by
Julien Faddoul
Mank *
1930's Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane (1941).
A success in its recreation of the period, presented in evocative layers with the typical Fincher coolness. But in almost every other respect, it’s a slog and a failure. From a scholarly aspect, the film is mostly poppycock; no attempt is made to explain the psychology behind the political and socio-political decisions of the time, let alone of these specific individuals, assuming that anyone who is watching should already be intimately familiar with Citizen Kane (1941).
d – David Fincher
w – Jack Fincher
ph – Erik Messerschmidt
pd – Donald Graham Burt
m – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
ed – Kirk Baxter
cos – Trish Summerville
p – Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, Douglas Urbanski
Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tom Pelphrey, Arliss Howard, Tuppence Middleton, Monika Gossmann, Joseph Cross, Sam Troughton, Toby Leonard Moore, Tom Burke, Charles Dance, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jamie McShane
After a whirlwind romance with a wealthy widower, a naïve bride moves to his family estate but can’t escape the haunting shadow of his late wife.
Aggressively stupid and misguided du Maurier adaptation, with a director who is clearly in way over his head. Indeed, this is actually a far more faithful rewriting of the novel than Hitchcock’s masterful 1940 version. But despite all that, this is predominantly a film about scenic sunsets (all of them digital), shiny cars, long nightgowns and attractive actors performing with the equivalent level of emotional nuance as a supermodel.
d – Ben Wheatley
w – Jane Goldman, Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse (Based on the Novel by Daphne Du Maurier)
ph – Laurie Rose
pd – Sarah Greenwood
m – Clint Mansell
ed – Jonathan Amos
cos – Julian Day
p – Tim Beaven, Eric Fellner, Nira Park
Cast: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Keeley Hawes, Ann Dowd, Sam Riley, Tom Goodman-Hill, Mark Lewis Jones, John Hollingworth, Bill Paterson
After landing the gig of a lifetime, a New York jazz pianist dies and finds himself trapped in a strange land between Earth and the afterlife.
Here’s a case where American animation has become far more vital and cultivated within the story of the cinema than any discerning cinephile could have predicted, that the perception of cinematic interpretation tangibly supersedes anything the narrative has to offer. For the message here is both a) hopelessly simplistic and b) a variation on themes that Docter has previously explored with more clarity. But in its joy, optimism and aesthetic achievement, it forms an irresistible cineaste feast. Had Ingmar Bergman ever made a Pixar film, this is probably what the result would feel like.
d – Pete Docter
co-d - Kemp Powers
w – Pete Docter, Kemp Powers, Mike Jones
ph – Mat Aspbury, Ian Megibben
pd – Steve Pilcher
m – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
ed – Kevin Nolting
p – Dana Murray
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson, Phylicia Rashād, Daveed Diggs, Richard Ayoade, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Angela Bassett
A recovering alcoholic is ravaged by the theoretical notion that she is going to die tomorrow. When her sceptical friend discovers these feelings of imminent death are contagious, they both begin bizarre journeys through what might be the last day of their lives.
Existential allegory; fascinating in concept if not in detail. It proves too thin despite its 80-minute runtime, but it remains engrossing and very well calculated.
wd – Amy Seimetz
ph – Jay Keitel
pd – Ariel Vida
m – Mondo Boys
ed – Kate Brokaw
p – Justin Benson, David Lawson Jr, Aaron Moorhead, Amy Seimetz
Cast: Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Katie Aselton, Chris Messina, Tunde Adebimpe, Jennifer Kim, Josh Lucas, Adam Wingard, Michelle Rodriguez, Olivia Taylor Dudley
A daughter helps her father prepare for the end of his life by chronicling it on camera.
