27 May 2022. By Neptune I was away last week so these backed-up films may have shorter reviews. We also apologize for the mix-up of titles to UNE HISTOIRE PROVISOIRE (an intriguing film) in the May 13th column. TOP GUN: MAVERICK *** Tom Cruise is back in his Maverick role after 36 years. The […]
FILM: THE NORTHMAN – makes one yearn for censorship
13 May 2022. By Neptune THE NORTHMAN * This is the sort of film that makes one yearn for censorship, as far as both violence and art are concerned. Old Shakespeare must be twirling around in his grave, for his Hamlet seems to be the leitmotif of this dark and bloody film. Based in ancient […]
FILM: THE SANCTITY OF SPACE ****
6 May 2022. By Neptune THE SANCTITY OF SPACE **** Mt. McKinley is the highest mountain peak in North America. But, situated in Alaska, it is now known by its native name, Denali. To avid mountain climbers it is obviously a huge challenge for, as they often repeat, they are literally “driven” to conquer such […]
FILM: DOWNTON ABBEY: A New Era ***1/2
29 April 2022. By Neptune DOWNTON ABBEY: A New Era ***1/2 All is well with the world when one sees such a wonderfully satisfying film. One that is both familiar and new, about decent people whom we’ve been following over the years on TV. Creator and scriptwriter Julian Fellowes and director Simon Curtis have outdone […]
FILM: NACHBARN ***1/2 – Syria through the eyes of a child
22 April 2022. By Neptune I was happily writing a very positive review of the excellent English film, THE DUKE, until I learned its released had been postponed to June 1st. Now we must patiently wait for another 2 months for this delightful film starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren. Pity, it would have lightened […]
FILM: WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY ***1/2
15 April 2022. By Neptune CONTES DU HASARD ET AUTRES FANTAISIES (Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy) ***1/2 (vo Japanese) Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi rose to international fame this year due to his film DRIVE MY CAR, which excited the critics. Due to that snowball effect, it ended up with a number of awards as this […]
FILM: SWAN SONG ***
8 April 2022. By Neptune This week has a strange batch of releases, of which only two will be covered here. I would therefore recommend you hurry to the fine films that have been on the screens already. They will soon disappear, as did WILD MEN, the hilarious “Fargo”-like, Danish/Norwegian gem which probably no one […]
FILM: THE STORY OF MY WIFE
THE STORY OF MY WIFE (Histoire de ma femme) ***1/2 A dashing sea captain, a mysterious beauty, a strange story about daring to “marry the first woman who walks in that door”, magnificently filmed by an award-winning Hungarian director – what more would you want from a turbulent, romantic drama set in 1920s Europe? The […]
FILM: NOBODY HAS TO KNOW – 4 stars
25 March 2022. By Neptune NOBODY HAS TO KNOW (L’Ombre d’un mensonge) **** On the Isle of Lewis and Harris, a windswept island somewhere off Scotland, we find a Belgian man who has come there to work on a farm owned by a taciturn old man and his two sons. It’s not quite clear why […]
FILM: NOTRE DAME BURNS – 4 stars
18 March 2022. By Neptune NOTRE DAME BRULE **** (vo French) As deviously slow-burning and finally ferociously-flaming as the fire that almost destroyed the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris in April 2019 – before the eyes of a horrified world, this reconstructed documentary by veteran director Jean-Jacques Annaud glows with a mixture of reality, […]
