Eleanor Reviews

*** The world as we know it is under threat - time travel has been weaponised and World War Three is on the horizon... So, I've seen Tenet  and I have a question: what the bloody hell is going on? Actually, that's not true - I have many questions, but that's the main one. Upon returning from the cinema in a state of confusion and questioning my own intelligence, I took to the internet to uncover what I had just witnessed, and found that just about everyone else on the planet had spent the lengthy runtime going 'huh?'. This might partly be because Ludwig Göransson's score (no Hans Zimmer this time!) is at its loudest and most eardrum-popping when various characters are talking, or it simply might be that Christoper Nolan has created a film that is almost completely incoherent. I fear it may be the latter. It's not just that Tenet is less than the sum of its parts (there are some good sequences), it's that Nolan completely over-complicates an idea - becaus...

Director:  Egor Abramenko Cast:   Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk, Pyotr Fyodorov Where can I watch?:   Sputnik  is streaming on  Amazon Prime Rating:  4/5 Review: The premise of an astronaut returning to earth with more than he might have bargained for is hardly original, and yet Sputnik , a Russian-language take on the sci-fi saga, somehow manages to feel wonderfully new and fresh, creating an alien film that's far and away better than anything Hollywood has churned out in recent years. Masterfully drawing us in with a suspenseful opening sequence, director Egor Abramenko (this is his first feature length film) then introduces us to our protagonist, Tatyana (Oksana Akinshina), who is facing disciplinary action of her unorthodox treatment of mental illness. Parallels can be drawn between Tatyana and Alien 's Ripley: both are no-nonsense, tough-talking scientists with an undying ambition to do the right thing, whatever the cost. Akinshina is a very ...

Director:  Andrew Patterson Cast:  Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz Where can I watch?:   The Vast of Night  is streaming on  Prime Video Rating:  3.5/5 Review:  As debuts go, Andrew Patterson's The Vast of Night is a pretty solid outing. Stripping away the graphics, explosions and outer-space drama that usually accompanies sci-fi films, Patterson brings it all back to basics with an eerie nighttime drama that cleverly utilises the static of retro televisions and blank screens to create a suspenseful, low budget watch. The cast is small, with just two central protagonists: arrogant radio host Everett (Jake Horowitz) and switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick). Both have dreams of getting out of their old frontier town in New Mexico and, through very natural conversation (there's no forced exposition here!), their relationship develops as they begin to unpick the mysterious noise that's passing through the radio signals. Patterson foc...

Director:  Aaron Schneider Cast:  Tom Hanks, Stephen Graham Where can I watch?:   Greyhound  is streaming on  Apple TV+ Rating:  3/5 Review:  Based on a fictitious novel that used real events from the Battle of the Atlantic as inspiration, Greyhound , Apple's foray into World War Two big screen entertainment, is a nuts and bolts naval drama that both hits and misses in equal measure. Returning to the 1940s conflict for the third time, Tom Hanks takes on the role of inexperienced Captain Krause. Tasked with escorting cargo and troop ships across the perilous waves of the Atlantic, his job is to keep an eye out for the Nazis U-boats determined to eliminate any aid from the US. As such, there's lots of panicked sonar readings, numerous 'right rudder' or 'left rudder' commands and plenty of stressed, meaningful glances exchanged as the crew turn their binoculars to the rolling grey waves. It's pretty formulaic stuff, but Hanks' undeniable ch...

Director:  Jon Stewart Cast:  Steve Carell, Rose Byrne, Chris Cooper Where can I watch?:   Irresistible  is streaming on  Apple TV+ Rating:  2/5 Review: Everyone knows that the US political system is broken. Once fit for purpose, the manner in which elections of all sizes now take place is borderline corrupt, with money being the biggest winner. This is the premise of Jon Stewart's directorial debut... Only it's not just the 'premise', it's the stick with which you're repeatedly beaten with throughout this mercifully short and yet too long political parable. Steven Carell is Gary Zimmer, a Democratic spin doctor reeling from Hilary's 2016 election loss; upon seeing a heartfelt speech from a disgruntled war veteran (Chris Cooper), he decides to up sticks to help him win a mayoral title in a conservative Midwest town. Unfortunately, Republican spin doctor Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne) arrives to upset the apple cart and full blown electoral campa...

