THE IRISHMAN

The Emperor’s Old Clothes? One flask of coffee. Two croissants,  a bottle of water and 3 1/2 hours later and I have watched The Irishman on the  big screen, reclining in the luxuriousness of the Odeon Luxe cinema in Leicester Square at 8am  on  a Sunday morning.  Fairly glued to the screen, I didn’t move (as did few others), didn’t …

CAPTAIN MARVEL

You know what, there are some films you really WANT to work, and this is one of them. It’s thoroughly entertaining – check. It’s got a good lead actor – check. It’s got retro vibes and pop culture references threaded throughout – check. Samuel L. Jackson is young – back story – check. Coulson is back! Mega check. It all …

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

“Practically Perfect in every way!”  What a joy!  When Mary Poppins Returns pops into your life, you won’t stop grinning. I have not felt that warm glow of sheer pleasure watching a film for quite some time. The phrase, they don’t make’em like that anymore is truly apt for this. Clearly, detractors will say it’s just a rehash of the …

WIDOWS

It’s fair to say that WIDOWS is entertaining enough, but at the same time I wanted so much more from a Steve McQueen Gillian Flynn adaptation of Linda LaPlante’s TV series. This film never really felt like it should be the opening night of the LFF, but you can see why the creative team alone propelled it there.  It’s breathlessly …

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Freddie Mercury was always a larger than life character, and in Bohemian Rhapsody, american Rami Malek totally inhabits him, bringing him back to life in an uncanny fashion.  Whilst it is true that the false teeth are rather distracting – they seem unnecessarily large – they also apparently allowed Malek the freedom to create his version of Mercury – to …

GIRL

Selected for Un Certain Regard in Cannes, and now screening as part of the London Film Festival, GIRL, from Belgium, is a stunning debut feature from Lukas Dhont, from his own screenplay.  It is a highly emotional story, outlining the journey taken by a transgender teenager,  transitioning into the body she so desires.  But it’s not going fast enough for …

REVIEW: FIRST MAN

My first impression of FIRST MAN was that it looks great, particularly on an IMAX screen.  The audience feels the  claustrophobia and fragility of the small metal cockpits and cabins that the crews inhabit, so that the physical moments are intense, and worthy of a few sweaty palms.    To fulfil Damien Chazelle’s pursuit of authenticity, and in the manner …

ISLE OF DOGS

What a wonderful director Wes Anderson is. Yes, he’s Marmite. But I love Marmite, and thankfully, so do my kids. What I have not really got my head around is that Isle of Dogs is a perfect and wonderful example of stop motion animation film-making which works brilliantly at all levels. For a smaller child, there are dogs in peril …