My Cousin Rachel ****
Just as moody in production as in acting as any ‘period film noir’ should be. It also retains the mystery right up until the very last frame, which some might find utterly frustrating.
Category: Romance
LFF 2016: La La Land *****
It’s a film you will remember for how it made you feel, rather than for any meaningful storyline. La La Land offers a kind of therapy in a cold, unsure world, a guaranteed spiritual boost.
Passengers ***
Some great ideas to ponder over and a good-looking cast. However, it needed to get its facts a little straighter and pay more attention to its plot scenarios to truly propel it into the big league of sci-fi memorabilia.
LFF 2014: Love Is Strange ****
— Love Is Strange is a strangely affecting love story from writer-director Ira Sachs (Keep The Lights On). Its protagonists are in their autumn years, played by John Lithgow (Ben) and Alfred Molina (George), and it features on another gay relationship like his 2012 film. What is intriguing with his latest film is it starts …
Third Person **
Paul Haggis (of Crash fame) has gone for the ‘romance’ route this time in exploring relationship highs and lows. That’s not to say he’s gone all rom-com slushy, rather his interwoven tale, Third Person, starts out to be three separate troubled affairs that eventually connect by the end credits. The story plays out in New …
Magic In The Moonlight ***
There is an uncertain magic that keeps things playfully charming for Woody Allen and his new comedy/mystery, Magic In The Moonlight. It may well be the appeal of 1920s’ French Riviera – the perfect setting for the naughtiness and intrigue – having a significant role here, but the cast of Colin Firth and Emma Stone …
Endless Love ***
Never mind the original 1981 film starring Brooke Shields by the open fire, Endless Love (2014) rebooted peddles out the age-old issue of good girls liking bad boys. It’s forbidden love for teens, like Mills & Boon sanitised. It also has two highly attractive Brit stars at its helm in Carrie’s Gabriella Wilde and Beastly’s …
LFF 2013: Enough Said *****
Watching this film pains you to think just how pivotal this role could have been for the late Sopranos star James Gandolfini, who although was a larger-than-life character in the TV Mafioso series, was only just getting a foothold in big-screen leading roles. In the past, he’s played an alcoholic hitman (Killing Them Softly), a …
Austenland ***
Remember the butterfly feelings you got the first time you saw Mr Darcy – aka Colin Firth – dive into the lake at Pemberley and emerge on the other side, all wet and troubled in the BBC’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice? If no goofy smile creeps over your face, this crazy comedy will have …