15 March 2019. By Neptune Please take note, dear cinephiles – four out of five films this week are done by, with and about women. We’ve come a long way, baby… Also try to catch the last days of the important and ambitious FIFDH – the Human Rights film festival in its 17th year in […]
FILM: STAN AND OLLIE – a sweet tribute to the legendary duo Laurel and Hardy
8 March 2019. By Neptune STAN AND OLLIE **** Duos have always been popular for they are often made up of opposites and therefore make for varied possibilities. There’s always the repartee that livens up these acts, giving them both fun and pathos, as with Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Holmes and Watson, or […]
FILM: JUSQU’ICI TOUT VA BIEN – great French comedy
1 March 2019. By Neptune JUSQU’ICI TOUT VA BIEN *** (vo French) When they want to, the French can make great comedies, full of innovative ideas, often politically incorrect, with social connotations and above all hilarious. This is one of them. Directed by the French/Algerian Mohamed Hamidi and produced by the famous French/Arab comedian Jamel […]
FILM: BY THE GRACE OF GOD – it will shake you to the core
22 February 2019. By Neptune BY THE GRACE OF GOD (GRÂCE À DIEU) **** The prolific French director François Ozon is back with another masterwork – maybe his best and most sober film yet. In fact, it just won the Grand Jury prize at the Berlin film festival. Different from his other brilliant, versatile works […]
FILM: THE WIFE – Glenn Close is excellent
22 February 2019. By Neptune THE WIFE ***1/2 Glenn Close is excellent (received the Golden Globe for best actress) as a loving wife to a famous author, played by a superb Jonathan Pryce, who is traveling to Sweden to pick up his Nobel prize for literature. As they travel together to Stockholm, their many years […]
FILM: THE FAVOURITE – a sick and cranky queen under the control of her longtime friend
8 February 2019. By Neptune THE FAVOURITE **** This is a deliciously malicious view of the corridors of power in early 18th century England during the reign of Queen Anne when France and England were at war, which was a huge drain on the royal coffers. But this film is mostly a portrait of the […]
FILM: IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK – see this other film instead
1 February 2019. By Neptune This is not a super week for film releases – so check out the excellent ones that are still on the Geneva screens – THE GREEN BOOK, BEN IS BACK, SHOPLIFTERS, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, COLD WAR, EDMOND, FACTEUR CHEVAL, COLETTE… The choice is vast. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK ** If […]
FILM: BEN IS BACK – a young addict unexpectedly comes home from his rehab facility
25 January 2019. By Neptune BEN IS BACK ***1/2 It is a rotten shame that this excellent film on an important subject has been completely ignored in the Oscar nominations, especially for Julia Roberts’ moving portrayal of the mother of a young addict. (When I think that a greyish soap opera on a director’s Mexican […]
FILM: THE GREEN BOOK – This film is one of those greats. From its first scene.
18 January 2019. By Neptune THE GREEN BOOK ***** There were three films this year that I considered most memorable – the Icelandic WOMAN AT WAR, the Lebanese CAPHARNAUM and the Polish COLD WAR. Until I saw this film that simply blew me away. Probably the best of the year. So, what is a great […]
FILM: CREED II – good old Sylvester Stallone keeps them coming
11 January 2019. By Neptune What a week…three completely different films…The first one about one of France’s finest writers, Edmond Rostand of the classic romance, “Cyrano de Bergerac”; the other a gentle, social comedy about a group of homeless women; and the last about a boxing family going back to the “Rocky” days. All worth […]
