Archive for the ‘Cultural issues’ Category
A review of the 2020 film “The Courier”
February 18th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This espionage drama made little impact on its release because, at that time, we were just emerging from a global pandemic and cinemas were struggling to attract customers. Russia had not yet invaded Georgia and threatened to use nuclear weapons. But it is a film that is worth seeing because it is based on a […]
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A review of the 2022 film “Aftersun”
February 17th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
By the time that I caught up with this film, it had received 121 nominations and 33 awards, so the critics clearly adored it, and I wanted very much to do so too. I love to see new talent and this is the feature film debut of Scottish director, writer and producer Charlotte Wells. The […]
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A review of the inspirational new film “Nyad”
February 12th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
How would anybody even think of swimming nonstop from Cuba to Florida? This is a 110-mile stretch of ocean bedevilled by powerful currents, sharks and jelly fish. American long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad knew better than anyone what would be involved and how impossible it would be. After all, when she was 28, she had tried […]
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A review the new film “The Zone Of Interest”
February 11th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This is a really disturbing film about the greatest crime against humanity: the Holocaust of the Second World War. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by British writer Martin Amis and it is both written and directed by Jonathan Glazer who is both British and Jewish. It is largely set […]
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A review of the new film “Society Of The Snow”
February 7th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was the chartered flight of a Fairchild FH-227D from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, that crashed in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972. The flight was carrying 45 passengers and crew, including 19 members of the Old Christians Club rugby union team, along with their families, supporters and friends. […]
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A review of the new film “American Fiction”
February 4th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This is an African-American work in the sense that the source material (the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett), the writer and director (Cord Jefferson in a feature-film debut), almost all the actors, and the subject material are all African-American. But this is not “The Color Purple”; instead the message of the movie is that most […]
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A review of the new film “All Of Us Strangers”
February 2nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Adam (Andrew Scott) and Harry (Paul Mescal) appear to be the only occupants of a new London tower block and, hesitantly at first, become lovers. But both, in their different ways, are troubled individuals. Adam wants to reconnect with the parents he lost in a car accident 30 years ago and, finds that when he […]
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A review of the new film “Leave The World Behind”
January 25th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
I was attracted to this Netflix offering by the impressive cast list: Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Kevin Bacon. At first, it looked promising: an apocalyptic setting full of strange events, discordant sounds, and unusual camera angles. I kept waiting for the slow pace to pick up, for more dramatic sequences, and for a […]
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A review of the new movie “The Holdovers”
January 21st, 2024 by Roger Darlington
The odd title refers to those students and staff at an exclusive boys boarding school in New England who are forced to stay behind at Christmas 1970 when everyone else leaves for family and fun. An accomplished director, a brilliant script and three stand-out performances make this comedy-drama a thoroughly enjoyable film that swings back […]
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A review of the new art house film “The Eternal Daughter”
November 28th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Films made by British writer and director Joanna Hogg make for challenging – but ultimately rewarding – viewing. Following the critical success of her autobiographical works “The Souvenir” (2019) [for my review click here] and “The Souvenir Part II” (2021) [for my review click here] – both of which I admired – comes a work […]
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