Reviews

A secret screening treat.

Georgie is the titular scrapper, she is fighting to survive in her home , alone, her single parent mother recently died and she is determined to stay in the house she has grown up in, she's only 12 years old but has the tenacity to support herself by a life of crime with her friend Ali, stealing bikes.

It's a struggle to keep going but she is a wily young girl and keeps social services at bay with the help of older friends pretending to be her uncle (Winston Churchill).

Out of the blue , Jason the father she has never met turns up and his motives are uncertain, can they finally build a relationship after so many years apart ? Will grief get on top of Georgie?.

This is a lovely blend of humour and heartfelt ideas complete with a few unusual ways to play it out too, with some wonderful city cinematography, the location is supposed to be east London but I didn't recognise it.

Young Georgie is played so well by Lola Campbell , I hope she gets the right support to further her acting career, and her friend Ali, Alin Uzun is an asset too, Harris Dickinson who impressed me with his performance in The Triangle of Sadness goes from strength to strength as the estranged father Jason, finally coming to terms with his responsibilities.

It's sadly only a short movie at around 80 minutes but it packs an emotional punch and is very funny too, definitely good value for money and well worth seeing.

Possibly inspired by a true story?, This is a saga about a man and a beloved car.

Starting in 1983 Mahesh's father buys a bright red Maruti 800 , the new 'Indian' car of the people, it is presented to him by Indira Gandhi so becomes a local celebrity car, featured in the newspaper.

Mahesh is a schoolboy and his sweetheart Gauri is the love of his life, but her family can afford to send her to Delhi for her education, so Mahesh concentrates on his new love , the Maruti 800.

Fast forward 20 years or more and Mahesh is still caring for his late father's Maruti. When the much loved car is stolen Mahesh is devastated but the thief has a kind heart and abandons the car after seeing the newspaper clipping of the car being presented by Indira Gandhi.

Mahesh now running an automobile service garage has some financial difficulty and gets into trouble with the law when he rents the infamous Maruti car for a wedding.

Suddenly a blast from the past returns , Gauri helps Mahesh with his court case and the childhood sweethearts rekindle their romance.

Gauri and Mahesh seem destined for a happy reunion and marriage, but the Maruti 800 is more important than she expected and Mahesh hasn't made a big success of himself, making him unacceptable for her wealthier family.

The Maruti 800 is now a classic car with historical importance, it's value is high and selling it could be the kickstart that Mahesh or rather Gauri needs for their future happiness together , if only Mahesh could bear to part with his father's car.

This is a sweet story about obsession and although the romance side is fragmented and hard to swallow , as is the vague success plot, it comes good ish at the end.

No dance scenes !? Which came as a shock, but there are a few romantic songs to go with the nice performances, especially love sick Mahesh / Asif Ali.

It's not really much of a comedy or as terrible as the Letterboxd reviews and ratings suggest imo.

It's a remake of Spanish film Campeones (2018), the Americanisation is possibly quite an easy cross over though due to the universal nature of the characters.

Making movies about people that are generally misunderstood can be difficult at the best of times so here the bunch of mentally challenged basketball players has a fine line to tread, one slip and its good message can be lost or maligned, I must admit I didn't think Bobby Farrelly would make such a good job of it.

Woody Harrelson plays Marcus, a minor league basketball coach but following a drunk driving charge he is ordered to do 90 days community service with a 'special' basketball team.

Coaching a misfit bunch of sportsmen isn't exactly new, here the intellectually challenged basketball team with dreams of making the special Olympics brings in a social message that hasn't been explored very much.

Marcus is a single man, a seasoned and good coach for ball skills but his lack of people skills has held him back, understanding his players is more important than ever, each player has his/her own disability, due to Down's Syndrome or brain injury for example, each player also has special abilities and Marcus is the one with learning difficulties of how to connect with them and people in general. With their new coach the 'Friends' basketball team go from strength to strength and make their way up the regional and national championship league, as they all progress, Marcus learns a lot about himself and also falls in love with the sister of one of the team.

