Cinema
I'm too tired for Lena Dunham: Catherine Called Birdy reviewed
Catherine Called Birdy is written and directed by Lena Dunham and it’s a medieval comedy about a 14-year-old girl resisting…
A David Bowie doc like no other: Moonage Daydream reviewed
Moonage Daydream is a music documentary like no other, which is fitting as the subject is David Bowie. If it’s…
Gore-fest meets snooze-fest: Crimes of the Future reviewed
You always have to brace yourself for the latest David Cronenberg film, but with Crimes of the Future it’s not…
A compelling, if pitiless, journey: The Forgiven reviewed
The Forgiven is based on the novel by Lawrence Osborne and stars Ralph Fiennes (terrific) and Jessica Chastain (ditto) as…
Schlocky and silly but fun: Beast reviewed
Beast is, the blurb tells us, a ‘pulse-pounding thriller about a father and his daughters who find themselves hunted by…
Absolutely nuts: My Old School reviewed
My Old School is a documentary exploring a true story that would have to be true as it’s too preposterous…
If you’re going to make it up, please make it up better: Eiffel reviewed
Eiffel is a romantic drama purporting to show how a passionate but forbidden love inspired Gustave Eiffel to design and…
Spare us the preaching: The Railway Children Return reviewed
It doesn’t help the cause of The Railway Children Return that the original 1970 Railway Children film is currently on…
This lot should be sent to prison too: Where the Crawdads Sing reviewed
Where the Crawdads Sing is based on the bestselling book (by Delia Owens) that I picked up from one of…
A goofy, non-taxing delight: Brian and Charles reviewed
Brian and Charles is a sweetly funny mockumentary about a lonely Welsh inventor who is not that good at inventing.…
The definitive Diana doc? Possibly not: The Princess reviewed
The Princess, a new documentary film, is the first re-framing of the Princess Diana story since it was last re-framed,…
The hips are electric but you will be willing it to stay put: Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis reviewed
Elvis is Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of Elvis Presley and it’s cradle to grave but told at such a gallop you’ll…
It’s wholly impossible to look away: Good Luck to You, Leo Grande reviewed
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande stars Emma Thompson as a retired, widowed religious education teacher in her sixties who…
It’s taken me days to uncringe: All My Friends Hate Me reviewed
All My Friends Hate Me is a film about a university reunion weekend and should you have an upcoming university…
A self-regarding take on I’m-not-sure-what: Bergman Island reviewed
Bergman Island sounds, on first acquaintance, like a theme-park attraction. Roll up, roll up! Let us speed you through the…
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…
