix. It tells the story of Amy (Fathia Youssouf),…
Half the fun of the animation – and much longer: Mulan reviewed
Mulan is Disney’s latest live-action remake, coming in at 120 minutes, compared with the 1998 animation, which ran to 80.…
Heavy-handed satire and schmaltz: American Pickle reviewed
American Pickle is a comedy based on a short story by Simon Rich, originally published in the New Yorker, and…
An extraordinary debut: Make Up reviewed
Make Up is the first full-length film from writer–director Claire Oakley, set in an out-of-season holiday park on the Cornish…
Worth catching the virus for: Saint Frances reviewed
Two films about young women this week, one at the cinema, if you dare, and one to stream, if you…
Held me so fast I was outbid on eBay: Clemency reviewed
Clemency stars Alfre Woodard as a prison warden on death row whose job is beginning to take its toll, and…
Fascinatingly weird – but not satisfyingly weird: Herzog’s Family Romance LLC reviewed
In the past Werner Herzog has given us a man pushing a ship up a mountain, a 16th-century conquistador going…
Not nul points but it’s no Spinal Tap: Eurovision Song Contest – The Story of Fire Saga reviewed
This comedy stars Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as an Icelandic duo whose biggest dream is to represent their country…
A true story that never feels true: Resistance reviewed
Resistance stars Jesse Eisenberg and tells the true story of how mime artist Marcel Marceau helped orphaned Jewish children to…
Messy but absolutely necessary: Da 5 Bloods reviewed
Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods is about four African-American vets who return to Vietnam to locate the body of their…
Why, Woody, why? A Rainy Day in New York reviewed
A Rainy Day in New York is Woody Allen’s 49th film and it’s not been without its troubles. When accusations…
Top of my must-watch mustn't-watch: Cats revisited
At the outset of lockdown I gave you my list of top mustn’t-watch films — that is, the ones that…
I have never cared more about the price of milk in Iceland: The County reviewed
You may be asking yourself: have I reached that point in lockdown where I’m watching Icelandic dramas about the price…
Why does anyone still rate Vertigo and its creepy, wonky plot?
Here’s something that may interest you. Or not. (Could go either way.) I was looking over Sight & Sound’s ‘100…
Riveting – and disgusting: BFI's 'Dogs v Cats' and 'Eating In' collections reviewed
This week I’d like to point you in the direction of the British Film Institute and its free online archive…
Too much photocopying but stick with it: The Assistant reviewed
First, the latest digital film release: The Assistant, starring Julia Garner in a slowly, slowly, catchy, catchy tale that won’t…
Top of my mustn’t see list: The Iron Mask reviewed
As all other publications are offering guides saying what to watch from home during this pandemic — ‘the 50 best…
The bleak brilliance of Hud
Hud is a film that has haunted me for decades. I was never sure why. It seemed to be something…
