Nie yin niang – The Assassin

Lives up to all the reports of looking beautiful. And all the reports of sparse/incomprehensible plot. On balance, I was OK with the latter because of the former while I was watching it, but don't feel like I could sit through it again. The slower pace allows time for some beautiful cinematography, so the best …

Krigen – A War

The first two-thirds of this story try (and to a large extent succeed) in putting the viewer very definitely in a war, or at least our protagonists' portion of a war. It's dangerous, loud, confusing - we don't know who we can trust, who's being used, how safe it is to put one foot in …

The Hateful Eight

This is one of the first Tarantino films I have liked in a very long time. I'm not generally a fan, and I went to see this not because I really wanted to but because I felt I ought to, I found it very entertaining, though not without flaws. With the exception of the odd snowy …

Manchester Film Festival

Here's something exciting - Manchester is having its own film festival!To be honest there was one last year, but it was on at the same time as the Manchester International Festival and I fear it didn't get the coverage it needed. Let's just say that as an avid film-goer, I was totally oblivious to its …

The Danish Girl

Very mixed opinion about this. On the one hand, Alicia Vikander turns in yet another great performance as the wife of the eponymous Danish Girl. And it is always a pleasure to see Ben Whishaw, Matthias Schoenaerts and Sebastian Koch on screen. And there are times when Eddie Redmayne is very good indeed. But there …