Archive for the ‘Cultural issues’ Category
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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A review of the film “Cold Pursuit”
November 27th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
A 2019 film starring Liam Neeson as a character seeking revenge for the death of his son – sounds like something along the well-trodden path of the “Taken” franchise (2008-2014), right? Well, no. This is actually a remake of a Norwegian film “In Order Of Disappearance” (2014) with the same director, Hans Petter Moland. It’s […]
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A review of the new blockbuster movie “Napoleon”
November 26th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Veteran British director Ridley Scott is now 85 and “Napoleon”, his 29th work, is a fine addition to a wonderful canon that stretches in time-setting from “Gladiator” to “Alien”. This is a hugely ambitious production, stretching from the execution of Marie Antoinette in 1793 to the death of Napoleon in i821. In that time period, […]
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A review of the new Netflix offering “The 355”
November 18th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
I’m all in favour of female action figures and there’s some thespian talent in this espionage thriller, but this is a thinly-plotted effort that all too obviously is contrived to appeal to the widest possible audience on television screens. So we have no less than a quintet of leading actresses: Jessica Chastain for American viewers, […]
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A review of the new film “Past Lives”
November 11th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
At a time when so many films are sequels, prequels or remakes, it’s so refreshing to welcome an original story told in an original way. I’m reminded of “The Farewell” (2019) which was written and directed by a Chinese-American, set largely in China, with most of the dialogue in Mandarin. “Past Lives” (2023) is written […]
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