Pretty straightforward biopic
which I rather liked though I am sure it didn’t satisfy many. It doesn’t go very deep into the “reasons” for Tolkien becoming such a superb fantasy writer but it does suggest how his upbringing and his war experience
in particular contributed to becoming who the writer he was. Nicholas Hoult
and Lily Collins
do a good job in the leads as JR and his wife Edith, his college mates are a smart and intriguing lot
and Laura Donnelly impresses in a cameo as the writer’s mother. Probably the intelligent script is the best part,
followed by the joy of seeing Derek Jacobi as an Oxford professor
. The war/fantasy scenes
are perhaps not everyone’s choice but work pretty well.
♦♦♦♦ (just)
that gets itself into loads of trouble. Rebel Wilson
as Fat Amy and Anna Kendrick
as Becca lead a varied cast, with John Lithgow appearing as Amy’s con of a dad and DJ Khaled
leading a US armed services concert tour a la Bob Hope!
Well, each plot development is more ridiculous than the last, the less successful moments quickly get swept aside and as a whole it is enjoyable froth
with a good soundtrack and plenty of fun.
Rebel Wilson can be very funny and somewhat labored within the same scene and probably is a handful to direct. Kendrick has more presence than I credited her with. Also a good idea to end the trilogy while it is up.
with a few dark points (bullying and substance abuse), an odd ingredient – Violeta’s mentor is a washed up former Croatian opera star!
(does his nationality help him to better understand Violeta’s Polish mother and loads of cliched expressions and scenes?) Elle Fanning
comes out of it all remarkably well with good singing and convincing acting despite having too many occasions to pout and glower.
Rebecca Hall as the entrepreneur adds presence. The music is good. The rest fails to convince.
Let’s leave it at that.
Accompanying the business antics are personal backstories. There is also a connected subplot regarding a couple of ineffective car thieves
that keeps crossing over the main plot at regular intervals.
as the CEO Alexander Sodergren is a creepy sort and he maintains this stance throughout. Natalie Madueño
as the conflicted lawyer Claudia is an interesting character. Thomas Bo Larsen, the police detective with an ill wife and Thomas Hwan
as his Fraud squad co-equiper do good work and Esben Smed
as the number one car thief is an up and coming young actor. A huge cast of believable characters surrounds this griup and shows just how rich the Danish acting community is.
is an impossibly arrogant and critical artist who has been very successful but makes life very trying for those around him. Marisa Paredes plays his long suffering and somewhat extinguished wife.
Alex Brendemuhl is Lucas, his less successful and much criticized son who can’t break away from the family. Household manager Teresa, her odd job man husband Juanjo and son Pau are also part of this. Meanwhile, Petra, who is an aspiring artist has her own devils with her mother (Petra Martinez) refusing to discuss who her father is. Family memories point to it being Jaume and thus Petra signs on to do an apprenticeship with the master. So far so good.
sometimes releasing information ahead of time (in chapter headings) but mostly by jumbling up the order of the scenes. It works but perhaps disguises the rather less momentous melodrama the film really is. 
The acting, Helene Louvart’s cinematography and the many natural shots of Gerona countryside add to the mood but by the end all these features don’t cover up the fact that this is a sort of morality tale, not a passionate story of individuals. The characters come across more as cyphers. Barbara Lennie
is very strong as Petra and Paredes, Botey and Martinez shine in their roles. But I ended it all feeling somewhat deflated.
It’s about role models for men and becoming a man, especially so in the case of the youngest, Jonah who is more sensitive and tends to write or draw all his thoughts. The father (excellent Raul Castillo)
is a typical Latin father, caught between smacks and hugs, impulsive and not always aware of the consequences of his acts. Mother (Sheila Vand)
lives on a roller coaster of some highs and lots of depression – at one point she takes to bed for days if not weeks
and the boys have to steal to eat. The three boys are excellent
led by Evan Rosado as Jonah who is trying to process all this dysfunctional activity.
the touches of Malick and Moonlight, the end of the film arrives and somehow the film seems smaller in its sum than its parts,
perhaps because there is less of a story than atmosphere creating vignettes.
