THE ROOM NEXT DOOR has a running time of 110 minutes. It played Venice, Toronto and London 2024. It goes on release in the UK on October 25th and in the USA on December 20th.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
THE ROOM NEXT DOOR** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 11
NICKEL BOYS*** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 11
Saturday, October 19, 2024
MARIA***** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 10
MARIA has a running time of 124 minutes and is rated R. It played Venice and London 2024. It will have a limited theatrical release on November 27th and then will be released on Netflix on December 11th.
QUEER** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 10
QUEER has a running time of 135 minutes. It played Venice, Toronto and London 2024. It goes on release in the USA on November 27th and in the UK on December 13th.
Friday, October 18, 2024
WE LIVE IN TIME* - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 10
WE LIVE IN TIME is rated R and has a running time of 107 minutes. It played Toronto and London 2024. It was released in the USA on October 11th and will be released in the UK on Jan 1st 2025.
Thursday, October 17, 2024
THE APPRENTICE***** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 9
THE APPRENTICE has a running time of 120 minutes. It played Cannes, Telluride and London 2024. It opened in the USA on October 11th and in the UK on October 18th.
SATURDAY NIGHT - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 8
This is not a review of SATURDAY NIGHT as, for logistical reasons, I had to skip the final thirty minutes. That said, I was not that invested in it and I doubt I missed anything.
NIGHTBITCH*** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 9
NIGHTBITCH is rated R and has a 98 minute running time. It played Toronto and London 2024. It opens in the USA on December 6th.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
SISTER MIDNIGHT**** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 8
SISTER MIDNIGHT has a running time of 110 minutes. It played Cannes and London 2024. It does not yet have a commercial release date.
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
A REAL PAIN***** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 6
Eisenberg and Culkin play two cousins, David and Benji, who travel to Poland to honour their recently deceased grandmother. David is clearly on edge - nervous around a cousin that he clearly loves but mortified by Benji's behaviour. It's a strange mix of envy at Benji's charisma and fear of what happens when he crashes. Culkin plays Benji as a larger than life, filterless, big kid who can be thoughtless and casually cruel but is obviously very fragile and loveable too.
The cousins join a small private tour of Poland for Jews interested in the Holocaust. Their own grandmother was a survivor, and the tour group comprises people who also lost loved ones, as well as a new Jewish convert who himself survived the Rwandan genocide. As they journey to Lublin they see remnants of an old vibrant Jewish community with the concentration camp Madjanek clearly visible from the centre of town.
It is testament to Eisenberg's writing and direction that this topic is handled with due sensitivity but that this film is also absolutely hilarious. Best of all, it resists trite neat endings or emotional resolutions. It is a film that it is utterly confident about what it wants to say and gets the tone absolutely right in saying it.
A REAL PAIN is rated R and has a running time of 90 minutes. It played Sundance where Eisenberg won the screenwriting award. It opens in the USA on November 1st and in the UK on January 10th 2025.
ANORA** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 7
ANORA is rated R and has a running time of 139 minutes. It played Toronto, Telluride and London 2024. It opens in the USA on October 18th and in the UK on November 1st.
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY**** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 6
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY has a running time of 106 minutes and is rated PG-13. It was released in the USA last month and will be released in the UK on November 1st.
EMILIA PEREZ*** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 6
Monday, October 14, 2024
THE WILD ROBOT***** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 5
THE WILD ROBOT is rated PG and has a running time of 101 minutes. It played Toronto and London 2024 and was released in the USA last month. It will be released in the UK on October 18th.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
ENDURANCE***** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 4
Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin (NYAD, FREE SOLO) and Natalie Hewit ably cut between the two stories and create a sense of excitement and tension even though we know the outcome of both stories. I particularly loved seeing the colourised archive footage which made the story seem vivid. And I also loved the way in which items in the wreckage were matched up to the iconic photos and movies at the end. It made the whole thing feel real and contemporary rather than a tale of derring-do from the Edwardian era.
As I said before, I was primed to love this film and I was not disappointed. But I hope it will resonate with audiences less familiar with the Shackleton story. Moreover, with its use of both archival footage and AI to recreate the expedition's voices, this feels like a documentary that shows mastery of how films can be created now and in the future.
ENDURANCE has a running time of 103 minutes. It had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It does not yet have a commercial release date.
