25 August 2017. THE BEGUILED (Les Proies) **** Sofia Coppola won Best Director for this film at the Cannes film festival and deserved it fully. From the very first shots of dark, moss-covered trees in the woods near a girls’ school in Virginia during the Civil War, she sets the tone of the South – its […]
FILM: The Party – Woody Allen a la Sally Potter
18 August 2017. THE PARTY ***1/2 Sally Potter has saved the day for those craving a new Woody Allen film, which has sadly not appeared yet this year. The credits are similar – simple black & white letters, and the film, also in black & white, written and directed by Potter, is a stark story about […]
FILM: Un vent de liberté – an Iranian woman fights for her liberty
4 August 2017. UN VENT DE LIBERTÉ (INVERSION) ***1/2 (vo Farsi) Niloofar, a young, attractive woman in her mid-thirties, never married, lives with her elderly mother in Tehran. She has a flourishing clothing business and a budding romance going on. There is also a brother and his family living near by, and a sister who is […]
FILM: Two films to avoid
28 July 2017. Sorry, but this is not a great week for new films. Just letting you know, so you can save time and money. VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS *1/2 It hurts me to give such a low rating to a film by Luc Besson, as I have greatly admired his […]
FILM: Dunkirk – 4 stars!
21 July 2017. DUNKIRK **** It’s May 1940 and the British troops are cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk in France. The Germans are fast advancing so the men need to be evacuated back to England. From the first moments of this latest Christopher Nolan epic you are with the soldiers, shaking in their boots […]
FILM: Urban photography goes on tour in France
7 July 2017. Two fine French films this week – the AC’d cinemas will cool you down! VISAGE, VILLAGE **** (vo French) This is a magical film that is based on reality. Magical, because it is engined by the amazing photo van of JR, who is an urban photographer; and realistic, because it’s Agnès Varda’s […]
FILM: Be sure to avoid these films
23 June 2017. There’s usually the good news and the bad news – unfortunately this week’s big releases are only bad news. Two films that you should waste neither your time nor money on. Sorry, but that’s what happens to movies in the summer – they release the mindless blockbusters. Maybe so we get a chance […]
FILM: Return to Montauk – an intriguing, moody, introspective satisfying film
16 June 2017. RETURN TO MONTAUK ***1/2 The director is the renowned German, Volker Schlöndorff (“The Tin Drum”, “Diplomacy”), the main protagonist is the excellent Nordic actor, Stellan Skarsgard, the actresses are German – Nina Hoss and Suzanne Wolff, with the impressive Niels Arestrup as an old acquaintance. The place is New York and the mood […]
FILM: Wonder Woman – yes she is!
9 June 2017. WONDER WOMAN *** Yes, she is! In every way a wonder, and a woman of curiosity, beauty, strength and caring. For that is the attraction of this latest blockbuster, directed by Patty Jenkins (whose 2004 film “Monster” won an Oscar for Charlize Theron) – it’s a balanced mix of romanticized Greek mythology along […]
FILM: Neptune’s second report from Cannes
2 June 2017. Neptune’s second report from Cannes It’s always a sad time when the excitement of a festival is coming to an end…booths emptying out in the Market, press conferences becoming easier to get into, the closing of the myriad tents on the beach in the International Village, and a feeling of nostalgia for all […]
