Eleanor Reviews

**** July, 1967. As racial riots in the city of Detroit reach breaking point, the police and National Guard surround the Algiers Motel, believing a sniper to be situated there. At the end of the night, three black men were dead and nine others had been brutally assaulted.   When it comes to a film such as Detroit, the phrase 'I enjoyed it' seems hideously misjudged - how it is possible to 'enjoy' a film wherein three innocent black men are murdered in cold blood? Instead of the word 'enjoy' then, I suggest 'admire' - and I definitely do admire Kathryn Bigelow's study into what happened that fatal night in 1967. Interjecting dramatized scenes with newsreel footage and black and white images from the time itself, Bigelow instantly fixes the viewer in 1967 and the context of the period. Instead of leaping straight into the drama of the Algiers Hotel itself, Bigelow takes the time to introduce us to the tension of the moment, showing a police r

*** Desperate to break free of the crime syndicate he has unwittingly become a part of, getaway driver Baby agrees to one last job. Favoured by his boss, Doc, as an integral part of the team, Baby's skills behind the wheel are linked to his ability to choose the right playlist for the right moment - but will his catalogue of tunes be able to save him this time? OK, unpopular opinion coming up - Baby Driver isn't all it's cracked up to be. In fact, it's probably my movie disappointment of the year. Loud and brash, this is a film that's all about the surface and not a great deal else. Not that I mind a bit of frivolous, throw-away fun every now and again - I just want it done properly. The gimmick of the movie - that Baby (Ansel Elgort) plays music whilst he performs getaway driving - grows old after the opening montage of a bank robbery, and it never reinvents itself. Sure, the soundtrack is pretty good, but it stops relating to what we see on screen

      ****   When an international company comes to reclaim her best friend from their mountainous home in South Korea, Mija will stop at nothing to win back Okja, a 'super pig'. Setting out on a desperate quest to save her beloved companion, Mija finds herself caught up in the corrupt world of capitalism and consumerism, where animal sacrifice is all a part of the game.   So, I actually saw 'Okja' about three weeks ago, but I was so traumatised by the experience that I couldn't bring myself to write about it until now. A warning to you: do not be fooled by the light-hearted, quirky appearance of the trailer - this is NOT a feel good film about a girl's loving relationship with an overgrown pig. It is in fact much, much darker than that, showcasing themes of corruption, capitalism, obsession and animal abuse. It also contains one of the most distressing rape scenes shown on film. Oh yes, it starts happily enough, with a cuddly creature and her hum

***** In May 1940, the advancing German forces trapped hundreds of thousands of Allied troops on the shores of a small coastal town, Dunkirk. Unprotected from the air and at the mercy of U-boats lurking in the channel, the soldiers looked out to sea and longed for home.   The moment I found out that Christopher Nolan (in my opinion, one of the best directors working today) was going to create a war epic, I was hooked. I longed for the cast list, looked out for the trailers, and delighted at Hans Zimmer's collaboration. And, after such a wait, it is with great relief that I can say Dunkirk is everything I wanted it to be, and more. Not only is it nail-bitingly tense, immersive in every sense of the word and moving, it is also incredibly beautiful. If a war film can ever be referred to as such. Expertly shot by Hoyte van Hoytema, who manages to capture the expanse of the sea as well as the claustrophobia of the boats, and punctuated by Zimmer's unrelenting, sweeping sc