Eleanor Reviews

**** When twelve mysterious objects appear on the surface of the Earth, distinguished linguist Louise Banks is recruited to help investigate why they are here. What results is an experience far beyond language...   Like Denis Villeneuve's previous films, Sicario and Prisoners , Arrival throws ordinary people into a situation they never thought they would face, this time taking university doctor Louise Banks from her teaching job into a spaceship to interact with aliens. This may be the least 'realistic' of his films, and yet Arrival somehow manages to feel the most 'human', thanks to its roots in communication and emotion. Amy Adams in undoubtedly the heart and soul of the film, her face and very human reactions constantly being sought out by the camera and framed in the middle of the screen. It is a stripped down, restrained and understated performance, and yet Adams always manages to immerse us in the emotion of a situation. Jeremy Renner and Forest Whita

  ****   After his hands are all but destroyed in a car accident, talented neurosurgeon Doctor Strange travels to Nepal in search of healing. There he meets The Ancient One, who begins to teach him of  alternate universes and the terrible evil that threatens to destroy the world.   Another day, another superhero movie. Only Doctor Strange isn't your typical superhero film - it's more mind- and reality-bending than that. Focusing on the premise that there is more than just our universe, the film plays with different dimensions and layers of reality to create a multi-faceted story with some truly imaginative set pieces. Obviously, the visuals and premise can be called Inception- esque, and, of course, parallels can definitely be drawn between the two, but Doctor Strange inevitably feels more frothy than Christopher Nolan's philosophical study. That doesn't mean that Marvel's latest offering is anything less than spectacular, however. Supporting the realit