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Tracks
An overbearing score and a blank slate of a main character make this only a bit less of a slog than the real walk across Australia. →
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The Last Emperor
Bertolucci’s three hour epic about the last Chinese emperor is lavishly filmed but oppressively dull. →
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The Missing Person
Michael Shannon doing private detective film noir should be brilliant, but this was only ok. Not bad. Just…ok. →
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A Time to Kill
One of those respectably-performed John Grisham adaptations slightly tainted by that ‘90s “Ok, what did we learn?” vibe. →
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Like Father, Like Son
An engaging Japanese drama about 2 families who discover their children were switched at birth. Subdued yet powerful. →
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Calvary
An almost impossibly sparse and melancholy piece, as if the few characters are all in purgatory. Brilliant, but crushing. →
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The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Two hours of Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway very stylishly eye-fucking each other. →
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The Lego Movie
Like being screamed at by a children’s birthday party. →
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Ida
A superb, minimalist Polish drama. →
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Princess Mononoke
A long, slightly preachy Ghibli. Wore me out in the end, but I liked it for a while in the first half. →
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Metro Manilla
Well-played innocent-man-sucked-into-crime drama. Story’s been told over & over but the Philippine setting makes it feel new. →
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The Browning Version (1994)
A dry & unremarkable school-room drama. Nice to see Albert Finney at work but this is background noise at best. →
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For Those in Peril
What seems to be a slow-burning naturalistic Scottish fishing village drama edges slowly towards the supernatural. Good. →
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The Cat Returns
A peculiar b-list Ghibli involving a girl transported to a world of cats. Slightly unsettling in a way I can’t describe. →
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Grave of the Fireflies
The saddest film there’ll ever be. It's like, how much more sad could this be? And the answer is none. None more sad. →
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Enjoyed it despite being distracted by Kirk Douglas’ face which is made entirely of dimple and chin. →
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My Neighbour Totoro
Feels sacrilegious to be negative about Totoro but 90 minutes of screaming children is 89 minutes more than I can stand. →
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The Last Battle
Luc Besson’s first film; post-apocalyptic, black & white, dialogue-free. ‘80s synth score hasn’t aged well but worth a look. →
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Some Came Running
Could have been a good, solid, ‘50s Sinatra drama but seedy misogyny throughout has dated this badly. Unappealing. →
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The Secret World of Arrietty
Doesn’t grab me. As beautiful as any other Ghibli but there’s something a bit limp about it all. →