Ralph Fiennes shines in this joyously juicy tale of Papal Succession. Director: Edward Berger Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rosellini, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati Running Time: 120 minutes At the modern movieplex a false choice is often presented to the audience, that they must only either ‘turn their brain off’…
All posts tagged Thriller
Noir goes round the bend in Only the River Flows
Director: WEI SHUJUN Starring: YILONG ZHU, CHLOE MAAYAN, TIANLAI HOU Running Time: 102 minutes The film’s poster riffs on The Scream painting. It opens with a Camus quote and is scored with the mournful keys of the Moonlight Sonata. Only the River Flows is a noir that wears its pretentions on its sleeve, and its…
The long and short of Longlegs
Director: Osgood Perkins Starring: Maika Monroe, Nicholas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt Running Time: 101 minutes The Blair Witch Project played coy about its credentials and rode the intrigue about it being ‘real’ all the way to the box office (leaving the undercompensated actors lost in the woods). Hitchcock insisted on keeping spoilers secure with…
Facing the harsh truths of Reality
Director: Tina Satter Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton, Marchánt Davis Running Time: 83 minutes In 2017, then-25 year old NSA translator Reality Winner was approached at her home by the FBI. Her interrogation that day was to spiral into the the longest prison sentence ever imposed in the United States for the unauthorised release of…
They shouldn’t have sent a poet in Scott Cooper’s The Pale Blue Eye
Director: Scott Cooper Starring: Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones, Timothy Spall, Robert Duvall Runtime: 128 minutes As the director who landed Jeff Bridges his long-overdue Academy Award, Scott Cooper has made a name for himself as a real ‘actor’s director’. Since Crazy Heart landed Cooper on the map, big stars have been…
Enigmatic and essential urges in Decision to Leave
Director: Park Chan-wook Starring: Tang Wei, Park Hae-il Running Time: 138 minutes The most interesting question with a femme fatale is never did they do it. We love to watch seemingly honourable lawmen twist and turn under far more compelling questioning – how much do they care if the dame did it or not? The…