Peter Bogdanovich return after many years away from directing. A typical Woody Allenesque farce set in the theatre world of New York which is less than the sum of its parts. The plot about a casting for a Broadway play and the goings on between actors, directors scriptwriters and their shrink 
goes very little distance really and the obsession with call girls seems archaic. The fact that the director is a generous benefactor to small start-ups seems one of the few concessions to modernity. However, as a film it romps along thanks to some good acting. The laughs are somewhat brief but at least with good pacing you are on to the next crisis. Some scripted jokes seem to be lost on the public. Owen Wilson holds it together in the centre as Arnold the play director
well enough but it is the rest that shine. Imogen Poots as the call-girl up for a lead role is great even with a broad Bronx accent. Kathryn Hahn shows her comic timing as the wife and lead actress Delta,
Rhys Ifans does an effective light ham as the British rogue actor and Jennifer Aniston 
dominates her every scene as the angry ineffective shrink. Look for Cybill Shepherd
, Tatum O’Neal 
and Quentin Tarantino in bit/cameo parts. Just gets to a 3-star for energy.
★★★
and a lazy eye. Samuele is a typical boy, uses a slingshot 
and likes hacking cactus apart. Then there is his grandmother
who keeps house and requests old pop classics on the radio which take her back to the 40’s when the island was involved in WW2. She also cooks a mean pasta and squid. An anonymous figure hunts for fish and shellfish under water and we are taken down into the depths of the island sea.
Finally, there are the refugees. Drifting to the island in boatloads, often ill and with many dead,
we see the Italian Coast guard procedure as they bring them aboard a frigate and take them to the temporary camp on the island. We also get a quick look inside that. The contrast of lives and realities is striking and Rosi obviously wants us to consider all the issues without him giving an opinion. The only person who does talk is the island doctor who has seen some horrors. 
This modern crisis of refugees risking their lives crossing to Europe is quietly and dramatically portrayed here. No tinsel, no firecrackers, just cold hard facts. A more compelling film than it first looks.
who live far from the city.
Bella (excellent Rima Te Wiata)
is a sort of hippie living in her own bubble, both fey and practical while Hec, her husband is taciturn and anti-social, in part due to dark moments in his past.
Tragedy intervenes 
and in order to avoid going back into institutional care thanks to the overzealous social worker Paula (Rachel House),
Hec and Ricky take to the bush and end up being the focus of a five month manhunt. They have all sorts of adventures in the bush and build a relationship together.
Waititi blends fantasy, social observation, adventures and acts of compassion into a compelling story which is made credible (despite some poetic licence). Julian Dennison is excellent as Ricky and has some great facial expressions and comic timing.
Sam Neill also convinces as gruff old Hec. The use of NZ humour and references to many cultural icons (the film is based on a book by Barry Crump) add to the originality and enjoyment.
Different and recommendable.
Susan (ever reliable Amy Adams) is the designer who is at a crisis point in her life and in her marriage. A book arrives from her ex-husband after 19 years which not only opens up wounds from that time but is also the story set in Texas of the kidnapping, murder, rape and revenge of an urban man who is attacked by local ne’er do wells.
There are many layers here. Parts of the story relate to the marriage and to Susan’s idea of her ex, Tom. Parts are a commentaries on society and on our values and most of all our idea of revenge. Ford leaves it up to us how we interpret much of this. He does create some genuinely scary scenes and others that critics have damned as being messy. I personally liked to chopping back and forth from life to the story. Jake Gyllenhaal
is fine as Tom, both in Texas and as the ex in Susan’s mind. Michael Shannon 
does a mean turn as the sheriff of the pueblo with a few stories of his own and Aaron Taylor Johnson 
as Ray, the main thug is convincing. Laura Linney has a bit part as Susan’s mother,
one of those know-it-all overbearing mothers. Great music from Abel Korzeniowski and photography from Seamus McGarvey. Maybe it is a flawed film at the end of the day but there is a lot to praise too and it is well worth a look.
The most interesting feature of the film is the role of his long term partner Pierre Bergé who was his partner in the global company he formed. Bergé really spent his life looking out for the life and career of his lover and probably didn’t get as much reciprocity as he deserved. Pierre Niney plays Saint Laurent with the quality
one would expect of a member of the Comedie Francaise and is well supported by Guillaume Galienne who creates an interesting character in Bergé.
Most of the rest of the cast are more set dressing than anything as are the scenes of fashion shows and debauchery in their Moroccan mansion.
Interesting to shine some light on the life of someone we perhaps didn’t know much about but beyond that it does not give us any great insights
and makes the designer seem rather an unpleasant type.
and has no more to him than this. When very smart daughter Mary (Meredith)
ends up being a dropout and radical bomber in the late 60’s and early 70’s he does not have the tools to cope and continues to pursue her for years until finding her as a broken shadow spirit and follower of Jainism living in a Newark slum.
The story is first about that – raising a child whose values and behaviour you cannot recognise. It is also about values in society; The parents are successes according to the values of the time but this fades into oblivion given the revolutionary spirit of that era.
McGregor does not convince in the lead role – or is rather too dull to build a movie around. Jennifer Connelly 
gives us her usual quiet dignity as Dawn, the wife and Dakota Fanning is credible as the daughter
, a young idealist who clearly has issues given all her time in therapy. Minor cast members do OK but the problems are more with a funereal pacing and the choice of what to include from the book and what to leave out. One suspects that the real colour got ditched leaving a believable but not especially compelling movie.
who claimed he wished to marry her. Although the male side of the story is pretty brutal and black a la Angelina Jolie, producer of this film, it just goes to show how outdated customs are being wrongly upheld today. Menon Getnet plays Meaza, a female lawyer who runs a law firm dedicated to defending the rights of women in Ethiopia.
She decides to take on Hirut’s case and has to go to the Supreme Court of the country to get justice.
The story is of course based on facts and is quite fascinating as a social conscience story.
and Tizita Hagere as the girl 
manage to convince among the cast of more stereotypic types. Well worth seeing as a look at cultures we are ignorant of but a little underdone as a film-
It is 1951 and the Korean War is also lurking behind everyone’s thoughts. Marcus has difficulties fitting in despite his desire to become independent from his overbearing parents. He becomes smitten with Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon),
a seemingly sophisticated doctor’s daughter with a bit of a reputation and a few stories of her own. The film features two very strong scenes, one which is a sparring match with the college dean (Tracy Letts)
and the other with his own mother (Linda Emond) who comes to visit after Marcus has appendicitis
and instantly sums up Olivia.
Both scenes are awkward and perfect examples of how awkward can help you to grow up, even if they are not what you desire and bring consequences. Those scenes and the well cared for setting liven up an otherwise slowish movie which does however have plenty to say about conformity, social mores, democracy and the American way!
and go on a road trip/spree and somehow find a sense for living that they have lost inside. Beatrice is a compulsive liar, a thief and a countess: intelligent and magnetic. Donatella is thin, tattooed, bruised and broken and accused of trying to kill her son and commit suicide.
It’s an odd couple. Slowly their stories are revealed to both each other and ourselves and by the end I was hooked on finding out the fate of the two heroines.
So a sort of cross between Thelma and Louise and Girl Interrupted. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi gives one of the best performances of her career as the countess Beatrice,
running a whole gamut of emotions authentically. Micaela Ramazzotti grows and grows as Donatella until a luminous finale. An intelligent script and direction by Paolo Virzi explains the success of this movie in Italy.
passionfilm 