My least favourite films of 2017

These are the ones that brought me least pleasure, or most annoyance, during the past 12 months. Some of them put me at odds with many of you, I know! Click on the film title below for my original thoughts on each one. Favourite films of the year coming up in the next post! Number 5 – …

Assassin’s Creed

I'm so sad, I spent most of the time thinking that the apostrophe in the title is in the wrong place. Surely the creed is that of more than one assassin? The fact that I had time to think this also probably tells you just how engaged I was with this film - answer is: …

La fille inconnue – The Unknown Girl

Just after seeing this movie, I read that directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne had originally intended to make this film with Marion Cotillard but it didn't work so they made Two Days, One Night with her instead. And intriguingly, having had two years to sort out The Unknown Girl, the two films have so many …

Juste la fin du monde – It’s Only the End of the World

This was the film I had built my entire (if short) London Film Festival experience around. As soon as I knew I was going to be in town on the evening of the UK premiere, I booked my ticket. Director Xavier Dolan is currently one of my favourite directors. His films aren't always easy to …

Macbeth

I love Shakespeare, but I'm not a purist who insists that everything should be done as 'written' by Will himself. So it didn't bother me that things had been 'cut' for the screenplay here - in fact, often it's totally necessary to help a play make the successful move from stage to screen. And with …

Picks from Cannes 2015

No, I won't be going unfortunately, but some of the films in this year's line-up have been announced today and here are the ones that I'm particularly looking forward to once they are eventually released to mere mortals (probably next year, if we're lucky). The opening film is La Tête haute, directed by France's Emmanuelle …

Deux jours, une nuit – Two Days, One Night

Poor old Marion Cotillard is about to return to work after a period of depression, only to discover that her colleagues have, under pressure, voted for a bonus instead of her return. She must channel all of what remains of her mental fortitude into visiting each of her colleagues over the weekend to persuade them …

De rouille et d’os – Rust and Bone

You know when everyone raves about a film and you just don't get it? That. I had been looking forward to this ever since its great reviews at Cannes, but I left the cinema feeling, well, a bit cheated to be honest. Maybe I was expecting a totally ...