Category: Arts

Jojo Rabbit

Jojo Rabbit is set some seventy five years ago but is strangely relevant today given the current politically and culturally climate. Alt-right racism and unabashed narcissism may seem a long way from 1940’s Germany but perhaps it’s a reminder of what can happen when we fail to rein it in. Maybe it takes a film like Jojo Rabbit. We are witness to a kid who sees it for what it is but also manages to deliver the humour.

Liberal use of the Panzerfaust anti-tank theatre prop places the drama nearer the end of the war. It adds a certain supra boy scout kudos. You get the feeling this kind of thing intrigues audiences – the cultural and technical peculiarities of the Weinmach. Continue reading Jojo Rabbit

Terminator: Dark Fate

Ok, I admit I’m not a Terminator diehard but I’d like to think this affords me a fresh take on the latest release.
Terminator: Dark Fate is the 6th instalment and the formula is now honed and updated sufficiently for contemporary audiences. I had my suspicions. Action and brawn, predictable scripts with uninspired acting and little else. Not so. Arnold Schwarzenegger has come of age. His acting has improved and that’s not surprising since he’s been around for years (or maybe the experience as California’s ‘Govern-ator’ changed him). He manages to portray T-800 Terminator in a new light and to make it/him ‘more human’. In true celluloid tradition he is able to give full expression and without saying a word. Continue reading Terminator: Dark Fate

Yesterday

There is a special feel about the movie Yesterday. My initial reaction on seeing the trailer was one of suspicion, that it seemed like a setup; use the Beatles and their songs to generate a tenuous plot. A tad parasitic.
But I was pleasantly surprised. In its light-hearted way Yesterday entertains from start to finish. It has a certain self deprecating dry wit that is very English and so manages to pull off the unthinkable: use the Beatles‘ music to sell itself. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting) has achieved what would initially appear to be an unlikely success. Continue reading Yesterday

Rocketman

Tiny Dancer has always been in my all time top ten, along with Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man .. and I hesitate because this isn’t about me but a certain Elton and his pen friend Bernie.
The song’s free wheeling imagery – the type that only poetry conveys – seems to capture what is quintessentially ’70s. The bus singalong sequence in the film Almost Famous (2000) recreates something of the magic. But how could you achieve this in a biopic? Continue reading Rocketman