The Great Escaper

M, 96 minutes Three Stars Review by © Jane Freebury This affectionate tribute to two great names of the screen is a gentle and dignified finale that will leave few dry-eyed who have followed their long careers. The film’s tone, peppered with moments when we assume the veteran actors are being true to themselves, suits… Continue reading The Great Escaper

Four Daughters

M, 100 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury Among a group of terrorists arrested in Libya in 2016 were two young Tunisian sisters who remain in prison, sentenced recently to even more time behind bars. One of them has a child who was conceived when the girls joined Islamic State. This docudrama is… Continue reading Four Daughters

Uproar

M, 110 Minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury This light-hearted drama with deadly serious intent is as good-natured as its charismatic young lead actor, Julian Dennison. Eight years have passed since the young Maori stole the show from the effortlessly amiable Sam Neill in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, when he played a foster… Continue reading Uproar

Saltburn

MA 15+, 131 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury For someone hanging out for an invitation to stay with members of the English upper class on their country estate, this clever, queasy drama may give them pause. Equally, welcoming a stranger as a house guest may give their moneyed, potential hosts pause too.… Continue reading Saltburn

Foe

M, 110 Minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury Late into the evening, a car travels through arid, spectral landscape before stopping outside an isolated farmhouse. The young couple inside do not seem to be expecting anyone at such a late hour, but soon it isn’t quite clear who between them knows quite what.… Continue reading Foe

Monolith

M, 93 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury In an age of blockbusters with budgets over 200 million dollars, here is a movie that confirms some things can still be done. Every now and then a very low-budget film like Monolith comes along showing that a film that didn’t need buckets of money… Continue reading Monolith

The Crime is Mine

M, 102 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury Two heads are better than one. So it goes, for two young women, an actress and a lawyer, who share an apartment together in Paris in the 1930s. It’s hard to get by in a world when the competition in their line of work is… Continue reading The Crime is Mine

Fair Play

MA 15+, 115 minutes 3 Stars   Review by © Jane Freebury It’s great to know that at least some of the people can find time for a personal life, some of the time, in the world of financial services, an industry that has taken a well-earned drubbing lately. It’s what Fair Play would have… Continue reading Fair Play

BlackBerry

M, 120 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury This tale is one for our fast-changing times. It is about how a small technology innovator got together with a hard-headed entrepreneur to create a cool gadget that commanded nearly half of the smartphone market, before emerging rivals stepped in. Leaving it without any skin… Continue reading BlackBerry

The Miracle Club

PG, 90 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury It is a bit of a surprise to see a film like this arrive on the big screen. Not just because it’s a period drama about women who go on a pilgrimage but because the tale and its telling is rather dated, despite some gentle… Continue reading The Miracle Club

Sugar and Stars

Riadh Belaiche in Sugar and Stars. Image courtesy Palace Films

M, 110 minutes, subtitled 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury This story of a young chef so dedicated to his craft that he camped on the beach while an apprentice, is a new French title that sets out to show how a boy incumbered by a poor start in life can make good.  And… Continue reading Sugar and Stars

Carmen

M, 117 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury This new take on the ravishing gypsy woman who can never belong to anyone is striking. From its raven-haired lead actor to the scrubby desert she crosses in search of a new life, to the city backstreets where she finds sanctuary, the look is nothing… Continue reading Carmen

Belle & Sebastian: Next Generation

Belle and Seb (Robinson Mensah-Rouanet) in Belle & Sebastian: Next Generation. Image courtesy Icon

PG, 97 minutes, subtitles 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury When no one else understands or appreciates you, a big hound at least as big as yourself and likely heavier, is a best friend ever. So it is, once again, for the fourth film in this popular franchise that began in 2013, based on… Continue reading Belle & Sebastian: Next Generation

No Hard Feelings

MA 15+, 103 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury When an old pop song is performed solo in this battle of the sexes for millennials, it is like whoa, where did that come from? A catchy Daryl Hall and John Oates hit from the 1980s gets a sudden and unexpected airing when a… Continue reading No Hard Feelings

The Little Mermaid

  PG, 135 minutes 3 Stars   Review by © Jane Freebury The little mermaid, Ariel, a daughter of the king of the sea who yearns to become a human, needs no introduction. She is also a Disney princess, and if mums and dads have had to watch the classic animation feature of 1989 umpteen… Continue reading The Little Mermaid

Ten Pound Poms TV series about postwar Brit migrants

Screening on STAN, BBC I, six 52-minute episodes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury   For such a big cohort, there have been fewer stories on screen, than you might expect, involving the hundreds of thousands of British immigrants who sought a new life in Australia after WWII. Perhaps it’s why this new six-part… Continue reading Ten Pound Poms TV series about postwar Brit migrants

The Portable Door

    PG, 116 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury Set in old London town on the double decker route to Shoreditch, this new Australian film starts out as a playful reminder of the pitfalls of starting out in the big city. Whether you have blown in from the regions or arrived from… Continue reading The Portable Door

Women Talking

M, 104 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury First impressions are telling. So, it probably irritates actors terribly that the personas in roles that announced them to the world are difficult to throw off. Think Rooney Mara and we remember her dragon tattoo in that Nordic thriller. Think Claire Foy and we recall… Continue reading Women Talking

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

  Despite brilliantly, lovingly crafted visuals, the irresistible strangeness of the original tale is lost in an allegory of political thuggery     M, 117 minutes 3 Stars Review by ©  Jane Freebury The classic children’s tale, The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, has been told and re-told in many ways since it first… Continue reading Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

The Swimmers

  MA15+, 135 minutes 3 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury There must be 5.7 million chapters to the refugee story that has come out of Syria since 2011, one for each person. This is one, or rather, two of them. This film by a young Egyptian-Welsh director is based on the biographies of two… Continue reading The Swimmers