Eleanor Reviews

***** David Copperfield takes to the stage to recount his life and times, interspersed with the plethora of colourful characters he's met along the way. It's clear that Armando Iannucci loves Dickens' Victorian behemoth David Copperfield , because only someone who loves the 800-page bildungsroman could have created a film that is at once wonderfully faithful and yet wholly creative with the source text. The film begins with our eponymous hero (the charming Dev Patel) taking the stage to recount his story, something that Dickens himself also did in wildly popular tours of Britain and the United States, and it feels like another respectful nod from Iannicci (who shares screenwriting credits with Simon Blackwell) to one of the most celebrated authors who ever lived. Throughout his film, Iannucci both pokes fun at Dickens ('why am I even this scene?') and celebrates his works, giving a new lease of life to a story that most of us would bypass in the book

***** A poor family infiltrates the lives of their rich counterpart with disastrous consequences. You've undoubtedly heard of Parasite by now, but if you've somehow missed the furore about this strange, disturbing drama, allow me to bring you somewhat up to speed. Back in the summer of 2019, it picked up the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and rocketed into the spotlight. Since then, it's made history by becoming the first South Korean film to ever be nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards and, at last night's SAG Awards, it shocked the cinematic world by collecting the accolade of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (yeah, quite the mouthful!). Oh, it also picked up Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and has a handful of nominations for the BAFTAs. Phew! So, what's all the fuss about? In the opening few moments, we meet a family that's fallen upon hard times - all four o

***** With their father at war, sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy navigate the difficulties of growing up, bumping into some colourful characters along the way. For many generations of readers, and hopefully many more to come, Little Women has been a treasured tale. For me, first gifted the audio book and then the novel, it's a story that instantly reminds me of my childhood. When I came to study the text for my degree, the class ubiquitously agreed that it was a nostalgic treat to revisit the book again - perhaps why so few of us chose to analyse it for our end-of-module exam. Sitting in a cinema, packed with women of all ages, that same sense of nostalgia washed over me as Greta Gerwig deftly and sensitively interwove two time frames (the youthfulness of the Little Women story with the bittersweet nature of the sequel, Good Wives ), whilst simultaneously reintroducing me to some of my favourite literary creations. Let's start with the elephant in the room - Gr

***** In the midst of World War One, two young British soldiers are tasked with delivering a message that will save 1600 soldiers from certain death. Before 1917 was even released in the UK, it was already collecting accolades aplenty, with big wins at the Golden Globes in the first week of January. Plus, with nominations for Best Film and Best Director at the BAFTAs and almost guaranteed nods at the Oscars, it seems like Sam Mendes' foray into the war genre will be taking home yet more gongs before awards season is over. Naturally, when a film receives quite so much hype, the idea of going to see it can make me feel a little trepidatious - however, as a self-confessed lover of war films, there was no way I was going to miss this... I needn't have been worried: without a doubt, 1917 is one of the best films I've seen in a very long time. From the moment the central pair of young soldiers, Blake and Schofield (Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay, respec

***** Stuck at home after injuring himself at a Hitler Youth weekend, Jojo discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their house. The words 'comedy' and 'Nazis' are hardly bedfellows, and yet director/screenwriter Taika Waititi has somehow created a film that features both. Without doubt, it's a highly controversial movie, with Joker levels of division already popping up across the internet - even I have to admit that laughing at the opening montage in which a young boy practises his 'Heil, Hitler' felt quite uncomfortable - but I'd argue that this charming little oddity is probably the film we all need right now. Cards on the table - the film never laughs at the atrocities the Nazis committed. In fact, we see the world through Jojo's (delightful newcomer Roman Griffin Davis) eyes - a crazy, confusing place that's made all the more bizarre by the presence of his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi). Dubbed