The supporting cast add the glue that holds it all together making it heartwarming and a fun journey of discovery for all, the humour works well and didn't seem exploitative, or overly sentimental , it's more feel good than feel sorry, a worthwhile watch.

Maybe TIFF wasn't the best place to launch this very British film based on a play ?

The NHS ( National Health Service) is shown in a microcosm of political and cynical struggles in a small community hospital unit for old people needing special care.

It's very Alan Bennett, although with short but still cutting monologues , some are funnier than others but all serve a purpose.

The geriatric ward is the logical place to highlight the old and decrepit hospital system, fighting for survival at death's door, but there are more metaphors here, the NHS is killing people due to a lack of resources, most notably a shortage of beds, is there even a shortage of carers?.

Jennifer Saunders is great as the head nurse trying her best to keep a 'clean' ward, but working to targets for turnover of patients and moving them through the system comes at a heavy price, closure is imminent and her efficiency is not enough.

The doctor is stereotypical, an Asian immigrant with a nostalgic true vocational outlook to care for his patients with a hands on approach.

The patients are a who's who of British stalwart actors and they are very convincing as geriatrics, each representing the problems within the health care system. One patient's son happens to be a management consultant for the government's health minister and getting a personal experience of the hospital suggests the need for 'government' to understand the real world of this care in the community, rather than just facts and figures on spreadsheets, it's a political statement about how things are failing people by going for large scale centres of excellence?.

As a person with a lot of personal experience of the NHS and getting old too, I can relate to the representation if not actually recognise the geriatric care unit.

The film takes a risky turn or two near the end especially with a plea for support and understanding of the caring people who work in the NHS providing a public service, which is now underappreciated again post pandemic, although ironically with the recent strike action this has probably not helped their case.

This is bound to be a divisive film and some may be disappointed by it's change in tone from comedy to politics, especially if they don't understand the British system or the metaphors about it.

I wasn't sure what to expect here, with no synopsis available, which I prefer anyway, I just wasn't expecting a passionate romance of sorts.

Maks, an Italian stallion of a man, working in Poland in high adrenaline sports, starts a relationship with Olga, a widow, 15 years older, who happens to be a judge and coincidentally is the mother of his young adult girl friend, Maja.

Initially Maks plans on manipulating the attractive judge to help with his best friend's court case and wasn't aware that his girlfriend Maja was her daughter, but the connection is possibly more than just physical attraction for lonely Olga or a scam for adventurous Maks. There is a lot of physical attraction going on in fact, lots of sex scenes, with T&A nudity between Maks and Maja and then even more with Olga, mostly on the beach, but these are not From here to Eternity lovers in swimsuits.

Olga and Maja became estranged when the husband / father died, neither really copying with the grieving process. Maja only reconnects with Olga when she finds out her older boyfriend Maks had started seeing Olga and she plans to break them up with the help of Maks' friend before things go too far.

Will vulnerable Olga risk opening her heart to this younger man or have a better relationship with daughter Maja ? Will Maks break both of their hearts when the truth comes out, or by going to Brazil with his friend or will he fall in love with one of them ?

The lead actors and their performance's are better than expected in comparison to other Polish films I've recently seen at the cinema. The odd thing here is Maks (Simone Susinna) doesn't speak Polish so a lot of dialogue is actually in English which made it easier to follow for me. The sex scenes are maybe excessive and might put some people off, they are passionate rather than graphic porn though.

A slightly unbelievable story I think, or at least unlikely?.

Wow, this is a visually stunning short and wow!, why are people hating on it!?

OK it is a very short SHORT at only 4 minutes, but I was mesmerised.

The animation is excellent in style, detail and creativity, the story?, does it even need one? It has a short journey to a fantastical world, it's a romantic quest, a perilous one but a beautiful endeavour.

As with a lot of shorts they are often picked up to be made into a feature, sadly with so much ignorant negativity this looks unlikely for this beautifully crafted anime.

