Cinema
You certainly don’t watch Top Gun for the script
Top Gun is back, nearly 40 years after the original, with reprised roles for Tom Cruise (59) and Val Kilmer…
Quietly devastating: Benediction reviewed
Terence Davies’s Benediction is a biopic of the first world war poet Siegfried Sassoon told with great feeling and tenderness.…
Schlock: Everything Everywhere All At Once reviewed
We’re doing multiverses now. Last weekend, a friend dragged me to see Marvel’s latest product, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse…
Should have been even longer with less gore: The Northman reviewed
In Rus, which we now call Ukraine, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) begins his pursuit of revenge. A sea captain who later…
Fellowes fluffs it: Downton Abbey – A New Era reviewed
Downton Abbey: A New Era is the second film spin-off from the TV series and, like the first, it doesn’t…
A hoot: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent reviewed
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent stars Nicolas Cage playing a version of Nicolas Cage, in a parody of Nicolas…
Mostly gripping – and boasts not one but two Mr Darcys: Operation Mincemeat reviewed
Operation Mincemeat is based on the book by Ben Macintyre, which in turn is based on what Sir Hugh Trevor-Roper…
Will put you in mind of Lost in Translation: Compartment No. 6 reviewed
Compartment No. 6 is set aboard a long train journey across Russia, a country we don’t hear much of these…
You will feel nothing: The Worst Person in the World reviewed
The Worst Person in the World is a Norwegian film that has made a big splash. To date, its star…
Fun, good-natured and schmaltzy: Phantom of the Open reviewed
Phantom of the Open is a comedy-drama telling a true story that would have to be true as no one…
A compelling, if flawed, example of the new American noir: Red Rocket reviewed
Mikey (Simon Rex) first appears striding down a road in utterly wrecked jeans and shirt. He is carrying nothing and…
Humourless and stale: The Batman reviewed
The latest Batman film, The Batman, may be a reboot, or even a reboot of a rebooted reboot that’s been…
Perfection: The Duke reviewed
The Duke is an old-fashioned British comedy caper that is plainly lovely and a joy. Based on a true story,…
May put you off Chaplin for ever: The Real Charlie Chaplin reviewed
Charlie Chaplin is one of the most famous movie stars ever and is certainly the most famous movie star with…
Sounds ghastly but it's somehow riveting: The Souvenir – Part II reviewed
The Souvenir: Part II is Joanna Hogg’s follow-up to The Souvenir (2019) but it’s not your regular sequel. It’s not…
Unpredictable, delicious and flamboyantly stunning: Parallel Mothers reviewed
Pedro Almodovar’s latest is a film about identity, secrets, lies, buried skeletons, real and metaphorical. But what you mainly need…
Manipulative and sentimental but also affectionate: Belfast reviewed
After Artemis Fowl and Murder on the Orient Express you may have had concerns about Kenneth Branagh ever helming a…
I won't ever look at cows the same way again: Andrea Arnold's Cow reviewed
The latest film from Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank, American Honey) is a feature-length documentary about a cow, starring…
The heat is on
Boiling Point is a single-take drama set during a busy service at a London restaurant and it has to be…
Entirely gripping: The Lost Daughter reviewed
The Lost Daughter is an adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel about motherhood that says, quite ferociously: it’s complicated. And:…
Why? Spielberg's remake of West Side Story reviewed
When you first hear that a remake of West Side Story is on the cards, it’s: God, why? Why would…
Nostalgic, episodic and Joanna Hogg-ish: Hand of God reviewed
Hand of God is the latest film from Paolo Sorrentino, the Italian filmmaker who won an Oscar with The Great…
Worth seeing for Lady Gaga but little else: House of Gucci reviewed
Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci has been much anticipated. The cast is stellar. It’s based on a luscious, true story…
Lumpily scripted and poorly plotted: Cry Macho reviewed
Clint Eastwood is 91; Cry Macho may well be his last film. Or maybe not. He has, after all, been…
A riveting cheese dream of a film: Spencer reviewed
Go see Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, which stars Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, and the next day you will wonder: did…
