Woman at War (2018)

Icelandic comedy-drama starring Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir as Halla, a choir conductor who leads a double life, sabotaging electricity power lines to make a point about the climate crisis.

The same actor also plays her own twin sister.

There’s humour and strong characterisation, but the film is slightly spoiled by the tricksy gimmick of showing us a band playing the incidental music. Repeatedly, when music begins, it fits the scene perfectly and helps build atmosphere – only for the camera to pan back or around to reveal the trio of musicians playing it. This device is clever, but after the first instance becomes quite irritating and erodes the narrative. In some scenes, Halla is meant to be alone as the plot is about her isolation, so placing her in a room full of musicians completely undermines that effect.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)

Written and directed by Mark Herman, this is an adaptation of a novel by John Boyne set in Poland during World War II. 

The eight-year-old son of a Nazi officer disobeys his parents and befriends a child held prisoner in a death camp. The story hinges on the boy not understanding what the place is (he thinks it’s a “farm”), and it’s painful to see the consequences of his naivety play out to their inevitable conclusion. 

Vera Famiga isn’t at her best playing the child’s mother, and David Thewlis doesn’t really excel as his Nazi father. It’s a somewhat simplistic account of events that seems geared towards younger viewers. And it was criticised for framing the tragedy around the officer’s family rather than the wider tragedy of the true victims of Nazi persecution.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Fascinating comedy-drama written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. 

It’s 1969 in Los Angeles. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an actor famous for his role in a 1950s TV western. His best friend is his stunt double and personal assistant Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Times are changing and the pair are struggling to stay relevant in the film industry. Their next-door neighbours are actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her director husband Roman Polanski. Also on the fringes of the scene is a young Charles Manson…

The film cleverly weaves together fact and fiction across multiple narratives, playing on what we know – or think we know – about the mythology of the Manson murders. It’s a kind of alternative history that finds humour and tragedy in the events, but not in the way that you might expect.

It’s visually rich and full of the iconography of the time, with Tarantino really relishing the period detail. Highly watchable stuff.

Vantage Point (2008)

A so-so political thriller that’s built around an interesting idea. We see the events leading up to (and away from) an assassination attempt on the US president at an engagement in Salamanca, Spain. The film adopts various perspectives, and we see the same action played out again and again from the "vantage point" of different characters.

Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver all feature, but there’s too little character development and too little dialogue for us to get much of a sense of any of them. Weaver in particular is underused, as if she only had a day available for filming and did it as a favour to the director (Pete Travis). 

I was expecting a mind-bending plot twist that never arrived, and overall it’s oddly unsatisfying.

Primary Colors (1998)

An engaging political drama directed by Mike Nichols, with plenty of comic moments. John Travolta plays a governor with presidential ambitions. Emma Thompson (with an American accent) plays his wife. And Adrian Lester plays the campaign manager, who tries to hold true to his idealism despite repeated incidents in which he needs to cover up for the governor’s reported transgressions. 

There’s a lot of dialogue, which gives the film extra richness, and it skilfully explores the relationships between the key characters. It’s not surprising to learn that it was adapted from Joe Klein’s loosely fictionalised account of the 1992 Bill Clinton presidential campaign. Emma Thompson even looks a little like Hilary Clinton at times.

Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates and Larry Hagman all co-star, and all are at their best.

Practical Magic (1998)

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman star as two witches in a highly flawed comedy-drama directed by Griffin Dunne. They are sisters trying to overcome a family curse that brings doom on any man they fall in love with.

It’s tonally all over the place – a sort of fairytale crossed with Thelma and Louise, Harry Potter and various horror/supernatural elements. Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest are miscast or misused as two eccentric aunts, and it wasn’t really clear why they were in the film at all. 

The film tries to address the topic of domestic abuse, but it’s a topic that requires a much more sensitive approach than this. The attempts to address it with comedy are inconsistent and grating.

Bullock and Kidman do their best with the material, but cannot salvage an awkward mess of a film.

Three Kings (2000)

David O. Russell directs this war film set in 1991 at the end of the first Gulf War, but it’s not up to his usual high standards.

George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg are more than passable as jaded American soldiers. Ice Cube is merely OK as part of their team going on a mission to retrieve stolen gold. 

It’s an interesting but uneasy balance of comedy, history and violence. The tone is all over the place and it doesn’t always work. It’s gritty without being believable, and it’s silly without being especially funny.

Lovely & Amazing (2001)

Comedy-drama written and directed by Nicole Holofcener.

Jane Marks (Brenda Blethyn) is the mother of two grown-up daughters, Michelle (Catherine Keener) and Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer). Jane has also adopted a pre-teen girl called Annie (Raven Goodwin). Each of them experiences various ups and downs in their personal lives, and the story expertly examines these domestic threads and how they interrelate.

Catherine Keener absolutely shines as a would-be artist who cannot sell her craft creations. She goes to work in a photo-development shop and becomes involved with a teenage co-worker (played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal), with inevitable consequences.

It’s a funny and perceptive film that’s highly entertaining.

28 Days (2000)

Comedy-drama directed by Betty Thomas.

Sandra Bullock plays an alcoholic who is forced to enter rehab after her drinking sprawls out of control. After initially resisting it, she eventually ends up coming to terms with a new way of life.

It’s a somewhat sanitised account of addiction. Even at her ‘worst’ moments, she looks fantastic. But – this being Sandra Bullock – there are moments of humour, and it’s always engaging.

Viggo Mortensen is underused as a fellow addict and possible love interest.