It took longer to write this review than watching it, unlike the majority of ridiculous reviews that just blast it for being somehow pointless!?

This is a cute animation from France, nice characters and sweet story about friendship and working together.

It's a Greek mythology , Jason and the Argonauts adventure but the heroes are animals, (mostly) in particular a Cat and a Mouse.

When the Gods have a disagreement up in Olympus they play havoc down on earth, Poseidon threatens the seaside town of Yolcos with a tsunami if they don't build a statue honouring him.

Jason is now a bit ancient and the Argonauts are dead but clever little mouse Patti is determined to do her bit to save the town, she is well read on all things Greek mythology and starts the adventure going with a map leading to an island that has a magnificent trident, just what they need for the statue. With the help of some magic and best friend Sam they wake up the Argonauts and set sail on their quest in the refurbished Argo.

There are lots of wonderful animal characters including Ninja Rats and new age giant Scorpions, the baddies are represented by a hoard of Cyclops and their robot, Ray Harryhausen would probably turn in his grave here !?.

The animation quality is superb high resolution detailed CGi for the animals and settings , the human characters are a bit waxy though.

There are lots of nods , homages and music references to other movies , most of which the younger children wouldn't recognise but it was fun for me.

I am not sure if I liked all the voices in this English dubbed version, maybe they could have used actors that could at least do European accents , rather than the British stand up comedians ?

It's mostly aimed at the younger audience who I think would enjoy it.

If you need a reminder that climate change is real ,this will help do it for you.

A man returns to his family home in a coastal village in India's lowlands after a cyclone has reaped havoc, he is in a state of denial and looks for his family even though they are already dead, he struggles to survive in the deserted ruins of his home and another cyclone is heading his way, will he wake up to the reality or succumb to the visions and memories of the past?

The portrayal of a desperate man struggling for hope of a reunion with his family is so heartbreaking, a wonderfully powerful and thought provoking performance that keeps you gripped and sad. The cinematography poignantly captures the desolation and isolation. Survival looks in doubt, with no food or water , he cleans and packs up his family's clothes and belongings has the storm gets ever closer. Has he finally accepted they are gone ? What does he now have to live for ?.

Based on a real disaster of a few years ago but one that is likely to be repeated due to climate change that will affect more and more lowland coastal regions in the world.

A love letter or maybe rather a poem to cinema ?, not the filmmaking side of things for a change but the experiences of the movie theaters that bring the fantasy world to an audience needing to escape the reality of everyday life.

A return of Mendes and Deakins working together following the success of 1917 , here the setting is less dramatic , Margate in Kent to be precise, the Dreamland cinema. Even though Margate doesn't look fantastic , Roger Deacons brings out the best of it , shining a light on the architecture of the cinema, a picture palace of a bygone era, now a Grade ll listed building.

The title might seem a bit grandiose but it works in many ways, as in Toby Jones (Norman) the projectionist explaining the mechanism and psychology of 'movies', watching static images illuminated at 24 frames per second giving the illusion of movement. The cinema building is from the days of the British Empire but now you could call 'cinema' itself an empire , it has a global presence with centers of control in different regions of the world.

Light is shone on the turbulent history in 1980s UK, on a man dealing with racism, on a woman suffering from a mental health illness and their connection made in the house of the magic lantern.

Olivia Colman seems to go from strength to strength and puts in another great performance here as Hilary, a middle aged woman, a lover of classic poetry but struggling to cope with her mental health, the medication (lithium) helps but only if she takes it.

Working in the Empire cinema in Margate on the south coast of England in 1980-81 , Hilary is the duty manager and at times under the general manager, Donald Ellis, he seems to be abusing his position of power, taking advantage of Hilary's vunerability an unusual role for Colin Firth, quite a contemptuous character, it's small comfort for Hilary because it's not real affection that she craves, and she does look at herself in the mirror and wonders, as in Bob Dylan's song Don't Think Twice , It's All right that she listens to at home where she lives alone.

