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4/5
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R.M.N.
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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One of the leading lights of the Romanian new wave, Cristian Mungiu uses earthy locations and low-key storytelling to explore what it is to be human. He’s at his bleakest in R.M.N., a drama inspired by real events.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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3/5
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The Lesson
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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The Lesson starts out competently enough, but collapses late on into absurd melodrama.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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3/5
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Flora and Son
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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It’s risky, but it works, thanks in large part to the genuine charisma between Hewson and Gordon-Levitt, who’s well cast and is a bit of a musician himself.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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4/5
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Love Life
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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Love Life is a story about grief, and communication, and what to do with the emotions a bereavement as terrible as this one dredges up. It’s a fine film, sombre but also funny.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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4/5
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Cassandro
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Roger Ross Williams’ surprisingly sober biopic is set in the world of Mexican wrestling and tells a quietly moving and even heroic story.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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2/5
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A Haunting in Venice
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Poirot films have every right to be silly, but one thing they must never be is dull.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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The Longest Goodbye
(2023)
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Pat Stacey
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It’s a fascinating documentary, yet the longer it goes on, the less desirable a mission to Mars seems.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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The Artist & The Wall of Death
(2022)
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Ann Marie Hourihane
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The only problem is that so much vital detail is left out that ultimately it is not satisfying -- unless you’re obsessed with the wall of death.
Posted Sep 08, 2023
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5/5
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Past Lives
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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There’s a certain tragedy at the heart of this story that no amount of goodwill can soothe: sometimes you don’t get over traumas, you just learn to live with them. But Past Lives, a thoroughly grown-up film, is able to accommodate this inconvenient truth.
Posted Sep 08, 2023
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Passages
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Ira Sachs’ mercilessly honest film plays out like a Greek tragedy, and gives compelling insights into the collective madness of love.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
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3/5
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The Blackening
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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The results are intermittently funny as the friends find their ethnic awareness tested to the limit... But The Blackening doesn’t make enough of its premise.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
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4/5
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Theater Camp
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Some of the child actors are fantastic and while the film’s attacks on the relentless self-absorption of thespians are well aimed, it treats the concept of a drama camp with more affection than despair.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
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3/5
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The Dive
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Simply shot and relentlessly focused, Erlenwein’s film loses us a little too often in opaque and inky waters, but his simple plot keeps you interested, and Lowe is very good in the more demanding role.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
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3/5
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Blue Beetle
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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DC have an uncanny knack for conjuring ugly CGI, and while the effects here are not as ghastly as they were in, say, The Flash, Blue Beetle’s climax is pretty wearing.
Posted Aug 18, 2023
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4/5
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The Future Tense
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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A thoughtful, funny and sometimes profound film that is bound to make you think.
Posted Aug 18, 2023
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4/5
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Lie with Me
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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De Tonquédec is very good as the rather self-involved writer and Belmondo is a ringer for his grandfather Jean-Paul, inheriting some of his charisma.
Posted Aug 18, 2023
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2/5
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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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A gripping film might have been made about Jann Mardenborough’s remarkable story, but this certainly isn’t it.
Posted Aug 11, 2023
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Haunted Mansion
(2023)
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Azmia Riaz
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If you’re hoping to get into the Halloween spirit two months ahead of time, this movie will not do that for you. It’s not very funny either and features a cast of extremely talented actors who look like they’re being held hostage for most of it.
Posted Aug 10, 2023
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Talk to Me
(2023)
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Billie Walker
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Talk To Me offers a harrowing ride, complete with teen revelry and disturbing supernatural dominion, leaving the stereotypes of the evil mother and over-used bodily convulsions of possession movies far behind.
Posted Jul 26, 2023
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3/5
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They Cloned Tyrone
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Juel Taylor’s film is genuinely funny at times and the acting is terrific, particularly from Foxx.
Posted Jul 21, 2023
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4/5
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My Name is Alfred Hitchcock
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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Cousins’ eye for telling details is remarkable and his documentary is a must for anyone with even a passing interest in the master of suspense.
Posted Jul 21, 2023
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4/5
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Oppenheimer
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Murphy gives us a tragic protagonist of Shakespearean proportions, not so much Prometheus as Icarus, a thin-skinned, tortured man whose ambition was his worst enemy.
Posted Jul 19, 2023
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3/5
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Puffin Rock and the New Friends
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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The whole thing is very cleanly animated, with the higgledy-piggledy perspective of a small child’s drawing.
Posted Jul 14, 2023
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4/5
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While We Watched
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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Vinay Shukla’s documentary profiles a key figure in the faltering resistance to this assault on free speech and civil liberty.
Posted Jul 14, 2023
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4/5
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The Deepest Breath
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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The Deepest Breath offers an absorbing insight into this most extreme of sports and the motivations of those brave enough to attempt it.
