My top films of the decade: 2010 – 2019

It seems to be the thing to do – as we enter a new decade, a list of favourite films from the one which is just ending appears to be de rigueur. So here we are. I’ve seen other lists where the writers have selected one film from each year of the decade to provide …

Neruda

Director Pablo Larraín gives Chilean poet Pablo Neruda a taste of his own magical reality by mixing elements of Neruda's real life with a fictional police officer who is on his trail. As can be expected, Gael García Bernal beautifully inhabits the self-aware, self-aggrandising fictional sleuth, hot on the trail of Neruda, a fugitive in …

London Film Festival – First Visit!

Occasionally I find myself in London for work, and I was quite excited to realise that one of these visits for the first time coincides with the London Film Festival. So I've been able to squeeze enough time to see a tiny handful of films - I'd love to see more, but adding in accommodation costs …

The Year of the Alternative Western?

Note: These musings contain mild spoilers for El Ardor (The Burning). It's the darndest thing. I've just watched Gael García Bernal's latest film El Ardor. It's set in the Argentinian rainforest but towards the end I found myself thinking of two other films I'd seen recently - Slow West, starring Michael Fassbender, and The Salvation, …

El Ardor – The Burning

Those of you who've been reading this blog for a while will know that Gael García Bernal can generally be relied upon in my view to provide high quality, thought-provoking films on a regular basis. For some reason though, this one fails to reach those usually high standards. Don't get me wrong - Bernal himself …

Rosewater

Gael García Bernal manages to choose roles which have something to say about the world, often political, and frequently featuring real people or events (I'm thinking No, ¿Quién es Dayani Cristal? or También la Lluvia, for example). Here again, he plays British-based Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, arrested for 'espionage' while covering Iranian presidential elections in …

10 most anticipated films of Spring 2015

There's usually a bit of a post-Oscar lull in March, and then things start to pick up again. A number of films have been on my radar for quite a while, and several of them are coming up soon. So here are my top 10 most anticipated films from now until the end of June (in order …

My top 10 (or 12) films of 2014

Let me explain my title Two of my top 10 films of 2014 were seen very early in the year, but had already been on wide release in just about every other country apart from the UK in 2013.  So by the time I saw them, they had already taken their plaudits, appeared on many …

¿Quién es Dayani Cristal? – Who is Dayani Cristal?

Gael Garcia Bernal can always be relied upon to be part of some thought-provoking films. He was in my favourite film of both 2012 (También la Lluvia) and 2013 (No), and with ¿Quién es Dayani Cristal?, he has not let me down this year either. Bernal mixes two strands in this documentary - one presents the …

My top 10 films of 2013

Some really good films appeared this year, and yet again it's been difficult to select the final 10. But without further ado, here they are, with links to longer opinions if you want to take a peek. Number 10 - Behind the Candelabra Blingingly touching story of Liberace and his relationship with a younger man, …