Eleanor Reviews

*** DVD Release In the final months of World War Two, the Allies had broken into Germany and making their way towards Berlin. Despite their advance, the Allies still found themselves outgunned and outmanoeuvred by far superior German Tiger tanks, leaving the US Sherman tanks vulnerable targets.   The eponymous 'Fury' is the name of Brad Pitt's battered tank; a blood-smeared, claustrophobic space packed with four hardened veterans, and one new recruit, Norman (Logan Lerman). A clerk and new to the army, it is through Norman's wide eyes that we see the horrors of the final months of World War Two, and Lerman, who I had previously written off as an actor, actually does pretty admirably in a role that sees him develop from idealistic newbie, to blood- and mud-smeared soldier. And there is certainly no shortage of blood and mud on display, with director David Ayer seemingly believing that the more gore and bodily mutilation seen on screen, the more realistic and

***/**** (3.5 stars) DVD Release Sent to live with her cousins deep in the British countryside, American teenager Daisy initially resists their attempts to involve her in their way of life. As the summer wears on, the shadow of World War 3 seeps into their lives. This was a surprisingly tough film. I’ll admit that I didn’t pay much attention to the certification of the film before I started watching, and found myself watching an incredibly grim, mature and, frankly, quite disturbing, story about the world descending into anarchy in the face of an unspecified enemy. Indeed, there is a great deal of abject grimness, not least the murder of children, scenes of rape, a distressing scene involving an aeroplane, and countless dead bodies. The second half of the film is such a tonal shift from the first, wherein a teenage girl overcomes her fears and self-imposed rules, falls in love with a handsome man, and spends the summer swimming the idyllic rivers, that they actually fee

    ****   In 1912, Emmeline Pankhurst issued an appeal to her followers, the Suffragettes, asking them to increase in their militancy in order to sustain the vote for women.   In 1912, women in Britain did not have the vote. Upon marriage they were considered the property of their husbands, and any child they might have would immediately be viewed at the father's charge as opposed to the mother's. Rape, physical abuse and discrimination in the work place were not considered crimes, and education was confined to only the richest. Carey Mulligan's Maud Watts is a work of fiction, and yet it is easy to imagine hundreds of working class women, in the same desperate drudgery, risking their livelihoods so that they could obtain the vote, a symbol of some kind of agency in their lives. It is an emotive tale, told here by a female crew, with director Sarah Gavron bringing Abi Morgan's poignant script to life.   Mulligan's Maud is a mother, wife, and a fu

***** Haunted by a prophecy spoken to him on the battlefield, and encouraged by his wife, Macbeth embarks on a bloody and disastrous mission to secure the title of ‘King’ for himself. Doubtless we have all sat through hours of Kenneth Branagh’s faithful adaptions of his playwright hero, and, yes, these are good films, but when an entirely new, fearless interpretation of a classic text comes along, it is a beautiful thing. Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth might not quote Shakespeare word for word, but it somehow feels more in-keeping with the gothic, tragic elements of the text than any other adaptation to date. This is a story of death, blood, tragedy, obsession, guilt and fear, and using remarkably few of Shakespeare’s words, Kurzel is able to create a gripping story. Michael Fassbender is Macbeth, a man of war, fatigued by years of fighting and haunted by the memories of those who died on the field alongside him. He is weary, curious at the words of the Weird Sisters but also too

**** Left behind after a freak storm disrupts the mission, Mark Watney finds himself alone on Mars. With the odds stacked massively against him, and unable to communicate with Earth, Watney resolves to survive for as long as possible. I finished Andy Weir's eponymous novel just three days before going to see the cinematic version, and whilst the book was hardly a work of great literature, it was still an action-packed page turner that I consumed faster than any other book I've opened since finishing the old MA. With the novel so fresh in my mind, I was concerned that would spoil the film, but I needn't have been worried, as the film is remarkably faithful to the book, even down to exact phrases being used. Yes, there are alterations, but largely I agreed with these changes. In fact, I preferred Watney in the film to the book, which is largely down to Matt Damon's understated and engaging performance. In the novel, Watney constantly quips away, laughing off his s