DAHOMEY***** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 4
Friday, October 11, 2024
CONCLAVE***** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Day 3
Robert Harris' political procedural thriller, CONCLAVE, is one of his greatest novels and it has been beautifully brought to the screen by director Edward Berger (ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT) and screenwriter Peter Straughan (TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY). The resulting film is genuinely tense, visually stunning, brilliantly claustrophobic and occasionally hilarious.
Ralph Fiennes stars as the seemingly humble Cardinal Lawrence who is tasked with managing the papal election. He is allied with the liberal Cardinal Bonelli (Stanley Tucci) who claims he does not want to be Pope, but come on, doesn't every Cardinal want the ultimate power? They are united in opposing a return to reactionary religion whether in the form of the African Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), the American Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow) or the Italian Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto).
As each ballot is taken, we learn of reasons why each candidate is far from perfect. Lawrence chooses carefully what to expose and keep secret, even going so far as to break the papal seal on the dead Pope's locked door. And each ballot frames a debate about what the Church means - is it tradition or modernity - diversity or unity - progressive on race or progressive on sexuality?
What makes this procedural such an effective film? Well, the cast is exceptional. I would expect award noms for Fiennes and Tucci. But for me the highlight is Isabella Rosellini in a scene-stealing role, and the all-time most powerful on-screen curtsy. But more than the individual performances what makes this movie great is the deft way that Edward Berger creates his hermetically sealed world and helps us to understand its bizarre logic. We never cut away to waiting news crews or crowds in Vatican Square. Events beyond the walls might be heard but are not seen. We are utterly immersed in the Conclave. He takes us through the mechanics of the first ballot with precision and then elegantly edits the others. He uses his editing and framing to give us a sense of moral corruption and stakes. And then there are the visual flourishes that a 108 men in red robes against banks of white marble or teal cinema seats can give. The mood of the film is austere - the colour palette, score, even the amount of dialogue - is kept to the minimal. We are in a world where a glance, a sigh, a tug on a vape can be portentous. Bravo to a director who strips away rather than overloading us.
ALL QUIET was a really good film that was perhaps lobbied into a greater awards tally than it deserved. Berger has moved far beyond that film with this one and it's likely awards will be even more richly deserved. Kudos to all involved.
CONCLAVE is rated PG and has a running time of 100 minutes. It played Telluride, Toronto and London 2024. It will be released in the USA on November 8th and in the UK on November 15th.
DISCLAIMER (TV) Episodes 1-3** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 Day 2
Wednesday, October 09, 2024
BLITZ** - BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Opening Night Gala
Friday, October 04, 2024
JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX**
JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX has a running time of 138 minutes and is rated R. It is on global release.
Tuesday, October 01, 2024
IT ENDS WITH US***
Absent the controversy surrounding Blake Lively's press campaign, IT ENDS WITH US is a perfectly decently made relationship drama about a woman who finally escapes her husband's domestic violence. It stars Lively as Lily Bloom - an on-the-nose named heroine who grew up with domestic violence and is horrified when she realises she is in exactly the same situation. She was swept off her feet by a handsome surgeon (played by director Justin Baldoni) and caught up in a fun friendship with his sister (played by the wonderful comedienne Jenny Slate). But what at first seem like unfortunate accidents - a reflex slap - a trip down the stairs - eventually become clear as deliberate acts of violence. This is all brought to the fore when Lily reconnects with her childhood sweetheart Atlas (absurd name again!) played by 1923's Brandon Sklenar.
The film has been criticised for making domestic abuse look romantic or by falsely selling the audience on the content of the film. I am not sure a movie based on a major bestseller can be accused of misleading its built-in audience. Moreover, it's important to recognise that these stories have a layer of romance and charm and charisma. Domestic abuse victims are emotionally manipulated into believing that the abuser really does love them. It does start off feeling like a romance. Even in the immediate aftermath of violence there can be declarations of love and promises of redemption. I also feel that Blake Lively does a really good job of conveying how a strong, smart woman can be gaslit and also start diminishing herself as she pre-emptively appeases her abuser.
Overall I found this to be a well-made and engrossing film. If anything is unbelievable, it's how fast Lily has the strength to leave her husband. Maybe that can be explained by her childhood experience. But we know that in reality it takes domestic abuse victims a number of times before they finally get the courage and practical support to finally leave, if they ever do.
IT ENDS WITH US has a running time of 130 minutes and is rated R. It is available to stream.
