19 January 2024. By Neptune BON SCHUUR TICINO (CIAO CIAO BORBINE/BONJOUR TICINO) *** (vo German, French, Italian) Here’s a wonderfully amusing satire of what it is to be Swiss, with 4 different languages co-existing in this small, peaceful country. At least it was peaceful, until these filmmakers got hold of it! The Swiss are good […]
FILM: POOR THINGS **** – a film that will go to the Oscars
19 January 2024. By Neptune POOR THINGS **** Yorgos Lanthimos makes strange films. With his twisted, unbounded imagination, the Greek director’s works have included “The Lobster”, about a colony that forces single people to find a partner or be eliminated; the ultra weird “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”, once again about choosing a sacrificial […]
FILM: MEAN GIRLS ** high school girls run the show
12 January 2024. By Neptune This week all the releases are about women. Even the turn-of-century French artist Bonnard is overshadowed by the women around him. They are taking over the world! MEAN GIRLS ** It seems in high school girls run the show too. This one is a colorful, bouncy musical with well written […]
FILM: IO, CAPITANO **** a grand odyssey and personal story
5 January 2024. By Neptune IO, CAPITANO **** (vo Wolof/French) The renowned Italian director, Matteo Garrone (“Gomorrah”, “Dogman”) takes us on a grueling journey of two young Senegalese before they reach their destination, Europe. Seydou lives a warm family life with his mother and siblings in his village, but is egged on this voyage by […]
FILM: ROBOT DREAMS **** – best animated feature of the year
29 December 2023. By Neptune These reviews will be shorter since, like you, I am also on holiday. Just trying to keep you in the loop. May the New Year treat the rest of the world as well as us lucky ones here in gentle Switzerland. 🙏🍀 ROBOT DREAMS **** This has to be the […]
FILM: NEXT GOAL WINS – training the worst ever football club
22 December 2023. By Neptune NEXT GOAL WINS **1/2 The serious Irish/German actor Michael Fassbender (“Hunger”, “Inglorious Basterds”, “Twelve Years a Slave”, “Macbeth”, “The Killer”) in a wacky comedy doesn’t seem likely, but here it is. He plays a struggling football coach who just lost his last job and has to accept an embarrassing position […]
FILM: THE HOLDOVERS **** a fine Christmas gift
15 December 2023. By Neptune THE HOLDOVERS **** It never fails with an Alexander Payne film, for his works all have troubled human relations in common, with a deep understanding of the hidden pains in his characters, often with a gentle humour to them. These qualities were in his early, sparkling “Sideways”, about a bachelor […]
FILM: MAESTRO – grand biopic with a major subject – Leonard Bernstein
8 December 2023. By Neptune MAESTRO **1/2 This is an Oscar-bound, grand biopic with a major subject – Leonard Bernstein, famed New York composer and conductor. It has Bradley Cooper, the wonder boy actor/director of Hollywood, directing and acting the main character as he did in his hugely successful “A Star is Born”. It even […]
FILM: WISH **
1 December 2023. By Neptune L’ARCHE DE NOÉ *** (vo French) A fellow looking for a job stumbles into a chaotic home, actually a haven, for messed-up LGBTQI people who don’t know where they belong in the bigger scheme of things. Each character is so beautifully drawn, with all their foibles and charms, that one […]
FILM: PERFECT DAYS – the best film of the year
24 November 2023. By Neptune PERFECT DAYS ***** (vo Japanese) How does Wim Wenders do it? How does he go from his German films of the 80s (“Wings of Desire”) to exceptional documentaries covering countries from Cuba – “Buena Vista Social Club”; Brazil – “Salt of the Earth”, on the great photographer Salgado; to Italy […]
