Time to wake up

 

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Directed by Mike Flanagan this film based on the novel of the same name stars Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson and Kyliegh Curran. Now all grown up Danny Torrance must learn to live with his past trauma and how to use his powers to help a young girl.

Unlike some I am not obsessed with The Shining (1980) but this film surprisingly serves as a good sequel to that film. I actually enjoyed this film so much more than I expected, both the horror and the thematic content. Well worth watching.

4/5

Not a doomed youth

 Anthem of a Teenage Prophet (2018)

Directed by Robin Hays this film stars Cameron Monaghan, Peyton List and Juliette Lewis. In the late 1990s a teenage boy discovers he has premonitions of when people will die.

As coming of age films go this is not one of the best but muddles a long to a fairly decent conclusion. There are plenty of enjoyable elements even if it does feel like some parts of the plot are left unresolved. If the protagonist did not spend most of the film hiding behind his hair that would probably have been an improvement.

2/5

Ashes to ashes

 

Ash is Purest White (2018)

Written & directed by Jia Zhangke this film stars Zhao Tao and Liao Fan. We follow the life of a woman and her mobster boyfriend from 2001 to 2017.

Slow moving and not exactly action packed this film is not going to be for everyone. If you like a sedate character study then this film is for you. Watching this film I can not help but feel I might have been missing the context due to my lack of knowledge of modern Chinese history.

3/5

Fucking Boomers man.

 Tone-Deaf (2019)

Written & directed by Richard Bates Jr. this film stars Amanda Crew and Robert Patrick. After losing her boyfriend and her job a young woman rents a house in the country for the weekend.

There are some pretty funny moments in this black comedy which works off the generational divide between millennials and baby boomers. While there may not be much depth here this film does at least manage to be funny. As simple horror films go there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

3/5

Childish

 

The Children Act (2017)

Directed by Richard Eyre this film based on the novel of the same name stars Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead. A high court judge has to decide if a 17 year old Jehovah's Witness should be forced to have blood transfusions or not.

As with many book to screen adaptations this film suffers from too much of the conflict being internal rather than external. There is just too much of the characters staring off wistfully without confronting each other. I also felt that the script never truly tackled the matter at hand with enough depth during the courtroom phase.

2/5

Not that close really

 

Resistance (2020)

Written & directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz this film inspired by real events stars Jesse Eisenberg and Clemence Poesy. We follow Marcel Marceau as he works for the resistance during world war 2.

To be honest I am not sure how well this film sticks to the actual events of Marceau's life. Given that Marceau was 16 at the start of the war having someone twice his age play him is not a great start. In the end despite good intentions this is not a great film.

2/5

The government is not your friend

 

Richard Jewell (2019)

Directed by Clint Eastwood this film based on real events stars Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm and Olivia Wilde. After finding a bomb a security guard is accused of being the one that planted it.

Certainly this is a fascinating look at a man hounded by his own government for the crime of being different. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the FBI side of the story but still this is an interesting watch. The accusations that the film commits the sort of thing it is decrying with some of the claims it makes against the female reporter is worth keeping in mind.

3/5