By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
The return of Bridget Jones in this 1st film in the series for more than 8 years is like the reappearance of an old friend and, while we were expecting the laughs it conjured, we had quite no idea just how moved by it we would be.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 133 minutes
This is the 1st film we’ve seen Depp in and the daughter of actors Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis is both other-worldly and hugely captivating in a pivotal role that must convince in this tale of 2 very different worlds colliding here.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2 RUNTIME: 90 minutes
Culkin won a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and is nominated for an Oscar in the same category while his co-star Jesse Eisenberg who wrote and directed this quiet gem of a movie receives a similar Best Original Screenplay nod.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
It’s been quite the year for director Luca Guadagnino who helmed 2 of the hottest films of 2024 with this following tennis love match Challengers.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
Mescal returns to the West End stage in 2025 in Rebecca Frecknall’s A Streetcar Named Desire and that performance as swarthy and brutish Stanley Kowalski gives a sense of the physicality he brings to Ridley Scott’s sequel to his 5 Oscar-winning film Gladiator.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
Released Friday 22 November 2024 RUNTIME: 165 minutes
Q: How does the 1st act of a beloved stage show lasting 90 minutes or so become a compelling film of almost 3 hours?
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
Be careful what you wish for is the sentiment that comes to mind as Demi Moore’s faded celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle is dismissed from the aerobics TV show she hosts on her 50th birthday.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *** (film)/ **** (album)
Harlequin tracklist: Good Morning; Get Happy; Oh, When The Saints; World On A String; If My Friends Could See Me Now; That’s Entertainment; Smile; The Joker; Folie à Deux; Gonna Build A Mountain; Close To You; Happy Mistake; That’s Life
Lady Gaga is definitely the best thing about this sequel to the 2019 original Joker film which won Oscars for Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Score.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
‘In space, no one can hear you scream’ ran the tagline for the 1st Alien film and these days the all-too-obvious sound of audience screaming was more likely the response to the poor quality of the franchise’s follow ups to its 2 big hits.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this story of a love (match) triangle with a tennis backdrop is that its screenplay was written by Justin Kuritzkes whose wife Celine Song was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Past Lives, our film of 2023.