Hilary makes a connection with the new member of staff, Stephen, a very young black man, son of a NHS nurse, disillusioned but dealing with things as best he can, he inspires her with music and films and they soon become more intimate, a day at the beach together, and sex in the unused part of the cinema, however when their secret liaisons are discovered Stephen suggests a cooling off. Michael Ward puts in a really good performance as Stephen, he is a rising star to watch , hopefully he gets more good roles in the future. Hilary relapses into her darkness of schizophrenia and goes on a downward spiral leading to her to being admitted again into a psychiatric hospital, a scene played out to the poetic song Morning has Broken by Cat Stevens.

A relationship looks as unlikely now as it did before it started.

There's a nice supporting role for Toby Jones , as projectionist Norman who always seems to be underused, but he has some wonderful words of wisdom here. His projection room is full of pictures from classic movies. He also has the pleasure in showing some great movies of the time including, Stir Crazy, Chariots of Fire , and Being There.

The music of the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is very low key , absent at times , leaving periods of quiet contemplation, although not by Mendes' regular composer Thomas Newman it did at times remind me of 1917, the soundtrack is also mostly very much in the background too, punctuated by a few Two Tone songs including Do Nothing by The Specials and Mirror in the Bathroom by The Beat which are played up to reference the black and white theme, a glimpse of the possibility of better connections.

The backdrop of the turbulent times , the race riots that flared up in the late 1970s early 80s, a country more divided under Thatcherism.

A gang riot along the promenade spills over into the cinema and Stephen is beaten up by a mob of skin heads, much to the distress of helpless Hilary and the cinema staff.

Connections can be significant and yet temporary, Hilary and Stephen have different paths to follow, and moving on can be tough in itself but has to be accepted.

It's a time capsule of a film, with great music and poetic references , light-hearted and dramatic at times, well it brought back memories for me, but also highlights some issues still very relevant today.

Strange film, it can't quite make up its mind if it is a home invasion movie or a horror movie or a fantasy creature feature comedy.

When it is horror it is quite good in a gruesome kind of way, when it is a home invasion it is either brutally violent of weirdly bloody funny.

Ridiculous characters, and awfully played? But I guess that was also supposed to be a funny element.

I didn't know what it was beforehand and actually forgot the title, I put Unwanted as the title in my calendar, a Freudian slip maybe?.

It passed the 6 laugh rule to qualify as a comedy at least, even though that was all in the second half.

I went in completey blind on this one , only knowing the title and that it was Turkish.

It starts out rather ominously with a car accident and the death of a father, the son in the army is distraught but takes comfort in singing, songwriting and trying to make a living as a musician.

Meanwhile in a different town in Turkey another young man is also struggling to make it as a solo musician.

Even half way in I hadn't realised that this was based on a true story, but that's hardly surprising really, I am not familiar with popular music in Turkey.

When the two men simultaneously upload their latest songs to the internet a record producer in Istanbul recognises their talent and sees their potential as a pop music duo. The two men are invited to Istanbul and initially they are not interested in being a duo, but as they come to know and respect each other they find common ground , become friends and start writing a song together. There are still hurdles to overcome both family and professionally but together the musicians start to have popular success as Kurtulus Kus and Burak Bulut.

It's a heartwarming and inspiring story that you can, with talent , determination, and help from family and friends, achieve your dreams.

It's quite a long film but we'll paced and the uplifting songs are nice, keeping it very watchable.

Some of the supporting cast weren't great actors but that's more than made up by the talented Kurtulus and Burak.

The hustle and bustle of Turkish culture and especially Istanbul are interesting to see and add some nice cityscape cinematography too.

A story about a young colt named Riyah who is separated from his mother when she is sold to a horse trader. Riyah is determined to find and rejoin his mother, with help from his Partridge bird friend he escapes from the stable in Mecca, heads for the desert to travel to Medina. Riyah meets Jamel , a wise old camel who befriends him and guides him through the desert. They are pursued by a couple of crooks from Mecca who want to capture the little colt , not for the reward but to sell it for even more gold, also tagging along is a cute little lizard and then a pair of vultures , one of which was having an amusing existential crisis.

