Annie (Rose Byrne) is in a relationship with a college teacher (Chris O’Dowd) who is obsessed with an American musician (Ethan Hawke) who disappeared from the limelight 25 years ago; after writing a negative review online, Annie is suddenly contacted by the mysterious artist… A romantic comedy that will seem pleasantly familiar to Nick Hornby … Continue reading Juliet, Naked
DEATH MAKES A KILLER COMEBACK. Tree (Jessica Rothe) realizes that Carter’s (Israel Broussard) roommate (Phi Vu) is suddenly stuck in the same time loop that she was… but with crucial differences. The first movie was fun and clever. The sequel brings us more of the same, but it’s also severely overbaked and wants to be … Continue reading Happy Death Day 2U
HER TIME IS NOW. In 2563, Earth has been devastated; scientist Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) finds a female cyborg in the junkyard, gives her a new body and learns that she has great powers. This 3D adaptation of the Japanese manga series was long in the making, but the final result is worth a look. … Continue reading Alita: Battle Angel
Stockholm, 1940; two amusement parks are at war with each other, but then the daughter (Frida Gustavsson) and the son (Albin Grenholm) of the two rivals fall in love… A visually arresting film, based on real events, that benefits from good supporting performances and two directors eager to show off. Unfortunately, the two leads are … Continue reading Swoon
BEHIND ANY GREAT MAN, THERE’S ALWAYS A GREATER WOMAN. In 1992, famous author Joseph Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) learns that he’s won the Nobel Prize in literature; together with his wife Joan (Glenn Close) he heads to Sweden, but their marriage is in for a challenge. The tagline pretty much sums up the message of the … Continue reading The Wife
An expert on wolf behavior, Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright), is hired by a woman (Riley Keough) in a small Alaska village to hunt the wolf who likely killed her young son. On paper this may look like another The Grey (2012), but even though wolves may play a huge part (not least philosophically), this is … Continue reading Hold the Dark
LOVE HAS NO BORDERS. Pawel Pawlikowski had his international breakthrough with Ida (2013) and this one was equally lauded, and similar visually. We follow two Polish lovers over many years, from the beginning of a postwar existence until a fateful final encounter after the end of the Stalinist era. Their folk music troupe is manipulated … Continue reading Cold War
After the premiere of what came to be director Bo Widerberg’s last film, he was accused of having stolen the idea for it from colleagues who were also making a movie about a young man who falls in love with an older woman. In an interview, the director replied by pointing out that the first … Continue reading All Things Fair: Bad Teacher
THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING. Big changes are coming in the Lego universe, as Duplo invaders keep terrorizing Bricksburg; Emmett and Lucy will face the Queen behind it all. An intense 3D sequel that can’t quite deliver the freshness of the original, but still makes an attempt to throw every clever idea and pop culture reference … Continue reading The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
MEET YOUR MAKERS. In 19th-century London, medical student Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) helps a hunchback (Daniel Radcliffe), who has great knowledge of human anatomy, escape from a circus. We’ve seen the Mary Shelley story on the silver screen many times before, but this one chooses a different perspective – Igor’s. Much more is made of … Continue reading Victor Frankenstein
MEET NELS COXMAN, CITIZEN OF THE YEAR. When a snowplow driver (Liam Neeson) working somewhere in the Rocky Mountains finds out that his son is dead, he goes after those who killed him… On paper this may look like another one of Neeson’s ”old-man-with-special-skills” revenge movies, but the remake of the Norwegian thriller-comedy In Order … Continue reading Cold Pursuit
When his son is found dead due to an apparent heroin overdose, snow-plow driver Nils Dickman (Stellan Skarsgård) realizes that he’s actually been killed and exacts revenge. Another darkly comical collaboration between the director and Skarsgård, this one taking excellent advantage of snowy locations in northern Norway. Pretty much a spoof of western movies, featuring … Continue reading In Order of Disappearance
TRAINED TO PROTECT. BORN TO SURVIVE. Sam Carlson (Noomi Rapace) is hired as bodyguard to the young heiress (Sophie Nélisse) to a dead business tycoon… and they immediately find themselves in danger. We haven’t seen many movies about female bodyguards. We have definitely seen everything else here. There’s a terrific, explosive introduction of Rapace and … Continue reading Close