INDUSTRY SEASON 3 (TV)***** - warning for spoilers
When I first watched Industry at the BFI London Film Festival I was sceptical. The first episodes of season one seemed a caricature of a pre-GFC City - one fuelled by foul language and drugs but long-since superseded by a risk-off, highly regulated reality. But as I stuck with the show I realised that while it may be far off the mark of the actual industry it was trying to represent, it was doing something far more interesting and compelling - creating a set of character studies of profound darkness. This reached a fever pitch in season 2 as our psychopathic analyst Harper Stern (Myha'la) was finally cut loose by her boss Eric Tao (Ken Leung) - the anchor relationship of the show thus far was finally broken. Where would it go in season 3?
The answer is that season 3 focuses on Yas - the spoiled rich girl who can charm anyone and flirts with all, but who has, by her own admission, never actually been in love. The season begins by yanking her solidity in wealth away from her. Her father has been exposed as a sexual predator. He was found dead off his yacht shortly after Yas caught him having sex with an employee in her cabin. The mystery of Yas' role in his death is dangled before us throughout the season. When faced with paparazzi intrusion and the threat of being held financially liable for her father's debts, Yas shows us that she can be just as narcissistic and immoral and... well... psychopathic as Harper. Maybe that's the writers' point: that the financial industry attracts high-functioning psychopaths. She is offered the bourgeois stability of a mediocre life with Robert, who has been in love with her from the start. Or she can marry a drug-addict, literally-entitled, incredibly wealthy void of a man. She chooses the latter because he offers her political protection.
And here perhaps a word on season three's highest profile major addition - Game of Thrones' Kit Harrington as Harry Muck. He features large in the first few episodes and then disappears from view until the epilogue. It's a weird absence. He plays a tech entrepreneur championing green energy. Pierpoint is handling his IPO and it's a disaster but that's okay because Muck's uncle runs the British media and the government bails him out. Once again, the writers are making a highly cynical point about the collusion between elites - whether aristocratic, media, political or financial. The season has a highly cynical attitude toward corporate attitudes toward ESG and DEI in general. To wit, Harper Stern.
Harper, forced out of Pierpoint, is working for a hedge fund that invests in ESG names. She basically betrays that fund manager, forms her own spinoff with Petra (Sarah Goldberg) then betrays Petra who has kind of already betrayed her anyway. She ends up running a predatory short-only hedge fund out of New York investing the money of ruthless British aristos. I felt that I didn't really learn anything new about Harper this season. Her role was necessarily more limited as the attention shifted to Yas. Do I care what she does next? Maybe not. Psychopaths will be unvaryingly self-interested and ruthless. I am not sure this holds much dramatic promise.
Of far more interest was Ken Leung's Eric Tao - Harper's former mentor and veteran investment banker. This season Eric is going through a divorce and a mid-life crisis. As everything he has poured his soul into is burned to the ground we get a stunning final scene in which he confronts a picture of himself as a young analyst - full of promise and naĆÆvetĆ©, buying into that capitalist dream. Poor Eric - well not that poor - he leaves with a 20 million payout - winds down his trading floor as Pierpoint's new middle eastern owners shift trading to London. Where does the old dinosaur go next. Maybe to New York - as with Harper?
The final major character that we should spend a moment on is Rishi (Sagar Radia - superb), not least because he gets a standalone episode that is one of the highlights of the season. We have come to know him as a foul-mouthed, nasty, bullying trader but one who is effective at his job. In this episode we realise that he is actually a desperate gambling addict, in hock to a loan shark. He has also married a rich white woman whose obnoxious family patronise him. This episode sees his bets get caught in the mayhem of the Liz Truss micro-regime and Rishi pushed to the edge of suicide. It takes the viewer through the ringer. I genuinely thought he wouldn't make it. Maybe the only false note of this season is how it ends for his wife. It felt ludicrous and shocking but maybe that was the point. I will withhold judgment until we see how it plays out next season.
In the newer roles, a shout out to Miriam Petche who plays the ridiculously named Sweetpea Golightly - a new analyst with an Only Fans account - who comes from the post Me Too generation and isn't putting up with any shit. She also has the smarts to figure out Pierpoint is basically bankrupt, much to the credulous laughter of people like Robert who she tries to tell. I was pleased that she got a way out from Pierpoint. Let's hope she keeps her morality and her smarts as the new season unfolds.
INDUSTRY SEASON 3 has just finished airing on HBO and was released on the BBC this week.
BETWEEN THE TEMPLES***
BETWEEN THE TEMPLES is rated R and has a running time of 111 minutes. It is available to stream.