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The Mountain – Venice 2018 Review

Imagine if someone told you there was a film in Venice competition that could be described as ‘like Twin Peaks but starring Jeff Goldblum’. Now, imagine the disappointment when that sentence is followed up...
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Brimstone – Review

To get to the heart of what makes Brimstone a terrible film, one has to look at the tone. On the surface this 19th century-set tale is bleak, as it charts the life of the mute Liz (Dakota Fanning)....
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Jim & Andy – Venice 2017 Review

As hinted by its nicely simple title, Jim & Andy is a documentary exploring the brilliant but difficult comedy minds of Jim Carrey and the late Andy Kaufman, centring on how those minds became one on the...
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Una Famiglia – Venice 2017 Review

Deliberately opaque for its first 20 minutes, it’s hard to see exactly what film Sebastiano Riso’s Una Famiglia actually is for a good while after it starts. Come the end, you’ll wish it never revealed...
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Woodshock – Venice 2017 Review

The highlight of any season of the FX anthology American Horror Story is always the creepy and evocative opening titles based on whatever that year’s theme is. At 90 seconds long, they’re perfect snapshots...
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La Mélodie – Venice 2017 Review

Generally the first exposure to foreign film for a British child is in a French lesson towards the end of term. Over the last decade or so, 2004’s The Chorus and the 2008 Palme d’Or winner The...
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Downsizing – Venice 2017 Review

Alexander Payne kicks off the 2017 Venice Film Festival with a strange, ambitious, and often pummellingly downbeat story. After Norwegian scientists make the miraculous breakthrough of cellular miniaturisation...
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Frantz – Review

In Frantz Franco-German relations in the wake of the Great War are explored, but at its heart Ozon has crafted an old-fashioned movie that nevertheless pulses with a modern vitality. The setup is simple...
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Hacksaw Ridge – Review

To Mel Gibson and Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge is a shot at redemption. For Garfield, it’s to be taken seriously again after the failure of the Amazing Spider-Man films. For Gibson, well, it’s a lot more...