Directed: Joe Wright
Written: Anothony McCarten
Released: January 2018
Starring: Gary Oldman Kristin Scott Thomas Lily James Stephen Dillane Ronald Pickup Ben Mendelsohn
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If you thought Dunkirk and The King’s Speech were epics, wait until you see Darkest Hour. It’s another perspective of the remarkable rescue of British soldiers from the shores of Dunkirk, this time the story is told from inside British parliament.
With the Germans closing in, the battle appears to be lost. But Britain’s new prime minister Winston Churchill is not ready to give up. While his cabinet threatens resignation unless he agrees to peace talks with Hitler, Churchill becomes desperate to find a way to save the men on the front lines, and prevent invasion.
With merely hours to go until the Germans get through Dunkirk, Churchill has the weight of the nation on his shoulders as he figures out a way stop them on his own. But time is ticking!
Winston Churchill is played by Gary Oldman, whom I had seen in a lot of films without even realising it (Harry Potter, Batman, A Christmas Carol…). What a guy. The prosthetics are flawless, and his impersonation of how we’ve come to know Churchill was brilliant. You would think they had brought him back from the dead for the film!
Churchill’s speeches and his word-wizardry is legendary, and this film certainly takes advantage of this. It is dialogue-heavy, but I think that’s where the magic is, so make sure you hold your attention. There are some hard-hitting one-liners in this movie, powered by the shear emotion and strength.
Will you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you! – Churchill
It is almost unbelievable how Winston Churchill saved not only the UK, but Europe from Hitler’s reign. He did it without the support of his cabinet, although, the British public were behind him as shown in a fantastic scene depicting Churchill’s first ride on the underground.
He speaks frankly with the public in his carriage; not speaking down to them and not sugar-coating anything. I got chills from the unity of the people, as they all proclaimed that they would stand up to Hitler and not reason with him in peace talks. As Churchill said:
You can not reason with a Tiger when your head is in its mouth! – Churchill
I don’t know how it must have felt having such a decision to make, but this movie certainly projected the stress and weight of the situation well.
A brilliant film with fantastic cast members, lighting and suspense. Akin to a courtroom drama, I suppose, but ultimately a fantastic alternative to watching a documentary on the events.
Definitely worth a watch, but I think the second watch would be better because there’s so much information to absorb.
Jodie’s rating: 8.5/10
I was expecting a super dramatic biopic, but as compelling as the storyline absolutely is, it is intertwined with down-to-Earth humour. (Pun intended.)
The three main characters are Katherine Goble Johnson (Taraji Penda Henson, 
The Dressmaker is about a woman returning home from Europe to the rural Australian village she grew up in. She endeavors to discover the secrets of her childhood.
But then again, I’m not a fan of dark humour. Especially when the DVD cover in no way hints at the horror that unfolds. Good grief.
Thankfully I was pre-warned about the opening scene, so the overly theatrical and colourful intro did not startle me. But I think everyone must be warned – it only gets better from here.
The jazz influence is AH-MAY-ZING. The writer and director is Damien Chazelle who wrote and directed 
It’s about young Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) who is having a tough time growing up in Ireland, with not much in the way of a job, opportunities or a meaningful future.
This is where she meets a charming Irishman (Domhnall Gleeson), and must choose between the life she has always hoped for in Ireland with her family, and the life she has made for herself back in Brooklyn.
A heart-wrenching, relatable and deeply emotional story. I loved it. I laughed, I sobbed (wait for the part where the homeless man sings – I got chills), I was totally engaged from beginning to end.
I’ve heard the book is fantastic – I’m going to read it this summer. But, the movie is exquisite. If you haven’t seen or read The Time Traveler’s Wife, the low-down is that a man is a time traveller and his wife is not. The time traveller, named Henry (Eric Bana) can’t control his travelling, so his impromptu disappearances and reappearances become a way of life for his wife Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams).
Watching it in the cinema, I was clutching my handbag and holding my breath… Any second now, the mild-tempered Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) is going to flip her sh*t. But she didn’t. She remains meek throughout the entire film. She just cries more and more as the story goes on.
And, no make-up! Like, usually there’s the ‘no make-up, make-up’ look. But it actually looks like the Hollywood actresses are bare-faced. Kudos.
Director: Rob Reiner
Cruise’s character is over-confident, and he asks super awesome questions to people ranked way above him. But he has to be careful when he begins questioning Jack Nicholson’s character, because if he can’t get him to admit that he knew about the Code Red, then Tom Cruise’s character will be down the pan for accusing a Colonel… Basically.
Oh! And, Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) – not to be confused with popular Disney pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow – is the lawyer person on the other side, trying to get Dawson and Downey out of the Marines for supposedly murdering Santiago.
Director: Tim Burton
Nevertheless! This was not a totally predictable Burton tale because it was based on real people and events.
Over 10 years, that lie snowballed into something much larger, where Margaret was lying to her daughter, lying to herself and losing her identity in a dominated relationship.
There were some great scenes, like when everyone’s eyes were like dinner plates in the supermarket. I was mesmerised by how believable Amy Adams is! She is an incredible actress for sure. I could completely understand how blinded she was in her marriage, just by her nervous gestures and mannerisms.
Director: Damien Chazelle
I’m sure you’ve heard of Whiplash, and referred to it as ‘that drumming film with 
It was like a way more intense and less-uplifting version of Peaceful Warrior. (A movie about a gymnast mentally and physically pushed to the limit.)
I think the only thing holding this move back was its simplicity… Or maybe that aided it… I’m not too sure, but I wonder if Whiplash could have become as disturbing as Black Swan with some more scenes expressing Neiman’s inner emotions..?
Director: Peter Chelsom
Basically, Hector is a psychiatrist and he finds himself unfulfilled. So he goes on a journey around the world, visiting countries including China and Africa, to find out what makes people happy.
Anyway. I was disappointed because I love 
Directors: Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin
Pike plays the mum, Abi, Tennant as the dad, Doug, and Billy Connolly as the granddad, Gordie.
Nevertheless, the script was amazing. Some fantastic one-liners! For example, the youngest child has a brick and a rock as friends:
Director: Sean Penn
It’s certainly a sad story, and it bursts your idealistic bubble of living in the wilderness. As it turns out, being in the wild is a brutal place to be. Especially all alone.
A classic ‘
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
To be frank, the flashbacks made me feel really uncomfortable. But… I guess the world of heroin addicts shouldn’t exactly be attractive.
In fact, if you enjoyed 
I’d like to point out that the screenplay was written by Nick Hornby, who wrote 
Director: George Lucas
American Graffiti is the colourful account of the final night of high school for a group of students who go out cruising, attend ‘the hop’ and hang at the drive-in dina.
Of course with music comes radio, and its influence on the culture is seen. Wolfman Jack is the most popular radio host among the teenagers, who is looked up to and even sought out especially for personal advice. His charisma and unique material captures the infatuated listeners as his frequency hits almost every car in town.
Director: Nora Ephron
So! Julie & Julia, it is a typical rom-com drama, with a twist! The twist being the gorgeous, wonderful, classic Meryl Streep.
And microwavable things. So, the fact that this is a story about cooking is not attractive to me.
The operational system – or OS – that performs the requests now have personalities, and for all intense and purposes, are a personal assistant with feelings and emotions equal in complexity to humans.
(I’m really hoping this job gets invented soon. I’d be on that like white on RICE!)
OS/human relationships become a common phenomenon, and certainly makes the viewer question what makes a relationship, and what love is.
NZ Film Freak 