A French film set in Turkey and lauded by critics this year. It tells the story of five teenage sisters who are virtually imprisoned in their house by their guardians as punishment for a summer frolic with some local boys
(all very much fully clothed and without much sexual implication). They are pulled out of school and prepared in the old ways of becoming a homemaker ready to be married off to any likely candidate.
The film is largely seen through the eyes of the youngest (about 11 or 12 at the start of the film), who is determined that this will not happen to her and takes steps to prepare her escape. 
The great appeal of the film is surely the message that you cannot curb the freedom of other human beings and these natural charming young girls are typical of young people the world over. 
It also subtly but clearly points the finger at patriarchal societies where men repress women and many women support this on the basis that it is the best solution not to rock the boat but to accept being subordinate to men. Here, the uncle who brings them up is a fairly stereotypical brute who also silently abuses the girls. Granny (Nihal G Koldas) is apologetic and just wants things to settle down.
Critics of the film have pointed out various issues with what would really happen these days in that part of Turkey, that the girls’ behaviour in the home is not natural and that some of the actresses do not have Turkish accents from that region. 
These points and some holes in the plot may be valid but so much art takes certain liberties with reality.
I enjoyed the movie and think it makes a clear point in a relatively entertaining and unpreachy way. The girls are good actresses and Günes Sensoy as Lale is a particular find. It is no classic but any film that can entertain and open minds is welcome in my view.
★★★★
Once Grace has stopped feeling sorry for herself and had some history and deportment lessons (Derek Jacobi enjoying himself), she finds the intelligence and guile nearly everyone else is lacking to get the ship on course again and in a fictitious showdown with Charles de Gaulle at the Red Cross Ball in 1962, she sets things to right.
And turns down Hitchcock’s offer to return to Hollywood and shoot Marnie on the way. Zero info on the children and very little on real life in Monaco, this is a fantasy film with all the name dropping you can get: Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis, etc. And all so serious! It could have been a smart wry did at the principality but lurches between boring and cliché. Tim Roth gives us a Rainier of almost nothing to commend him, was he really so weak? Parker Posy 
plays an over-the-top mean lady in waiting, Onassis and Callas are depicted in gross generalisations. Only Frank Langella as the local priest Tucker and Jacobi 
come out with much credit. The script is incredibly predictable and banal, when it could have been a sparkler. Only in one dinner party spat does it start to lift. And you get the feeling that the whole story, history and all, could have given us a lot more. Finally, Nicole plays Nicole and is photographed with great emphasis on bloodshot eyes and nostrils. Her accent is all over the place- Philly girl with traces of OZ, British and god knows what else. She can only play Nicole and while there is a sense of presence, this is not Grace Kelly.
Perhaps she should have done Diana and Naomi Watts, this role to see if they could get anything more out of the parts. Not sad to have seen it and I did learn something about the royal family there but as a film it’s a flop.
She is at a bit of a loss emotionally, doting on her two nieces but estranged from day-to-day family life 
and still attached to her ex (Stefano Accorsi) who is in turn in a new relationship and confronting fatherhood. 
The film takes an interesting turn when in Berlin, Irene meets Kate a feminist and writer and has some illuminating conversations. Although it is a blatant artifice to convey the film’s message, Lesley Manville as Kate has the presence to make her character believable and compelling.
So, while the film may e4nd up seeming a little frothy and insignificant, it is elegantly made and easy to watch.
who is homeless and running away from his past in France ends up getting a job and lodging at a weird all-night club in NY. It has strange acts of performance art and the sleeping arrangements of the two women owners seem to vary. 
Fellow bar boy Luka (Adrian James channelling Keira Knightley) 
falls in love with him and unsuccessfully tries to get him to open up. Only Pavel Savic’s photography merits a positive comment in this otherwise vapid underworld piece. Etienne Faure, the director, is apparently going for more.
How do some of them do it?
At first Brooke seems to be the powerful one, optimistic, full of contacts and plans and Tracy (good newcomer Lola Kirke)
seems unsure and overly humble. As we watch the roles change and more is revealed. Some very funny scenes, especially those in Connecticut when Brooke goes to beg money from a friend. 
