CineVue
For the latest reviews of arthouse, documentary and indie film in cinemas and on the festival circuit.
★☆☆☆☆ American playwright turned writer-director Leslye Headland received a fair amount of critical praise for her debut feature Bachelorette (2012), which saw a trio of women asked to be bridesmaids to a former victim of their school bullying. Her sophomore effort, Sleeping with Other People (2015), is an unfortunately hideous Continue Reading
★★★★★ Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 classic Le Mépris deserves to be seen on the big screen. There, it can ravish the senses and connect with the viewer in a way that is utterly lost on a television set. Godard’s film must surely rank as one of the best movie experiences of Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Reinvention and familial turmoil have long been hallmarks of David O. Russell’s particular brand of knockabout cinema and his latest collaboration with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, Joy (2015), is a wonderful fairytale marriage of the two. It’s a banana flambé with extra rum that brazenly throws together folksy Continue Reading
★☆☆☆☆ 2015 saw something of a Krays craze. Amid the brouhaha surrounding the Tom Hardy double act that was Brian Helgeland’s Legend, a plucky contender sought to muscle in on the red carpet turf of its glitzy, all conquering adversary. Everyone loves an underdog story but sadly there would be Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Tom Hooper has made several films about men playing roles. 2009’s The Damned United concerned the managerial exploits of Brian Clough (Martin Sheen), a legend of football who alpha-ed his way to the top of a fiercely competitive business. The King’s Speech (2010) was, at its core, a film Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Ramin Bahrani’s At Any Price (2012) has one of those bland three-word titles which bodes no good, yet the results are intriguing if uneven. The Whipples are a family of farmers but the industry has changed and competition is so fierce that the risk of failure looms close despite Continue Reading