Tagged 2015

Gemma Bovery is a film of inconsistencies; Gemma Arterton’s titular character is interchangeably ignorant and fluent in French, suffering rural ennui and enamoured by country living. Though it may be...

The love story of Amy (Schumer) and Aaron (Hader) follows the genre's traditional arc while putting the emphasis heavily on the com in rom-com. Playing the lead on screen and paper, Schumer is a tour de...

If this is how Ritchie and Cavill Bond, we’re lucky they never did. Aside from a microdot of genuine excitement and energy, U.N.C.L.E. is a masterclass in mundane, insubstantial espionage. U.N.C.L.E....

A comedy starring the cast of Monty Python and the late Robin Williams - not to mention a smorgasbord of British talent in supporting roles - sounds brilliant on paper, but it only works if you give them funny...

High-flying but unsettled couple Simon and Robyn (the convincingly slimy/angelic pairing of Bateman and Hall) encounter Gordo, Simon’s intense high school classmate. His gradual imposition on their lives...

One of 2015's most important films, though so deft in style that it's never "Worthy". A parent's FTM transition provides a backdrop, but James (formerly Jane) is never defeatist or self-loathing. Instead,...

Max is very ‘American’ yet not at all alienating, with a charming and interesting premise. Part of the film’s engaging nature derives from quick and adept character development, but the most appealing...

A.J. Manglehorn has a ridiculous name and a ridiculous obsession with lost-love Clara; like Bellow's Herzog, the ageing recluse has an unfortunate habit of writing never-delivered letters. Thankfully, a...

Questions about its certification aside, writer-director Marielle Heller's Sundance hit The Diary of a Teenage Girl succeeds thanks to its honest, intelligent script and a bold, star-making performance...

Ethan Hunt has done it again, but better. With a complex plot and credible enemy, Rogue Nation puts Hunt through his paces. Cruise is more than up to the challenge, proving that he is in total control of...

MMA-centric Warrior once perfectly blurred the lines between predictable fluff and hard-hitting emotional heft. Southpaw treads the same path with less punches on target. This is a redemption movie and so...

While the concept is interesting enough, it’s the casting of Schwarzenegger tenderly caring for what is essentially his terminally ill daughter that lifts Maggie above the status of an eyebrow-raising...

Sebastião Salgado and Wim Wenders are perfect together: veterans of photography and filmmaking respectively, and concerned with the political and spiritual - both subjects being treated deeply and...

Ant-Man is the hidden gem of all recent superhero films. Douglas and Rudd battle on a goliath technoscale; facing down corporations, dejected daughters and supervillains alike. This faux-heist escapade...

The Choir is a nicely shot film, featuring an endearing protagonist and suitably goofy (and pleasingly multiracial) young co-stars, exalted by beautiful musical moments. Besides the aforementioned merits...