The story is there but Zagar seemed more interested in the mood piece. A very promising debut but not quite a classic.
From the moment of his arrival in the first town things go unexpectedly (his mobile is stolen on the bus and the local cinema programmer doesn’t show up to meet him). More strange things happen
and slowly the whole story is revealed. A range of wacky characters
become involved from the projectionist Balthasar (Mickael Pelissier)
who develops an instant crush on Geraud, to the local hotel receptionist and aspiring actress (Juliette Damiens)
not forgetting Sylvie (Nathalie Richard)
the programmer who is in a major relationship crisis. Geraud’s lead actor Ludwig comes to visit
and it turns out he and Geraud have had an impossible romance too. The film gets minimal audiences in one place and a full house in another thanks to someone shipping in a homeful of geriatrics. Everything is handled with wit
and sensitivity and there are some comic “chase” scenes. A small funny film that fulfils its promise and more.
with some sort of superpowers, at least her ability to make the earth move is impressive. She ends up going back to her mother Bo’s home (Lorraine Toussaint, solid)
and we discover that Ruth, the heroine is from a long line of women with these powers
who have been the victims of witch hunts over the centuries. And we discover a younger girl Lila
in the same deserted farmhouse experimenting with her powers. The government, who want to run tests on Ruth close in and the police have interests too as there have been crimes along the way but local sheriff (David Strathairn)
seems more interested in helping the women. The ending is somewhat to be expected and the film can read just as much as an allegory regarding people who don’t fit into society as it can a science-fiction thriller made on a small budget. Gugu Mbatha-Raw
holds the movie together well and Julia Hart does well enough directing her second feature but some aspects like the loss of tension in the second half and the over insistent soundtrack detract. Moody scenes filmed by Michael Fimognari in New Mexico.
Entertaining but veers between a little forced in parts and a touch slack.
and Billie Jean King. We get to see the backstory to Riggs
(a very competent Steve Carell) and his unraveling marriage – great to see Elizabeth Shue
again – and we also get Billie Jean’s discovery of her lesbian side via her relationship with Marilyn, a hairdresser. (excellent Andrea Riseborough).
These different relationships and that of BJ with her husband are handled sympathetically and are interspersed with more of the actual politicking behind the setting up of a new Women’s tennis tour.
Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming and Sarah Silverman shine in minor roles.
Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton of Little Miss Sunshine fame, the film has its comic moments but is more a recreation of an era
and a big episode in the struggle for women’s rights.
Emma Stone plays Billie Jean and while the physical similarities are enhanced by glasses, etc, the character that Stone constructs is a deep and interesting one and among her best.
á la Guy Ritchie and features a small-time Parisian who is a reluctant gangster and more interested in getting a franchise to sell ice creams in Morocco. Farés (excellent performance by Karim Leklou) has certain standards and is rather slow at the best of times. He has a manic and overbearing mother
who is a criminal in her own right and a friend (Vincent Cassel) who sees symbols and esoteric messages everywhere. Farés is also interested in Lamya (Oulaya Amamra)
who is really looking for a sharper hipper boyfriend, so there is frustration there too. A final deal in Spain
for his local boss is what Fares hopes will be his last job but in a manual of what not to do as a gangster/smuggler the whole exercise turns to custard, mother gets involved and Fares ends up holding the daughter of a Scottish dealer hostage. Gabby Rose
does a nice turn as the young girl. A really nice and quite complex denouement follows with several unexpected and amusing plot twists.
Much better than I anticipated with Leklou holding the movie together well. Adjani, she of many facelifts,
has the same look as she did 40 years ago and raises questions about her acting but here she fits in perfectly and does not affect the film in any detrimental way, being as he is, a French film icon.
passionfilm 