What can I say about this attempt at a thriller cum romance? The topic is a diamond sale that goes wrong involving South Africans, Russian mafia and Lucas Hill, a talented diamond expert from the States
who is brokering the deal and finds himself in deep when one of his suppliers does a bunk and leaves him with fake merchandise. In an effort to track him down, Lucas (Keanu Reeves) goes to Siberia and has more success at becoming a little bit unfrosted with a local girl Katya (Ana Ularu).
Things hurtle back and forth between St Petersburg and Siberia with bear chases in the forest and surreptitious meetings on completely obvious bridges as different factions juggle for power. 
It all gets to be a bit messy and clichéd. Having said that, the photography and the recreation of Russia in Canada is effective and most of the minor players do the right thing.
But you can’t help feeling it is all a bit of a paint by numbers thriller with a supposedly huge love story pasted on, complete with fur coats and a mafia blow job number! The worst feature though is Keanu Reeves in a performance of petrified wood
that becomes even less malleable in the permafrost. He does not convince. Overall, it is watchable enough but once it´s over you feel you could have been busy doing other things.
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This shows just how difficult it is for single women in such a culture. Besides which, Felicité is a strong almost sullen type. She is also adept at sidestepping Tabú (Papa Mpaki), an often-drunk patron who offers to help fix her refrigerator and slowly works his way into her life.
The accident and its aftermath has a strong effect on Felicité and she even wants to stop singing though it is her livelihood. Senegalese Director Alain Gomis introduces some different features here and apart from the depressing lower-class Kinshasa slums,
we see some dream scenes of the heroine in water, in the jungle. Real or imagined? And then interspersed with the songs from her band are pieces by the local symphony orchestra playing Arvo Part. A bit long and with the magic realism not always working, this is however a welcome return to African cinema
and a movie that says so much about African women and their daily struggle even in a movie with scant dialogue. Veró Tshanda Beya is a revelation in the lead role
and hopefully we will see more of her and of films from this part of the world. As a film it has its inconsistencies, as a cultural and social statement, it is the tops.
and are circumcised and taught in the ways of being a man. The main character Xolani (Nakhane Touré)
is a mentor to one of these boys and he goes every year in this role as a break from his mundane factory job. And because he meets up with another mentor Vija (Bongile Matsai), who is his secret lover. 
This man has married and made a socially acceptable life for himself denying his gay side except in these urgent trysts in the bush.
Xolani is keen for Vija to accept their relationship as something more but he denies it. Then we have the boy
(Niza Jay) Xolani is looking after also turns out to be gay, a bit younger and despite being bullied, less tolerant of his shy mentor who hides his identity. The film title refers to the wound from circumcision (and how relevant is that today?) and the wounds suffered in living our lives.
It also confronts the modern world with traditional practices to see what we make of this clash. All in a style that is almost like a documentary. The filming is a little haphazard with jerky camera work in parts but in all it is an honest and poignant portrayal of the dilemma faced by some boys and men today.
And for that reason it is enlightening.
and areas of lowlife near the Thames. There are two crimes: a series of murders by someone called The Limehouse Golem who disfigures his victims and leaves lurid messages in blood and the supposed murder of a failed playwright John Cree
by his wife Lizzie, a music hall star. The first murders also reflect a previous crime a couple of decades previously. Inspector Kildare is given the job in Scotland Yard to sort the Limehouse murders out with the Yard little optimistic that he will succeed. Bill Nighy
plays this role in a very dry fashion, his help George Flood (Daniel Mays) being more of the dumb comic relief.
Kildare discovers that the two cases are connected as the deceased Cree is one of the suspects of the prior case. Olivia Cooke
breathes plenty of life into the role of Lizzie and the music hall ambient offers much of the interest and entertainment in this film with Lizzie’s mentor Dan Leno (Douglas Booth)
being an interesting ambiguous figure as is the trapeze artist and part time maid Aveline (Maria Valverde). Director Juan Carlos Medina maintains the suspense and the pace but at the end of the day, the tension and surprise are not that great and the main punch comes from some rather gory scenes. Watchable in the manner of a good classic performed on the stage by a professional company,
this won’t win any awards but is a competent and relatively satisfying recreation of a long-gone era.
to emerge from a municipal district and not a federal agency. Josh Brolin plays the squad leader Eric Marsh, determined to get his team into the top echelon, even at the cost of his marriage. The always luminous Jennifer Connelly plays his wife. 
Then we have the story of Brendan (Miles Teller very good),
a kid who has gone off the rails, including getting a girl pregnant, but who gets a second chance from Eric to make good as a fireman. These and other stories are interwoven with the different fire scenes
and moments of camaraderie which make us feel part of this community. Overall, good narrative, good effects, fine photography from Claudio Miranda and even Jeff Bridges
and Andie McDowell in minor parts. A suitable homage to these men and a reasonably watchable
and suspenseful film.
present when Mason lost his wife in a terrorist attack ten years before. Jon Hamm
is fine in the lead role as a rather beaten alcoholic
who still has more direct negotiating skills than many of the officials that surround him. Rosamund Pike plays his minder, 
Sandy, a very talented US official there who is aware of the internal disputes of the place and guides Mason around them.
The storyline and the different factions do confuse sometimes but on the whole the movie has pace and enough interest to keep us concentrated throughout.
and planted in Nova Scotia, where he is hailed as a local healer, a condition he totally denies. Lots of scope for misunderstanding,
which is not really exploited very well comically, lots of magic realism to cover up massive plot holes. Despite the good intentions of director Paco Arango to give us an uplifting tale (and yes it does have a happy ending), this ends up evaporating into thin air.
Photography by Javier Aguiiresarrobe is the saving grace. Kaitlyn Bernard
as a dying teen has presence and talent even if she is not so convincing in her role and Oliver Jackson-Cohen
struggles manfully in the lead role without much to work with.
, a widow, who decides to open a bookshop in a small seaside town in the late 50’s. This seemingly innocuous decision raises the ire of local gentry, Lady Violet Gamart (Patricia Clarkson, fine but almost sleepwalking)
and the admiration of a local recluse (Bill Nighy, good as ever). 
In a way it is a sort of morality play concerning power held in a community
and how people use it to deprive others of their freedom. There are some good scenes
and moody photography of nature and Mortimer’s scenes with her young helper Christine (Honor Kneafsey) are a delight. 
However, the overall feeling is that this is all rather too contrived. Coixet may have shown more of the dark side than a British director would have
and laid off the quaintness but ultimately I am at a bit of a loss to understand how it won a slew of Goya awards in Spain.
passionfilm 