The script is a cracker, the film itself peters out a bit towards the end. Gerwig is her usual magnetising self 
and all the supports hold together well with Lola Kirke doing a great job as the foil. Baumbach is a very competent NY director with a comic touch.
the mother is at odds with the children (real life mother Marisa Borini who is a concert pianist also does a great job), 
and then there is Louise’s messy relationship with a man much younger than her (Louis Garrel).
The two children are basically adrift in the world in the sense of being tied to traditions and superstitions. This and the memory of some humourous moments from this period give rise to some memorable scenes such as Ludovico’s wedding in hospital,
the scenes where Louise has i-v fertility treatment or when she tries to sit in a blessed chair in a convent in Italy. A slightly quirky film made with lots of love. And Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi is one very talented actress!
for their stand against George Bush and the invasion of Iraq. Interesting enough but the main messages are that a huge wedge of Middle America is pretty ignorant (whatever camp you support) and that big and small business is easily scared. Great to see that the Chicks’ main support stood by them
and that they were able to channel the experience into some award-winning songs.
Nothing very innovative as a film. Enjoyable nonetheless.
live in the North of the North Island in a poor rural community – their dad has a poultry farm. One day, a young man comes to the community; his grandfather lived there and the old house is now abandoned. 
Soon, he makes friends with the twins until an unfortunate accident takes the life of Melody. Kimmie refuses to accept this and sees the ghost of his sister everywhere. The rest of the film is really about dealing with grief, whereby it is in a more traditional Maori way or in this sort of lost spirit sense that the boy uses.
It is a sensitive perceptive film, rather gloomy in parts but honestly acted and directed.
Hata Paparoa and Melanie Mayall-Nahr do good work as the youngsters, completely unspoilt and Isaac Barber as Tai and Pare Paseka as the slightly older teens do well as people who don’t fit into this world. It is a satisfactory debut suggesting that Armagan Ballantyne can do even more.
Beaches 2.0 someone said and I found myself watching ready to switch off with all the old clichés coming out. This movie, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, is more of the same in the inevitable traipse through the stages of cancer and one does wonder about our fascination with this subject in movies. Nevertheless, I hung in and have to say that the finished product is quite reasonable largely due to some compelling acting. Toni Collette as Milly, 
the half-crazy ad agency employee and mother of two manages to convey both this side and the despair and decline of a cancer victim very convincingly. Drew Barrymore also does an excellent job as her best friend,
understated in her concern for her friend and with her own battles relegated to the background (getting pregnant).
Good support from the husbands (Dominic Cooper and Paddy Considine) in roles which have enough meat on them not to be just fixtures and great to see a good role for Jacqueline Bisset as Milly´s actress mother. With an attractive soundtrack and some moments of humour 
this is not a film to necessarily avoid but I hope not to see this subject come up too often.
In this group of about 15 you have all sorts and the film is a sort of fly on the wall description of their professional and out of work lives. Some say that there were scenes which were unacceptable like the time they burst out laughing at a 14 year-old prostitute but to me the unprofessional moments occur the world over as well. The film handles very delicate issues directly and in a human way, sometimes the police are exasperated and overwhelmed and don’t always keep their temper but that is life. 
My one agreement with critics is that the ending is questionable – very Ida-esque! It works in a way but the two events intertwined to make the climax seem rather more sensational than the mood of the rest of the movie. Nevertheless, for its dialogues, its honest characterisations and for the good acting, I consider this the first very good film of my year to date. Maiwenn
has done a pretty solid job in directing and scriptwriting and among the actors who produce very good work are Joey Starr, as the hothead humanist,
Marina Fois as Iris, Karin Viard as the unlikely copper Nadine
, Frederic Pierrot as the section head 
and Sandrine KiberlaIn as an upper-class wife whose husband is abusing their child. Overall, a compelling piece of cinema which make take some licence but is a good movie.
passionfilm 