Director:  George Nolfi Cast:  Anthony Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult Where can I watch?:   The Banker  is streaming on  Apple TV+ Rating:  4/5 Review:  Based on the real-life story of two black businessmen taking on America's systemic racism through real estate ownership, Apple Original's  The Banker sees Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson (at his most Samuel L. Jackson, minus the 'motherf*cking snakes on this motherf*cking plane') form a delightfully entertaining chalk-and-cheese relationship, with Nicholas Hoult as their white third wheel. Directed by George Nolfi and boasting a handful of screenwriters, the film wastes no time in establishing Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and Joe Norris (Jackson) as a force to be reckoned with, their Los Angeles property repertoire booming with the help of Matt Steiner (Hoult) as their customer-facing ally. The rags-to-riches scenes in which the hapless Steiner is made into a golf-loving...

Director : Anurag Kashyap Cast : Saiyami Kher, Roshan Mathew, Amruta Subhash Where can I watch? : Choked is streaming on Netflix Rating : 4/5 Review : Netflix's attempts to diversify its entertainment collection seems to have accelerated rapidly during lockdown, with a number of new international offerings becoming readily available in amongst all the nostalgic 90s releases. One such film is Choked , a Hindi-language film that centres around put-upon bank worker Sarita (the engaging Saiyami Kher) and her disintegrating marriage. Setting the scene in a tumbledown set of flats - paint-flaking ceilings and a drain that constantly leaks and gurgles are as much characters as their human counterparts - we're hurled into Sarita's tiring existence, but could salvation be at hand? Marrying Bollywood-esque musical sequences with grainy news footage capturing the fallout of Modi's monetary reforms, director Anurag Kashyap effortlessly moves from fantasy to reality,...

Director:  Michael Showalter Cast:  Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani Where can I watch?: The Lovebirds  is streaming on Netflix Rating: 3/5 Review: It's fair to say that the news is pretty grim right now, so when a film comes along that requires essentially zero brain power, it comes as something of a relief. Cue The Lovebirds , another of Netflix's lockdown viewing collection in which an arguing couple become inadvertently embroiled in some form of crime syndicate on their way to a friend's dinner party. Sound familiar? That's because The Lovebirds is far from original territory - how many times have we seen the fraught couple unite the battle the odds and save their relationship? - and yet, it's not without its charms. Firstly, Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are both very watchable screen presences, and there is certainly a fizzing level of chemistry between them that makes their relationship quite believable. Similarly, some of the smaller jokes work quit...

Director:  Autumn de Wilde Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Josh O'Connor Where can I watch?: You can rent Emma from Amazon Prime Rating:  4/5 Review: Another decade, another adaptation of Jane Austen's arguably most scathing novel, Emma. One could argue that if you've seen one, you've seen them all, and yet I would suggest that Autumn de Wilde's latest foray does indeed add something new to the canon. For starters, Anya Taylor-Joy's Emma isn't always likeable. In fact, she's comes across as far more sly and malevolent in this adaptation than in any of the others, making her salvation (not a spoiler!) all the more rewarding. De Wilde, familiar with photography and music videos, directs stylishly - each scene is dressed to the nines, the costumes are nothing short of sumptuous, and each shot could indeed be a standalone photo, such is the expert composition. The cast is ubiquitously excellent, with Johnny Flynn br...

***** 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...

*** When Earth is hit by a series of electromagnetic surges from outer space, astronaut Roy McBride is tasked with reaching out to his long-lost father, who was last known to be somewhere on the periphery of Neptune, searching for new forms of life. Space has always been a source of mystery and fascination for mankind. From prehistoric cave paintings and stone circles that indicate some form of worship of the Solar System, to the latest drives to reach Mars and further into space, the realms beyond our own planet have led us to question a plethora of philosophical conundrums. In the case of Ad Astra , however, my only question was: Who on earth allowed this script to be filmed!? It's not just that James Gray and Ethan Gross' screenplay is clunky and packed with lines a la Basil Exposition (we'll come to this later) that makes it so infuriating, though - it's the unshakable feeling I got that both had read a little bit of Nietzsche and fallen into some bl...

