12 July 2024. By Neptune FLY ME TO THE MOON **1/2 Scarlett Johansson is always excellent, whether it be in her early career as a troubled adolescent in Redford’s “The Horse Whisperer”, a lonely tourist in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation”, a bombastic heroine in Besson’s “Lucy”, or that voice in the marvelous “Her”. She […]
FILM: SUMMER FILMS THIS WEEK
5 July 2024. By Neptune It’s summer, so good film releases are dwindling down. Here’s my list of the still worthy ones around – they have all been reviewed here. Just click on the links below : PERFECT DAYS **** (at the BIO and GRÜTLI) IL RESTE ENCORE DEMAIN ***1/2 (at the BIO, NORD/SUD and […]
FILM: THE DRIVEN ONES – life beyond business school
28 June 2024. By Neptune THE DRIVEN ONES *** This documentary, which for some years followed a few ‘driven’ students at Switzerland’s elite St. Gallen University, is an eye-opener about the hopes and achievements of undergraduates wishing to make it to the top of the business world. It accompanies the chosen handful, from different countries, […]
FILM: INSIDE OUT 2 – another super animation
21 June 2024. By Neptune Too many films out this week, so these will be short reviews – to recommend, or not… INSIDE OUT 2 (VICE VERSA 2) ***1/2 Pixar is back with another super animation, actually a sequel, but a worthy one. There’s a console, like in a recording studio, that is controlled by […]
FILM: GLORIA – beautifully-filmed tale of a religious orphanage and conservatory for girls
14 June 2024. By Neptune GLORIA *** (vo Italian) This beautifully-filmed tale of a religious orphanage and conservatory for girls in 1800 Venice is a treat for the eyes, and for the ears through its charming music. As usual with the era and with religious establishments of the time, it’s also about the utter cruelty […]
FILM: BAD BOYS – RIDE OR DIE – the two wise-cracking buddies are back
7 June 2024. By Neptune BAD BOYS – RIDE OR DIE **1/2 The ‘Bad Boys’ are back again for the 4th time in this fun/action franchise. It been almost 30 years since the original “Bad Boys”, and these two forever wise-cracking buddies are beginning to feel time may be catching up on them. Of course […]
FILM: MEMORY – about buried secrets that need to be shared and exposed to light
31 May 2024. By Neptune MEMORY *** Does memory stand up to reality? Do we each remember things differently and colour the facts with our own emotions? This is what Mexican director Michel Franco is delving into here – two damaged people who come together and manage, through distorted memories, to find a haven in […]
FILM: MARCELLO MIO – a charming nostalgia piece
24 May 2024. By Neptune MARCELLO MIO ***1/2 (vo French, Italian, English) This charming nostalgia piece is a real cinephile’s delight. But that is also its one drawback – for it’s a celebratory gift mostly to those who can recognise all the references to the film classics of the legendary, debonair Marcello Mastroianni: for instance, […]
THE SECOND ACT/LE DEUXIÈME ACTE ***1/2 (vo French)
The Cannes film festival is in full swing, and this French film was its opening selection. And it deserved to be, for it’s a clever, surrealistic work about cinema – fiction and reality in front of and behind the camera, narcissistic actors, and a possible future with AI looming over its creativity. It also touches […]
FILM: IF – an uplifting and amusing revelation about imaginary friends
10 May 2024. By Neptune IF (BLUE ET COMPAGNIE) **** Did you have an imaginary friend when you were growing up? That’s what the title IF stands for, and it’s an uplifting and amusing revelation. This mix of live-action and animation is about an adolescent girl (Cailey Fleming) who lost her mother as a child. […]