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Showing posts from January, 2020

1917 Review

Certificate: 15 Running time: 118 minutes  Starring: George Mackay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch  Directed by: Sam Mendes The story: Two soldiers are tasked with an important mission to deliver a message to call off an impending attack. The verdict: I feel that this may be one of my shortest reviews ever, because simply put - 1917 is stunning. As the credits rolled, I felt myself welling up and it took me several minutes to compose myself. That was in part due to the fact that 1917 packs an emotional punch, but more than that it was a feeling of being completely overwhelmed by what I’d just experienced. And possibly therein lies the secret of what makes 1917 so incredible - it doesn’t just feel like a film you watch, it feels like a film you experience. You feel like you’re crouched down in the muddy trenches, you feel the fear of being shot at, you feel the urgency of the mission - you feel everything the characters feel. 

Jojo Rabbit Review

Certificate: 12A Running time: 108 minutes  Starring: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson Directed by: Taika Waititi The story: When Johannes Betzler, a ten year old boy and Hitler Youth member, discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their house, he forced to question the validity of his beliefs. This proves even more tricky with regular interventions from his imaginary best friend - who also happens to be Adolf Hitler. The verdict:  I tend to try to avoid reading any reviews until after I’ve seen the film in question, so as not to be swayed or influenced either way. And so I found myself quite surprised upon leaving the cinema and then reading some of the criticism heaped onto Jojo Rabbit. Jojo Rabbit appears to be a rather divisive film, with those who liked it feeling very strongly that it’s a brilliant satire and those who disliked it feeling very vehemently that it’s far too blasé about