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It is actor Steve Coogan’s birthday. His top 5 films: - 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE - HAMLET 2 - PHILOMENA - TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY - TROPIC THUNDER  Philomena
EMA ★★★★★
D: Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Neruda, The Club, No, Post Mortem, Tony Manero). S: Gael García Bernal, Mariana Di Girolamo, Santiago Cabrera, Josefina Fiebelkorn. Intricate and mesmerising. Gripping lead performances - especially Mariana Di Girolamo. Just drops you in on a couple verbally tearing strips off each other, which is offset by striking visuals and a pulse-quickening score. TO LIVE TO SING ★★☆☆☆ D: Johnny Ma. S: Guidan Gan, Xiaoli Zhao. Old and young, tradition and modernity. For a film about preserving opera, it doesn't do a very good job at advocacy. The opera performances underwhelm and the protagonists are unlikable. EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE ★★½☆☆ D: Vince Gilligan. S: Aaron Paul, Jesse Plemons, Charles Baker, Matt Jones. Part of what made Jesse Pinkman and Walter White easier to like, was that they were always up against more heinous people. This unnecessary sequel to the TV series tries to create a similar adversary, but the whole endeavour feels forced. Can’t open-ended narratives be left to audience imaginations? Does every piece of intellectual property need an origin story and a neat bow of an ending?  
FIRST LOVE ★★★½☆
D: Takashi Miike (Blade of the Immortal, Yakuza Apocalypse, Over Your Dead Body, Hara Kiri: Death of a Samurai, 13 Assassins, Yatterman; Big Bang Love, Juvenile A; The Happiness of the Katakuris, Ichi the Killer.) S: Becky, Sakurako Konishi, Masataka Kubota. Not the hoped for all-out delirium insanity of 13 ASSASSINS, but still, this is funny, violent, romantic. GIVE ME LIBERTY ★★½☆☆ D: Kirill Mikhanovsky. S: Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Chris Galust, Maxim Stoyanov. Half wonderful, half problematic.
ADORATION ★★☆☆☆ D: Fabrice Du Welz (Message from the King, Alléluia, Vinyan, Calvaire). S: Benoît Poelvoorde, Laurent Lucas, Gwendolyn Gourvenec. Grates on a number of levels. Tediously shot. Jittery-cam is so tired. Padded runtime. Etc. EARTHQUAKE BIRD [embargo world premiere] GUEST OF HONOUR ★★☆☆☆ D: Atom Egoyan (Remember, The Captive, Devil’s Knot, Chloe, Adoration, Where the Truth Lies, Ararat, The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica). S: Laysla De Oliveira, Tennille Read, David Thewlis, Luke Wilson. Looks and sounds like a daytime TV movie. I keep hoping director Atom Egoyan will return to his ARARAT [2002] form.  Guest of Honour
KNIVES OUT ★★★½☆
D: Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi, Looper, The Brothers Bloom, Brick). S: Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, LaKeith Stansfield, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Christopher Plummer. Entitlement critique enveloped in a murder mystery romp. A few chortles and political jabs enhance the experience. Not in the same league as the director's BRICK. LA BELLE ÉPOQUE ★★★☆☆ D: Nicolas Bedos. S: Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, Doria Tillier, Fanny Ardant. Starts bold, so bold I wondered if this was going to be a French WESTWORLD. Alas, it merely becomes a conventional, albeit likeable, rom-com.
LE MANS '66 / FORD V FERRARI ★★★☆☆
D: James Mangold (Logan, The Wolverine, Knight and Day, 3:10 to Yuma, Walk The Line, Identity, Cop Land). S: Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Tracy Letts, Caitriona Balfe. How do you make a 24-hour car race interesting? The answer here, only sporadically. Bar Christian Bale's lines, the dialogue is woeful. It starts off worryingly, but by the end is almost coldly critical. The concept had potential not matching the end result. HEART ★★★☆☆ D: Ga-young Jeong. S: Ga-young Jeong, Suck-hyeong Lee, Tae-hwan Choi. South Korean mumblecore. At 70 minutes, is too short. Comparisons will inevitably be made with director Hong Sang-soo. This feels more accomplished than most of his work over the last seven years. THE KING ★★★★★ D: David Michôd (War Machine, The Rover, Animal Kingdom). S: Timothée Chalamet, Robert Pattinson, Joel Edgerton, Lily-Rose Depp, Sean Harris, Thomasin McKenzie, Tara Fitzgerald, Tom Glynn-Carney, Dean-Charles Chapman, Ben Mendelsohn. Exhilarating. This has weight. The dialogue is mellifluous. The acting filled with gripping solemnity. The score skilfully both anchors and drives proceedings. My review: http://www.filmaluation.com/the-king.html  GEMINI MAN ★★☆☆☆ D: Ang Lee (Life of Pi; Hulk; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Ride with the Devil; Eat Drink Man Woman). S: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Douglas Hodge, Linda Emond. What a disappointment from director Ang Lee! The dialogue is abysmal, the characterisation nonexistent, the plot leaden. Though there are occasional moments of verve, and the look is vibrant. My review: http://www.filmaluation.com/gemini-man.html 
JOJO RABBIT ★★★½☆ D: Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows, Eagle vs Shark). S: Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, Taika Waititi. This feels like a movie aimed at enlightening Trump/Brexit voters. It is both funny and extremely sad. The sudden shift in tone jars painfully. A WHITE, WHITE DAY ★★☆☆☆ D: Hlynur Palmason. S: Ingvar Sigurdsson, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Hilmir Snær Guðnason. The material is too slight for the runtime. This story of grief does not sit right. The toxic masculinity appears to go uncensured. THE LOST OKOROSHI ★★★½☆ D: Abba Makama. S: Seun Ajayi, Judith Audu, Tope Tedela. An imaginative Nigerian film about a crisis of the spirit and culture. A social critique wrapped in a winsome comedy.  The Lost Okoroshi |
This website is written by Hemanth Kissoon.
Filmaluation is dedicated to arts culture, with a particular focus on film. I care about intelligence, quality and entertainment. Going to the cinema today? See the recommendations page of what is currently out. Click here. The vital ambitions of art and entertainment: - Perceptiveness - Illumination - The unexpected - Innovation Brains and soul are key; but adrenaline junkies do not fret, there is also much love for an experience that delivers a sucker-punch to the guts via stunningly delivered thrills. Noun, “filmaluation”: The evaluation of a film Verb, "to filmaluate”: To evaluate a film I am well aware how difficult it is to make a film, put on a stage play, create a television show, write a novel, let alone make something of note. (That appreciation doesn’t stop me from having high standards though.) This online magazine is edited by Hemanth Kissoon. Filmaluation is owned by Filmaluation Limited (Company number 8549302. Registered in England and Wales) Archives
October 2019
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