Along the way the travelers take shelter from a sandstorm in a cave, Jamel tells the young horse the story of Abu Bakr and Muhammad , and their journey through the desert, about the Muslims and Mushriks, worship of idols and gods, the battles of Badr and Uhud, all in a child friendly tale.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film owing to the lack of any plot synopsis, so when it turned into a Muslim religious fable I was quite surprised, as were the family behind me in the cinema who all left early when it became apparent.

The animation isn't great , it looks unfinished, the mostly likeable main characters lack hair !, as if the final stage of rendering was cancelled!? It just looks low budget and is a big distraction.

I wonder what Jane Austen would have thought about this, it's very much in her style with a modern twist.

Taking a leaf out of Armando Iannucci's (Copperfield) book?, the colourblind cast is another refreshing piece of casting, with people of colour playing the majority of the leading roles, so unexpectedly for a period costume drama, come RomCom.

The charm is not just in the wonderful cast but also in the wit and humour that kept a smile on my face throughout.

It's a homage? / light parody on the period drama genre where the typical storyline is about courtship, matchmaking and romance that usually needs a helping hand from a friend, or someone out to make trouble. The class structure is also mocked with a satirical flair that I found appealing too.

Although supposed to be set in England the Irish countryside adds some wonderful landscapes.

Seems to be very underrated imo , I found it very enjoyable and entertaining.

This follows the normal rules for the third part of a trilogy - more and bigger, and more dinosaurs that are bigger too is a good thing in my book, it's also a lot more fun. Being a big fan of the first film having seen it at the cinema when first released I actually found many scenes quite emotional and not just on a nostalgic level. Yes it's a blockbuster big budget epic that was very expensive to make, but it held true to the original with great special effects and there's some good cinematography too if you bother to notice.

Reunion, Repentance and Retribution.

After 20 years Sam Neil and Laura Dern are back together again, will it be third time lucky for Dr Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler ? And of course to complete the comeback trio Jeff Goldblum is in on the action as Ian Malcolm again with more words of witty philosophical wisdom. The next (World) generation are of course also reunited and join forces with the original generation.

BD Wong knocks up his 4th Jurassic appearance ( matching Goldblum's) as Dr Henry Wu, is it time for him to repent for his sins ? At biosin (ok BioSyn) or play along with the new mister big Dodgson. ?. Although this might seem cast heavy they all contribute enough to make the movie more than the sum of its parts, it's a long film at near 150 minutes so they all get a chance to shine.

The story moves on from the disastrous release of dinosaurs onto the mainland from Fallen Kingdom and their spread around the world through trafficking The Return of old friends in the dinosaur ensemble cast too, just for a bit more nostalgia from 1993.

Recycling the corruption plot with a world domination boost was inevitable with a subtitle like Dominion, and the latest villain on the block takes on a new satirical? Cliche in the guise of corporate meta , sorry I mean mega billionaire Dodgson , yes he is a bit dodgy, but well played by Campbell Scott.

Young Maisie , Isabella Sermon isn't just a clone ? She's an actress with potential rather than talent at this stage, but reminds me of the young Kiera Knightley.

Representation and diversity boxes well and truly ticked, including as many Redheads as Grey.

Lots of laughs and love in the air plus a blast of mission impossible action for good measure, after all this is a ComActionRomDinoSatire.

There are so many nice little jokes dropped in with many nods to the original trilogy, I also like the modern jokes, particularly the coffee barista guy and the scooter guy, maybe I just found it funnier than other people?.

Looking at the many low ratings and review headers of 'boring' and pile of crap, I can't help think some people had no intention of trying to enjoy this fun action movie, it's far from boring and if you think it is crap the problem is with the viewer not the film, which has such a lot of good things to offer. Ok, it's not faultless, I noticed many little niggles in the plot and continuity errors but rather than let them spoil the overall entertainment I was able to ignore them because the fun and action more than compensates. Well, I have really enjoyed it 3 times at the cinema,so far.

