Tag: 4 StarsPage 7 of 14

Valerie Taylor: Playing With Sharks

PG, 94 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury            To be fair, a fear of sharks is sound as far as phobias…

Dream Horse

PG, 113 minutes 4 Stars     Review by © Jane Freebury   How do you explain the emergence of a champion? What does it really take to…

Minamata

MA15+, 115 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury         Stirring movies about corporate crimes and negligence in public health have appeared from time…

The Godmother (aka Mama Weed)

Whip-smart crime caper with the  familiar insouciance  of  Isabelle Huppert a good starting point for a radical change M, 105 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury…

June Again

M, 99 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury  Unlike other recent films that feature the inexorable progress of dementia, June Again poses a disruptive proposition. What…

De Gaulle

M, 109 minutes  4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury The familiar lofty figure taking the salute in his traditional French army cap, the kepi. The ramrod posture…

The Dissident

M, 117 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury Dissenters, reformers, subversives. The nuance in these labels depends, of course, on where you live, and under whom….

The Father

M, 97 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury   The commanding presence, the sonorous voice and the glint of mischief in his eye make this father…

Girls Can’t Surf

    M, 108 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury       Not that long ago, surfer girls would either lie on the beach boosting…

Blackbird

M, 98 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury A caring family, lifelong friendship, a loving husband, with a home in The Hamptons thrown in for good…

The Truffle Hunters

Exquisitely made doco exploring the eccentricity, humour and doggedness in a breed of man as rare as hens’ teeth M, 84 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane…

Another Round

Is life better when we’re a little bit drunk? M, 116 minutes 4 stars Review by © Jane Freebury   Provocation is something some filmmakers like Thomas Vinterberg…

The White Tiger

Bristling, fast-paced, witty satire of contemporary India delivers the pleasures of cinema at its best MA 15+, 131 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury It all…

The Dry

MA 15+, 117 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury The details of Jane Harper’s bestselling novel are known to many readers the world over, yet the…

How to Be a Good Wife

M, 108 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury     How to Be a Good Wife opens at the crack of dawn, as everyone gets ready…

The Furnace

MA 15+, 116 minutes 4 stars Review by © Jane Freebury     Among the memorable moments in the classic film, Gallipoli , there’s a standout that is…

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

M, 107 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury The song in the title of this doco about one of the biggest pop music groups ever, may…

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

M, 151 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury The subject of this fine documentary was one of society’s eccentrics. A medical doctor and a writer of…

Misbehaviour

M, 106 minutes 4 Stars Review by © Jane Freebury When organisers were getting ready for the Miss World contest in 1970, there were plans afoot to gatecrash…

Hillbilly Elegy

Gutsy female lead performances lift all boats in this tale of backwoods America that is both vilified and embraced by a polarised public M, 116 minutes 4 Stars…