Neptune’s film picks 21 February 2020. By Neptune. RICHARD JEWELL *** Jewell by name and a jewel by nature. Richard Jewell is a an excellent film to add to the long list of Clint Eastwood’s excellent films and it is a credit to his energy, physical and mental, that at nearly ninety years old he […]
FILM: ARAB BLUES – a Tunisian psychoanalyst moves come back home from Paris
14 February 2020. By Neptune. ARAB BLUES (Un Divan à Tunis) *** (vo French) First shown at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, this social comedy received the Audience Award there, mostly due to the radiant Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, who plays Selma, a Tunisian psychoanalyst who has decided to come back home from Paris to […]
FILM: THE GENTLEMEN – a crazy yarn and top actors having a whale of a time
7 February 2020. By Neptune. THE GENTLEMEN *** Hugh Grant is unrecognisable, but such sleazy fun; the usually cool Colin Farrell looks like a geek here, but is razor sharp; handsome Charlie Hunnam is hidden behind glasses and a goatee as a loyal lieutenant, while Matthew McConaughey rules the roost as a smooth operator from […]
FILM: JUST MERCY – American criminal injustice
31 January 2020. By Neptune. JUST MERCY (La voie de la justice) ***1/2 This account of the terrible, continued injustice in the American criminal and judicial system is a more up to date version of such excellent films as “Selma” or “12 Years a Slave”. And like those two works, it is a true story, […]
FILM: BOMBSHELL – a group of women bring down Fox CEO
24 January 2020. By Neptune. BOMBSHELL (Scandale) ***1/2 It was a bombshell when back in 2016 a group of women in his offices managed to bring down the mighty Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News, because of his persistent sexual harassment towards them. Three top stars – Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot […]
FILM: 1917 – a 4 star epic
19 January 2020. By Neptune. 1917 **** This film by English director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”, “Revolutionary Road”, “Skyfall”) is not your usual war film. Not about the Russian Revolution of the same year but about WWI, it is dedicated to his grandfather’s stories of that conflict. Instead of making it ultra realistic as were […]
FILM: VITTORIO DESICA’s Italian classics
10 January 2020. By Neptune. THE VITTORIO DESICA RETROSPECTIVE at the GRUTLI The best thing in town this week, other than the films I have previously reviewed, is the exceptional Italian retrospective continuing at the GRUTLI CINEMAS until 16 January 2020. Some of the highlights of the great years of Italian cinema that remain are: […]
FILM: THE GOOD LIAR ***
3 January 2020. By Neptune. THE GOOD LIAR *** Two superb actors from the grand culture of English drama – Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen – are enough reason to pull you into this intriguing tale of deception. They play two ageing people searching online for the right partner with whom to share their mature […]
FILM: ECHO – vignettes of life up in the cold dark north – 4 stars
27 December 2019. By Neptune. ECHO **** (vo Icelandic) What is it that makes Icelandic films so unique and exceptional? Is it their simplicity about human traits and foibles? Is it their attention to the lesser of us, those who are lonely? Is it their deadpan humor and minute observation of the banalities of life? […]
FILM: MARRIAGE STORY – honest, raw, decent – 4 stars
Neptune’s film picks 20 December 2019. By Neptune. MARRIAGE STORY **** This film will leave you dazed with its honesty, its raw emotions, its decency. It’s really about the trauma of divorce rather than about marriage. And yet it is also about evolving, modern love that maybe expects too much from its partners. For these […]