A24, Alex Garland and Jessie Buckley, great start and then add surprisingly good performances from Rory Kinnear , some great cinematography, an atmospheric score/sounds to go with the creepy story about a toxic relationship that leads to dark reflection following a tragic incident and it became a winner for me.

Jessie plays Harper who has reached the end of her tether with controlling husband James, things take a turn for the worse when she tells him that she wants a divorce.

Harper decides to escape from her London apartment and rents a big country dream house in a remote little village, back to nature for a fresh start, brings up some of the most beautiful photography and sounds. Soon after arriving at the country house strange Men appear to Harper, all played by Rory Kinnear, primarily as Geoffrey the landlord, but each creepy new version of Geoffrey that Harper encounters is an echo of her husband, (or is it men in general? Appearing nice and harmless on the surface but with a nastiness underneath.

The stalker home invasion horror situation represents the toxicity in Harper's marriage , her strength to cope with the danger from the scary onslaught is an echo of her ability to escape from her husband and also face up to the consequences. The final scenes are quite gruesome, (Cronenberg ish) might not be for everyone and the meaning could be difficult to comprehend.

That's my interpretation and mansplaining anyway.

The title track Love Song from Elton John is the icing on the cake.

Springtime, aka, Spring Song, 1946, it's a musical, but only because the main setting is in a theatre. It starts in 1946 but soon flashes back to 1911. Peter Graves earns his pay in a dual role, to start with he's a post war RAF pilot, Captain Winster, who has just bought a family heirloom brooch from a charity auction, keen to trace it's past/ journey he goes to the theatre where a J. Ware works, as a singer, the name identified as the donor, thinking it must be Janet Ware he sees her and asks about the brooch. Janet didn't know about the brooch but is intrigued and gets acquainted. Realising it must be her father (Johnny W) who donated the brooch she asks him why he wanted to get rid of it. When Johnny finds out that Winster is a descendant of the wealthy Norchester family he tells Janet not to have anything to do with him, he then recounts the history of the brooch going back to 1911 when his late wife Janet Hill was involved with the well to do Norchester man, an Oxford student and member of the boat race team, he was however a bit of a bounder, a liar and cheat with a gambling debt. Janet's mother Janet Hill, also played by Carol Raye, was besotted by Norchester even though he was no good, meanwhile Johnny had been waiting in the wings (literally) holding a candle of hope that she might one day be his loved one.

Lawrence O'Madden plays young and old Johnny Ware really well , he reminded me of a young Bill Owen.

Was it a case of history repeating itself? Or was this episode in the life of the brooch heading for true romance?.

Lovely performances all round hold it together and the musical interludes don't spoil the story or pace.

Trivia - at the end of the film Captain Winster flies a De Havilland Vampire jet.

Brutal organised crime thriller, well almost !, thrown in a long winded romance / comedy, corrupt cops, family honour, the obligatory song and dance number every 20 minutes and you are closer.

The story is more like an Indian version of the godfather or once upon a time America, but the illegal product being smuggled is red sandalwood. Even at nearly 3 hours this appears to be just the start of a potential trilogy, the Rise of Pushpa , the dawn of Pushpa and the war of Pushpa, maybe ???. Lowly coolie Pushpa rises to power by smuggling sandalwood better than the existing 'families' in the illegal logging trade in southern India. Pushpa is a tough guy , virtually unbreakable, (ridiculously so) but also intelligent, always one step ahead of his rivals and the police.

The action scenes are mostly over the top but fun and well choreographed. The cgi is a let down but I guess most of the budget went on the costumes ?

The song and dance routines pop up unexpectedly and are also fun and very colourful. The lyrics to the songs are quite strange to my British ear but probably have more significance in India?, maybe the translation wasn't perfect? . The supporting actors are not great to be honest, but the leads carry it off.

A surprisingly entertaining 3 hours at the cinema.

