THE DEAD DON’T DIE
Jim Jarmusch’s witty film gives a new lease of life to the “undead” genre. It is fun and unpredictable and takes place in the sleepy small town of Centerville, where strange happenings like the disappearance of cats, dogs and other animals begin to occur.
Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray) along with his fellow officers Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver) and Mindy Morrison (Chloe Sevigny) are mystified when a couple of women are found half eaten in the diner and even more shocked when a dead woman (Carol Kane) comes back to life in the prison cell repeating the word “Chardonnay”…
“Things are definitely going to end up badly,” officer Peterson keeps on saying and when a baffled Robertson asks him “How do you know and why are you going on about that?” Peterson replies: “I have already read the script.”
Jarmusch never sends up the genre, while his ensemble of actors – most of them regular collaborators – are encouraged to play the bizarre situations with honesty and truth. Tilda Swinton’s Zelda Winston is a Scottish samurai expert who works in the mortuary and relishes the fact that she has to decapitate as many of the living dead as possible, while a perfectly cast Iggy Pop plays a zombie who rises from a grave with the name of Samuel Fuller engraved on its stone.
This may not be vintage Jarmuch but overall there is plenty to enjoy here especially his twinkle in the eye direction.
ONLY YOU
Harry Woodliff’s assured feature film debut pairs up two exciting young European actors that share genuine chemistry. Elena (Laia Costa) meets Jake (Josh O’Connor) on New Year’s Eve fighting for the same taxi. They decide to share the ride but instead of going their separate ways, they begin a passionate relationship and within weeks they are living together…
It is a pure love story about two people simply adoring each other until they decide to have a family. It is a beautifully observed drama, superbly acted by Spanish Laia Costa who reached international recognition as the eponymous heroine in the German VICTORIA while rising British star Josh O’Connor made such in impression in GOD’S OWN COUNTRY and in THE DURELLS.
A sensitive portrait of a loving relationship worth witnessing!
OUR TIME
Carlos Reygados the distinct Mexican visionary director brings to the screen an epic story set in a remote cattle ranch outside Mexico City run by Juan and his wife Ester. They live a happy existence in the wilderness with their children until Ester confesses she is having an affair with an American horse trainer.
This is Reygados most personal film – not only he writes and directs but he also plays the leading role of Juan while his real wife Natalia Lopez plays Ester. It is a daring, challenging film superbly photographed with perfectly framed compositions of great vistas. It needs to be experienced on the big screen!
KURSK: THE LAST MISSION
The compelling true story of the Kursk submarine tragedy is brought vividly to the screen by acclaimed Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, well known for FESTEN and THE HUNT. Vinterberg opens his powerful film with a wedding – probably influenced by THE GODFATHER and THE DEER HUNTER- where most of the characters are introduced before they embark on their naval underwater exercise. But their routine assignment turns into disaster when the submarine erupts killing most of the men on board apart from a group of men trapped at the bottom of the sea…
Vinterberg very much like the classic German war movie DAS BOOT conveys the claustrophobia of this environment as well as the desperation of those few survivors as time begins to run out. Matthias Schoenaerts is excellent as the Russian Captain Mikhail Averin determined to safe his men and come out alive in order to see once again his beloved pregnant wife Tanya (Lea Seydoux) and their child.
A tense thriller with strong production values and a powerful message.
PAVAROTTI
Ron Howard’s enthralling documentary brings you up close and personal to the remarkable Italian named “The People’s Tenor”. He is a man whose immense talent and personality are bigger than life and here with some rare archive material we get to know more about his musical genius. We see him in action singing his most famous arias as well as during private moments with his family.
You have to be made of stone not to be moved by the film especially when Pavarotti sings his heart out in giant close ups. Unmissable!
ARMSTRONG
You wait for 50 years for a film about Neil Armstrong and then like London buses you get three at once! David Fairhead’s fascinating documentary on the life and monumental achievement of this remarkable man is the perfect companion piece to last week’s APOLLO 11.
Also recently we saw Ryan Gosling playing Armstrong in FIRST MAN most effectively. Both these films focused on his journey to the moon whereas Fairhead tells the story before as well as after examining the major effects that his success brought to his family and later life.
Harrison Ford narrates the story most effectively with authority and enthusiasm.
THE BRINK
Steve Bannon, the smug, controversial American media executive and political figure is the subject to Alison Klayman’s intriguing documentary screened at the recent London Sundance Film Festival.
Bannon is an over confident and smart strategist and former investment banker whose political views will drive any decent person into insanity. He is a keen manipulator and mixes with extreme right wing politicians across the globe supporting their tough and inhumane anti-immigration policies.
See it and discuss!