Dominic West is (deliberately?) annoying as Gwen’s bad-influence boyfriend, while Steve Buscemi is passable as one of the clinic’s counselors.

It’s nice to see (and hear) Loudon Wainwright, who strums his guitar and sings on a few occasions.

Unknown (2011)

Effective but unoriginal Liam Neeson vehicle, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. 

A professor (Neeson) has an accident on a work trip to Berlin. After he wakes up from a coma four days later, he has to prove his identity after no one recognizes him – including his own wife. Then another man claims to be him.

It’s engrossing if you don’t ask too many questions about the plot and if you don’t mind key elements of the story appearing to have been borrowed from the Jason Bourne films.

After the Wedding (2006)

Remarkable drama directed by Susanne Bier. 

Mads Mickelson stars as the manager of an orphanage in India. He is approached by a potential donor, based in Denmark, and travels there to secure the funds the orphanage needs. But the CEO, Jörgen (Rolf Lassgård), has other reasons for wanting to engineer this meeting.

It’s an intelligent domestic drama that takes off in unexpected directions and keeps you engaged and surprised to the very end. Mickelson is terrific, as ever, as is Sidse Babett Knudsen as his ex-lover.

Run Lola Run (1988)

Written and directed by Tom Tykwer, this is a German film that takes a somewhat experimental approach. Like a student art film, it’s quirky and doesn’t follow standard narrative conventions. 

Lola (Franka Potente) needs to raise 100,000 Deutschmarks in 20 minutes to save the life of her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). She has to run across the city and acquire the funds along the way. But, as with Groundhog Day, we see her repeat this narrative multiple times in her attempts to get it right.

It’s a great idea, but the execution is all over the place. At one point in the repeating sequence, live action is briefly replaced by animation. It’s also noticeable that one of the cameras produces higher-resolution footage than one of the others, making for an uneven mix. It’s unclear whether this is intentional, to vary the visual texture, or merely the result of poor production values.

Some of the acting is hammy, too. Overall, you feel it had potential that was never realised. But the central concept – of Lola running to the rescue – is a powerful one.

The Grey (2011)

Liam Neeson stars as the survivor of a plane crash in Alaska. He and his remaining oil industry colleagues attempt to walk to safety, battling icy storms and very hungry, very predatory wolves.

Director Joe Carnahan is effective at ramping up the tension, but the film – based on the short story “Ghost Walker” by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers – requires you to believe that the wolves are intent on hunting down the men and strategically picking them off one by one. I’m not sure how accurate this is in terms of the animals’ behaviour, but it’s certainly a negative depiction of the species, doing for wolves what Jaws did for sharks.

As it progresses the film takes on a more philosophical dimension, which just about works.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Matthew McConaughey is brilliant in this thriller, directed by Brad Furman and adapted from a novel by Michael Connelly.

Lawyer Mickey Haller works in a chauffeur-driven Lincoln Town Car rather than an office, although not enough is made of this fact. He is hired to represent a Beverly Hills playboy accused of brutally beating a prostitute. 

It's an exciting, highly watchable thriller that's enhanced by McConaughey's considerable charm and charisma.

Whiplash (2014)

Excellent drama about a boy (Miles Teller) at a New York musical school wanting to become an all-time great drummer. His tutor, Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons), is pushy and sadistic in his methods, pushing Andrew to ever more painful extremes. 

It’s fascinating and often uncomfortable viewing. The music is tremendous, and the drumming sequences are almost unbearably intense. 

Director Damien Chazelle also directed La La Land and there are some similar motifs.

Gone Girl (2014)

Extremely disappointing thriller directed by David Fincher and adapted from the popular novel by Gillian Flynn. 

I’d heard great things about it, but it turns out to be oddly mannered and unconvincing. 

Ben Affleck stars as a man who becomes a suspect after his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), suddenly vanishes. The plot is ludicrously far-fetched and there's something silly about the whole thing. 

Visually and tonally, there's a "clinical" quality to it that's hugely unpleasant.

The Big Sleep (1946)

This smart adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel offers tremendous writing and acting.

The convoluted plot is difficult to follow but it doesn’t really matter because Humphrey Bogart (as private detective Philip Marlowe) and Lauren Bacall (as Vivian Rutledge) are so magnetic. 

It looks stunning and some of the dialogue is dynamite.

American Beauty (1999)

A brilliantly made and acted – but in many ways quite depressing – drama directed by Sam Mendes.

Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening star as a couple whose marriage is disintegrating. Spacey plays an advertising executive whose midlife crisis manifests itself in an obsession with the best friend of his teenage daughter. 

It’s compelling and disturbing stuff that ponders suburban ennui and the meaning of life.

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

Romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Steve Kloves.

Two pianist brothers (real-life brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges) hire a female singer named Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) to pep up their act. This decision revives their fortunes but introduces complications when romantic feelings develop between Susie and one of the brothers.

It’s a well-written film with plenty of humour and intelligence.

Bridget Jones's Baby (2016)

Directed by Sharon Maguire, this is the third instalment in the popular series adapted from Helen Fielding’s mega-selling novels. Renée Zellweger is once again a loveable, accident-prone neurotic who, in theory, we can all relate to. She finds out that she’s pregnant and has to work out which of two lovers is the father (hints of Mamma Mia). Is it charming lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) or charming mathematician Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey)?

There are enough laughs to make it work, and it’s certainly superior to the second film, while lacking the freshness of the first. Zellweger is so appealing that she’s worth watching even when it’s not hilarious. And Emma Thompson adds depth as Doctor Rawlings.