Grace of Monaco

The frocks were nice and Roger Ashton-Griffiths for me gave a much more vocally accurate version of Alfred Hitchcock than either Anthony Hopkins or Toby Jones in their recent outings. But that apart this was a car crash of a movie. Except that we didn’t get the car crash! Just who thought that in these…

Tom at the Farm

Xavier Dolan is a 25 year old wunderkind of Canadian cinema. Here he adapts, directs and stars in a riveting psychosexual thriller which plays like a Quebec flavoured version of Twin Peaks. The film opens very strongly with Tom scribbling a heartfelt eulogy to Guy his recently deceased gay lover on a napkin in a…

Tracks

If you like camels you’re going to love this. It’s the story of Robyn Davison (Mia Wiesilowska) and her solo journey on foot, from Alice Springs to the Western Australian coast in 1977. Director John Curran bravely goes for authenticity, so there are no moments of dramatic invention. Instead he relays on the assured cinematography…

The Two Faces of January

There was a lot to like about first time director, Hossein Amini’s, adaptation of this Patricia Highsmith novel. The acting from the 3 main characters was extremely solid. Viggo Mortensen plays Chester a sharp dressing American tourist in Athens with a murky past of financial impropriety. As his new trophy wife Collette, Kirsten Dunst was…

We Are The Best

An infectious and exuberant look at the lives and early loves of a group of Stockholm schoolgirls in 1982. Lucas Moodyson’s adaptation of his wife’s comic novel allows three newcomers Liv LeMoyne, Mads Korsgaard and Mira Grosin to occupy centre stage and it is their heroic non-conformity which provides much of the humour and feel…

A Thousand Times Goodnight

Juliet Binoche is Rebecca, a photographer who specialises in “conflict” situations. All is well when she is documenting the preparations for a suicide bombing in Kabul or helping out with her daughter’s school project in a desperately vulnerable refugee camp on the borders of Sudan, but is hopelessly at sea when dealing with her family…

Locke

A man, a motor, southbound on the M1 with only a hands free mobile phone for company. From these minimal ingredients Steven Knight creates a delicious character study of Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) as his well ordered and successful life gradually disintegrates. It all happens as a consequence of a brief affair with a lonely…

Pioneer

Eric Skjoldbjaerg’s account of the very impressive technical feat involved in laying a deep sea pipe to transport gas from the North Sea back to the Norweigian mainland in the 1970s started very well. The film began with a montage of still and newsreel photographs which established the engineering challenge, hinted at the commercial dangers…

Noah

Aronovsky makes heavy weather of a familiar biblical fable which manages to alienate bible bashes and those of us looking forward to some dumb fun in equal measure. Its hard to understand how such a long cherished project could end up quite so gloomy and tedious. It even failed as a trashy entertainment because its…