I was expecting a Christmas movie of sorts, a RomCom even, but sadly this wasn't funny and the romance was lacking too. I didn't know what to make of it really, a black British movie with a couple of token white people, ok, it makes a change but it didn't make it good. It was a bit of a fashion show and music video but I didn't actually know any of the cast, (apart from the 2 )who were mainly mediocre to bad actors. The story is full of cliches about successful people , a love triangle and a dysfunctional British-Caribbean family who all come together just before Christmas, I don't think they even made it to Boxing Day though !?, At least they didn't go all out and have proper snow in London, because that usually spoils Britflicks for me. There were some good night scenes of London but they didn't actually make the most of the location. Too slow and too long, with a predictable conclusion. Just not my cup of tea.

Very much a curiosity piece rather than high drama, but it does pack a lot in for a 60 minute feature, adventure in Africa, a murder mystery whodunnit , a splash of romance and some wonderful wildlife shots , then onto a bit of anthropology with a glimpse into the lives of the natives, surprisingly for mid 1930s, there are topless shots too. The background story is a discovery of diamonds and a package found next to a dead body, well a skeleton actually, anyhow the package optimistically had an address on it, so the kind prospectors delivered it on their return to London. Mr Wilkins a simple clerk with an oology collection was glad to receive the package from his more adventurous brother, he didn't seem too sad about his death !?. But was keen to get the diamonds and some more eggs for his collection. When the package was finally opened it contained a letter and map of where to find the diamonds. Off they all set in a couple of aeroplanes, getting to Africa in no time at all. It cuts along at a pace, before you can say elephants they are flying over the plains of Africa, taking in aerial shots of the wildlife . On landing they quickly set up camp and get the diamonds, then people start getting killed, is it an old colleague or rival prospectors? As with everything thing else it all gets solved very quickly, ,, the end. The cast are ok and mostly give good performances (for 1930s) it just goes so quickly you don't even have time to ask "how did they,,,,?" ," where did they ,,,?, but I enjoyed none the less, mostly for the wildlife though.

The 'making of' a Nolan film is always going to be interesting but here it's as mind blowing as the film itself, so much effort goes into making it real , and in camera , it's awesome stuff. There's a new appreciation of the film when you know how hard it was making it, so many people working to their best capabilities, pushing the boundaries of their knowledge and skill , so many things that have never been done before, it's incredible. There are scenes in the film where I thought argh, they are stretching reality too far here, that's not possible and then when you see how it was made and that it was real it fills you with awe. I was lucky enough to see Tenet at the cinema 5 times and it isn't just a movie that you watch , it is a movie that you experience, I hope we get more great cinema experiences from the genius of Christopher Nolan and the amazing people he brings together for his movies.

A mysterious thriller set in the Mexican /Belize rain forest circa 1920. Two Belize/English speaking women in white are on the run from their English master, Cacique, (not a very English name?) Florence is a nurse, Agnes appears to be an intended bride. Cacique and is men catch up with them and kill the man who helped them escape, the women are shot and left for dead. Agnes however survives and wanders into the jungle, where she is found by a crew of gum harvesters. Amongst the men Agnes arouses their desires and as they decide to make a run for the border with their haul of gum they become paranoid that their boss will track them down and kill them. Is it the jungle and nature playing on their minds or are they bewitched by Agnes?, A Mayan voice over tells us about the dangers of the jungle and the mythical legend of Xtabay, a Demon woman who lures men to their death. The atmosphere of the jungle is claustrophobic and lends itself to some wonderful cinematography, it's full of wild animals and tension , a fittingly haunting score plays up the tension some more. It's actually almost a horror film but maybe too subtle for most people's definition?. The actors are pretty good and even though Agnes is a very laconic character, Indira Rubie Andrewin exudes mysteriousness. A film that might inspire you to look up Xtabay on Wikipedia, as it did me.