Full of the quiet charm and gentle observation evident in Cameraperson (2016), Johnson this time offers up another personal diary in cinematic form as it’s happening, rather than of the past. She tries her best to leave no stone unturned and it’s that struggle that proves so moving.
d – Kirsten Johnson
w – Nels Bangerter, Kirsten Johnson
ph – John Foster
pd – Nathan Fisher
ed – Nels Bangerter
cos – William Mellette
p – Marilyn Ness, Megan Ellison, Katy Chevigny
Cast: Richard Johnson, Kirsten Johnson
An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.
A pathetic film based on an even more pathetic, inherently reactionary source material. It has very little to say about the decaying society of rural Appalachia, and the times when any kind of identity rears its ugly head, it is, again, to spout the vile rhetoric of Vance’s biographical account. Much of it is an excuse for its cast to indulge in their worst instincts, which is just as well, as Howard is a smart enough director to foresee that that is the only possible route to make something like this as apolitical as possible within the culture of 2020.
d – Ron Howard
w – Vanessa Taylor (Based on the Book by JD Vance)
ph – Maryse Alberti
pd – Molly Hughes
m – David Fleming, Hans Zimmer
ed – James Wilcox
cos – Virginia Johnson
p – Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Karen Lunder
Cast: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Bo Hopkins, Owen Asztalos, Jesse C. Boyd
An orphaned girl discovers a magical garden hidden at her strict uncle's estate.
Handsome, thoughtful adaptation of a psychologically complex children’s novel. The third such attempt at a cinematic rendering, this one proves too anaemic and subdued to make the same impact. Not bad exactly, just uninspired.
d – Marc Munden
w – Jack Thorne (Based on the Novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett)
ph – Lol Crawley
pd – Grant Montgomery
m – Dario Marianelli
ed – Luke Dunkley
cos – Michele Clapton
p – Rosie Alison, David Heyman
Cast: Dixie Egerickx, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Maeve Dermody, Edan Hayhurst, Jemma Powell, Amir Wilson, Isis Davis
The Forty-Year-Old Version **
Desperate for a breakthrough as she nears 40, a struggling New York City playwright finds inspiration by reinventing herself as a rapper.
Clever, acidic midlife reevaluation comedy that makes the most out of its low-budget, even if its at times too determinedly quirky.
wd – Radha Blank
ph – Eric Branco
pd – Valeria De Felice
ed – Robert Grigsby Wilson
cos – Sarah Williams
p – Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Radha Blank, Jordan Fudge, Rishi Rajani, Jennifer Semler, Lena Waithe
Cast: Radha Blank, Peter Y. Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Reed Birney, Imani Lewis, TJ Atoms, Welker White, Jacob Ming-Trent
When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study average Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Yet another limp comedy from Falcone and McCarthy in which a lot of meandering around seems to be what the filmmakers believe is automatically charming. It’s still unclear what this collaboration is supposed to be doing for either of them, other than giving them the opportunity to possess complete creative control of the material.
d – Ben Falcone
w – Steve Mallory
ph – Barry Peterson
pd – Jefferson Sage
m – Fil Eisler
ed – Tia Nolan
p – Rob Cowan, Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, James Corden, Bobby Cannavale, Brian Tyree Henry, Sam Richardson, Ben Falcone, Michael Beach, Rachel Ticotin, Jean Smart, Sarah Baker, Jessica St. Clair, Karan Soni, Ken Griffey Jr, Octavia Spencer, William Daniels, Steve Mallory, Courtney Patterson
A mystical, ancient dagger causes a notorious serial killer to magically switch bodies with a 17-year-old girl.
Tired horror-comedy that does very little with its premise and offers a thoroughly irritating performance from Vaughn.
d – Christopher Landon
w – Michael Kennedy, Christopher Landon
ph – Laurie Rose
pd – Hillary Andujar
m – Bear McCreary
ed – Ben Baudhuin
cos – Whitney Anne Adams
p – Jason Blum
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Celeste O'Connor, Misha Osherovich, Uriah Shelton, Dana Drori, Katie Finneran, Melissa Collazo
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