6 September 2024. By Neptune Dear Cinephiles,I was away last week so a few films have piled up, and will be away again next week, but will keep you informed of the exceptional ones. These reviews will necessarily be short. Last week’s releases: LA PRISONNIÈRE DE BORDEAUX *** (vo French) A well-acted, intriguing film about […]

23 August 2024. By Neptune EMILIA PEREZ **** (vo Spanish, some English) This film by the celebrated, multi award-winning French director Jacques Audiard is as varied as his broad body of work. He has made vastly different films such as “Un Prophète” (a César, and a 2009 Grand Prix at Cannes) about a jailbird, “Les […]

16 August 2024. By Neptune THE LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL AT 77 ! This week we’ll be covering the biggest film festival in Switzerland which will be ending this Saturday. When one says big, in Locarno one has to think of their BIGGEST draw – the Piazza Grande in the centre of town – which seats […]

9 August 2024. By Neptune PANDA BEAR IN AFRICA *** Here’s a sweet, non-violent animated film for children that is fun, adventurous and an eye-opener for kids ignorant of geography. Little Panda Bear is best friends with a dragon that gets kidnapped to Africa as a pet for a little lion prince whose overbearing uncle […]

2 August 2024. By Neptune SHAYDA ***1/2 (vo Persian and English) Long ago Mark Twain wrote “Truth is stranger than fiction”. He was right, for everyone’s truth has been lived and felt deeply. To convey that truth into a fictional entity often creates a more moving and authentic work. This is what Iranian/Australian, writer/director Noora […]

19 July 2024. By Neptune THE GARFIELD MOVIE ***1/2 What can I say? I’m really a dog person myself, was never comfortable around cats. But I simply fell in love with outrageous Garfield, the cat. And came out of the film feeling as happy and tickled as a child. In this delightfully animated film, Garfield […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]