Empire of Light is a British drama directed, written, and co-produced by Sam Mendes. This drama is set in an English coastal town in the early 1980s and tells about the power of human connection during turbulent times. Aside from Olivia Coleman being one of the greatest actresses of our time, I also liked the trailer, which made me want to see this movie. I thought the film was well done.
Hilary Small (Olivia Coleman) works as a duty manager at the “Empire Cinema”, Margate, on the north coast of Kent, England. Hilary struggles with bipolar disorder and lives alone. She has been prescribed lithium by her doctor and is having extramarital sex with her boss Donald Ellis (Colin Firth). A new employee, who is a British Black man, Stephen (Michael Ward) comes on board at the Margate cinema. Stephen lives with his mother Delia (Tanya Moodie) who works as a…
View original post 329 more words
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (or simply Pinocchio) is a 2022 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, with a screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale from a story by del Toro and Matthew Robbins. Loosely based on the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and strongly influenced by Gris Grimly’s illustrations for a 2002 edition of the book. The book reimagined the story of Pinocchio, a wooden puppet who comes to life as the son of his carver Geppetto. Two years ago, Pinocchio was re-created by Matteo Garrone and earned three Oscar nominations. I was curious to compare the two creations. I thought this version was great, as was the last creation so no comparison except a slight deviation in the story.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a computer-animated adventure produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to the spin-off film Puss in Boots (2011) and the sixth installment in the Shrek franchise, the film was directed by Joel Crawford and co-directed by Januel Mercado. Based on the character from Shrek 2 (2004) and inspired by the fairy tale by Giovanni Francesco Straparola, the film’s screenplay was written by Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow, with a story by Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler (the latter of whom wrote the 2011 film). Set after Shrek Forever After (2010), the film follows Puss in Boots as he journeys to find the mystical Last Wish for the Wishing Star by teaming up with Kitty and Perrito (Guillén) to restore the first eight of his nine lives, but comes with several challenges. I thought Puss and Boots: The Last Wish was…
RRR is an Indian Telugu-language epic action drama directed by S. S. Rajamouli, who co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad. It was produced by D. V. V. Danayya of DVV Entertainment. RRR centers around fictional versions of two Indian revolutionaries, their friendship, and their fight against the British Raj. Out of all the 95th Oscar-nominated movies, RRR brought me the most joy, entertainment, and excitement. I loved this movie, plus it’s on Netflix.
Living is a British drama directed by Oliver Hermanus from a screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro, adapted from the 1952 Japanese film Ikiru directed by Akira Kurosawa, which in turn was inspired by the 1886 Russian novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. Set in 1953 London, it depicts a bureaucrat in the county Public Works department facing a fatal illness. Living just became available in the United States after the Oscar nominations. Prior to that, Living was released in the United Kindom in November of 2022. I enjoyed Living as it was quiet and entertaining.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (titled onscreen as simply Glass Onion) is a mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Johnson and Ram Bergman. It is a standalone sequel to the 2019 film Knives Out. Master detective Benoit Blanc takes on a new case revolving around tech billionaire Miles Bron.
James' World 2 