Based on a novel by Anthony Quinn The Critic is a period thriller drama with wicked humour and a twisty plot not to mention sumptous costumes and an all cast.
lan McKellen is an acerbic, conniving and brutally honest newspaper theatre critic in 1930’s London but as the film progresses it becomes darker and more violent and more of a thriller. One critic has said McKellen’s star quality makes him the only possible casting for this role.
Holdovers is the name given to children in exclusive private boarding schools in America, who are held over in school during Christmas, because they are unable to go home to their families.
The film takes place at the end of 1970, when US troops were still fighting in the Vietnam War and explores the relationship between a hated teacher, the school cook and one of the boys “held over”. It is both funny and tragic, with stunning performances by Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa. 2023
Yas overhears recently heartbroken Dom sobbing in the gender-neutral lavatories. Two young strangers, both having had recent break ups, meet. She befriends him as he is about to lunch with his ex and her new boyfriend. She goes along pretending to be his new girlfriend all of which ends in chaos. They cheerfully connect with each other as they move around the sunny streets of south London. A film with street- smart grit and warmth and charm.
(2023). 82 mins. Comedy/romance. English. Dir. Raine Allen-Miller
A gentle, deep drama about two filmmakers, Chris, who is in a relationship with an older man, and Tony, well-known with a big fan base. They go on a working retreat to the island that inspired Ingmar Bergman. While there, Chris wonders whether society would ever allow her to have 9 children from 6 different partners, as Bergman had and shares it as a film idea with Tony.
We begin to see her film as she sees it, with her imaginary actors playing out her script. A film within a film emerges. Tony just wants to go on a Bergman “safari” and be feted by adoring younger fans. Reality and fiction start to blur as tensions increase in the relationship between them. It is a film that gently pokes fun at the great film director, while allowing women to drive the story.
(2021). 112 mins. Swedish (English subtitles). Director Mia Hansen-Love
Tragedy and comedy are paired in this end-of-friendship movie which is at times funny, horrifying and heartbreaking. Two men meet every lunchtime for a drink on this small remote Irish village in the 1920s – Padraic, a simple soul and dairy farmer, and his best friend Colm, a thinker and a fiddle-player. They lead uneventful lives until one day Colm no longer wants to see Padraic. Padraic asks his sister why Colm wouldn’t open the door to him and gets the reply ‘Perhaps he just doesn’t like you no more’ – a joke that soon turns out to be horribly true. This film reunites Brian Gleeson and Colin Farrell of In Bruges fame.
(2022) 114 mins. Golden globe winner. Drama some violence, strong language. English Director Martin McDonagh (of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri fame).