There's more to this than the synopsis suggests, it's a mystery drama about a an old lonely man and a young boy from a troubled home. It soon becomes clear who the boy is and his childhood revelation is of a definining period of growing up with a strict father. Jakub is sent to an orphange following his father's accident and there he struggles to fit in. It's a very short film and felt a bit under developed, there could have been less confusion if the story was padded out a bit more. I don't want to reveal too much because although it seemed obvious to me the unfolding mystery is a big part of this little Polish film. The performances are pretty good, especially young Jakub who demonstrates less is sometimes more. The music adds mixed moods that is neither too sad or too cheerful but effective none the less.

After watching this film and then seeing the low rating for it I was really surprised, did I see the same movie ? this could have been a silly film about being small in a big world a bad borrowers concept maybe? I saw an interesting and emotional drama about an under achieved man , Paul (Matt Damon) looking for a better life, he is betrayed by the one person he wanted an improved life with. There is a message about mankind here too , our planet is overpopulated and we need to find a solution, the downsizing concept actually makes a lot of sense. As usual in the real world good ideas can be abused in the wrong hands or turned against humanity. Big or small there will always be a class system, winners and losers . Ok the film is far from perfect and loses its way a bit in the second half with the under explored imminent catastrophe angle. The quirkiness highlights come in the Vietnamese girl , Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chou) who takes over Pauls disappointing new life and his neighbour Dusan (Christoph Waltz) who adds a new spark, together they give Paul new purpose, a chance to make up for unfulfilled aspirations, at the end of the day what do we all want out of life ?

What I like about Christopher Nolan is he doesn't insult the audience's intelligence , The timeline and focus of Dunkirk is split into 3 points of view ; LAND, AIR and SEA and although it needs your attention the non linear flashbacks and forwards to each POV are a complex intertwining way of showing the story from those 3 perspectives, some might prefer a chronological order but I think that would lose the 3 element POV. On LAND we follow a small band of soldiers for the longest time period and their attempts to get back to England amongst the hundreds of thousands of men waiting to be rescued from the Dunkirk beaches. On the SEA we focus on one day and one of the small boats that ventures out from a small harbour to get across the dangerous waters of the English channel. In the AIR we have the perspective of a couple of Spitfire pilots where their timeline lasting one hour or more accurately until their mission fuel lasts. This really is an epic 'event' film, the way this historic event is portrayed is second to none, there's a real sense of drama and desperation about the how the soldiers try to get back home to just survive on the beach and on the limited ships trying their best to evacuate them. The spitfire pilots are on the clock, they can only stay in the air for as long as their fuel allows and you feel that clock ticking away with every scene from the sky. Of the flotilla at sea we only see one out of the hundreds of boats involved in this momentous rescue mission, but again this isn't about too much character development, it's there to show us a snippet in the lives of ordinary people coming to the aid of a national disaster not ignoring the obvious danger but accepting it needs to be done. The individual character / actor performances are never too big to overshadow the event as a whole. Tom Hardy is fantastic as one of the 2 spitfire pilots that we see and is very much on the job in hand in an almost routine way, he is not trying to be a hero he is just doing the best he can. Newcomers Fionn Whitehead and even Harry Stiles show they have plenty of acting talent and deserve to be alongside some great veteran actors like Kenneth Brannagh, Mark Rylance and Cillian Murphy, who all put in great performances. Come Oscar / awards season I would expect a few best supporting actor nominations. Another aspect of the film I really like is the lack of dialogue, especially at the start of the film , this really allows for the scene to be set and triggers our pulses racing. Hans Zimmer as ever provides a truly atmospheric and great score that adds immensely to the mounting tension that we experience throughout the film. Nolan never disappoints me with spectacular visuals and here again we see some large scale scenes that are of the best ever war film cinematography I can think of. There is plenty of action mixed in with moments of tranquillity, the calm before the storm the harrowing fight for survival in the face of adversity. As I left the theatre I couldn't help but overhear peoples comments of 'wow, what a great and powerful film' I couldn't agree more ! such a must see film, I will be going to see it again next week on the iMax screen, I already rank this as my top film of the year with another viewing I can easily imagine this becoming my favourite film of the 21st century so far.