***/**** (3.5 stars) DVD release/Available to stream Disclaimer: The version I saw had been edited for content on an Emirates flight. Queen 's appearance at Live Aid is considered one of the most iconic musical performances of the 20th Century. And yet, it almost didn't happen. Charting their formation, meteoric rise and subsequent heartbreak, Bohemian Rhapsody tells the story of one of the world's most loved rock bands. Queen 's songs are the very definition of 'timeless'. I remember listening to We Are The Champions on cassette tape (yes, I am that old!) in my Dad's car as a child, and stomping my feet along to We Will Rock You. Once I attended a concert at the Emirates Stadium and, before the band came on, they played Bohemian Rhapsody on the loud speaker - every one of the thousands of people in the ground sang along at full volume (including the high notes of 'Galileo'!) and there may even have been some air guitar here ...

***/**** (3.5 stars) In the early 18th century, England as at war with France. In the Royal Palace, however, a much more dangerous battle is unfolding as two women vie for the affections of a frail Queen Anne. I like a clever film. I like quirky films, and unusual films and films that would be described as 'art house'. I appreciate that as much as a swirl of paint on canvas is a piece of art, a film can be one too. I enjoy being tested, educated and shocked by a film as much as I like to be entertained by one, and I like to think I don't confine my viewing experience to just one type of film.  Described as shocking, acerbic (a word that I shall now use all the time!) and heralded with a plethora of five star reviews, The Favourite certainly piqued my interest. Well, I was left wondering if I was missing something - was I not clever enough to find it as amazing as the work of other critics had led me believe? Do I just not appreciate art or cinematic maste...

***** When their husbands are killed in a botched heist, four widows form an unlikely alliance to overcome the debt left behind. In the hands of a less skilful or sensitive director, Widows  could have easily become a film rife with cliches and eye-rolling parody. Instead, with Steven McQueen behind the camera, this unassuming film has become, almost undoubtedly, one of the movies of the year. An articulate study of grief, social politics and female determination (as well as an impressive explosion or two along the way), Widows  makes for a gripping, emotionally intelligent piece of filmmaking. This isn't just a heist movie with females at the helm - it's a smart depiction of women under pressure, as well as the juxtaposition of the haves and have nots, and the corruptible nature of power. From the very opening, we are plunged into a world of violence and ruthlessness. Juxtaposing contrasting scenes of home life with the drama of a heist gone wrong, we find...

**** Living off-grid in a vast forest, Tom and her father have a quiet but happy existence. One day, a small mistake puts their way of life in jeopardy... Today, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a part of public consciousness - no longer is it a shameful thing, but something that we, as a society, openly discuss and try to understand. Take BBC's record-breaking Bodyguard as an example - our central protagonist is suffering the effects of the life and experiences he endured in conflict and, at the show's conclusion, PTSD charities hoped that other sufferers would feel empowered to come forward and receive help. This is just one of the many on-screen depictions of PTSD in recent years, and now Leave No Trace can be added to that catalogue. However, the decision to view the world through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old girl (newcomer Thomasin McKenzie) makes this exploration into the aftermath of war a far more subtle and delicate affair. In fact,...

*** On July 20th 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. In the years preceding this most iconic of events, he, NASA and his family overcame incredible odds - this is that story. It's a strange feeling to watch a film that you really, really wanted to see, only to find it to be somewhat disappointing. I want to make it clear from the start, however - First Man is in no way a bad film, it just failed to live up to my high expectations. And what expectations they were: a star-studded cast; an award-winning director; a real life story of love, loss and tragedy; and engrossing trailers with the enigmatic voice of John F. Kennedy telling us that we do these things 'not because they are easy, but because they are hard'. It held so much promise, and yet I found myself propelled from moments of wonder and tension, to scenes that almost made me fidget with boredom. Let's start with the good bits. It can't be denied that the scen...