Posted Jul 14, 2023
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4/5
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Smoking Causes Coughing
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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A cut-price superhero film with a winningly juvenile sense of humour.
Posted Jul 12, 2023
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2/5
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Elemental
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Elemental has all the hallmarks of a committee-led, box-ticking fiasco.
Posted Jul 12, 2023
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4/5
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Cruise's less is more approach to the characterisation of Hunt works exceptionally well here: as ever, his goal is simple -- saving the world -- and nothing is going to divert him.
Posted Jul 06, 2023
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Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate
(2023)
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Ann Marie Hourihane
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The film -- it is 90 minutes long -- shows how the atmosphere of sexual freedom first stumbled and then hurtled into the general disaster that was life under the Nazis.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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4/5
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Asteroid City
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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The first thing to say about Asteroid City is that it looks absolutely gorgeous. Anderson starts in the crisp black and white of TV shows like The Twilight Zone, then unleashes his fantasy frontier town in a blaze of pastel colours.
Posted Jun 22, 2023
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3/5
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Sunlight
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Not every aspect of Ailbhe Keogan’s ambitious screenplay comes off and tonal changes can be abrupt. But most of the dialogue has the bitter ring of truth, and Carney and Ward are superb.
Posted Jun 16, 2023
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3/5
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Greatest Days
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Bea is a winning lead and though Greatest Days might be mawkish at times, its excesses are very British and very forgivable.
Posted Jun 16, 2023
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2/5
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The Flash
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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The special effects are tacky, and the film’s frequent recourse to other DC characters creates an air of desperation.
Posted Jun 16, 2023
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3/5
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Ford, 80 or not, carries the whole thing off with his usual aplomb, blinking with bemusement at some of the plot’s more outlandish flourishes, but every inch the intrepid explorer we’ve come to know and love.
Posted Jun 15, 2023
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3/5
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Medusa Deluxe
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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All we’re missing in Thomas Hardiman’s skittish murder mystery Medusa Deluxe is someone to like.
Posted Jun 09, 2023
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4/5
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War Pony
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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As she’s proved in films like American Honey and Logan Lucky, Riley Keough is a very talented actress. With War Pony, she turns to direction, and shows a natural flair for unvarnished storytelling.
Posted Jun 09, 2023
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2/5
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Chevalier
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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The film fails Joseph Bologne, a fascinating character who deserves better.
Posted Jun 09, 2023
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5/5
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Across the Spider-Verse is a spectacular achievement, a collaboration brilliantly overseen by Phil Lord and Chris Miller between some of the best illustrators and animators in the world, all at the top of their game.
Posted Jun 02, 2023
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3/5
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Carmen
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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[Mescal's] easy and effortless naturalism grounds a film that’s in constant danger of drifting off into the upper atmosphere.
Posted May 31, 2023
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3/5
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406 Days
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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In April 2020, thousands of Irish Debenhams workers received perfunctory emails informing them their services would no longer be required... Joe Lee’s gritty documentary reveals the stories of the women involved, many of whom are still traumatised.
Posted May 26, 2023
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3/5
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Sisu
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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This rather myopically nationalistic film glories in Korpi’s mass kills and miraculous escapes, which become ever more absurd, but Helander’s outrageous action romp is never afraid to laugh at itself.
Posted May 26, 2023
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3/5
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Hypnotic
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Posted May 26, 2023
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The Little Mermaid
(2023)
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Niamh Jiménez
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As valuable as this representation is, Hailey’s performance highlights that the spirit and character of Ariel transcend superficial differences -- qualities like independence, determination and ambition have no racial signature.
Posted May 24, 2023
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Fast X
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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This thing is loud and toneless, stupid above and beyond franchise requirements, not helped by a dreadful turn from Momoa, who aims for camp comedy and misses by a country mile.
Posted May 18, 2023
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2/5
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Beau Is Afraid
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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The film ends in chaos, as the screenplay succumbs to its worst excesses.
Posted May 17, 2023
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5/5
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The Eight Mountains
(2022)
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Paul Whitington
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The Eight Mountains is a spectacular film, raw and moving, beautifully paced and shot.
Posted May 12, 2023
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3/5
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Dead Shot
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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Dead Shot is good on period detail, and provides hints of the deep tensions underlying the conflict.
Posted May 12, 2023
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2/5
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Book Club: The Next Chapter
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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All four women appear to be having a blast together, so that some scenes feel like an interruption of an actual holiday. This film is oddly watchable, and only because of them.
Posted May 12, 2023
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3/5
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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It does drag on a bit towards the end but in the main, Guardians Vol 3 is witty, smart and consistently entertaining, one of the better Marvel outings of recent years.
Posted May 04, 2023
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3/5
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Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World
(2023)
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Paul Whitington
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The boxing scenes are well done, only a stone would be unmoved by George’s childhood, and the relationship between George and his trainer Doc Broadus is perhaps the most interesting one in the film.
Posted Apr 28, 2023
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