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:  Will Becher, Richard Phelan Cast: (voices) Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Chris Morrell, Amalia Vitale Where can I watch?: Farmageddon  is streaming on  Amazon Rating:  5/5 Review: Has there ever been an Aardman film that isn't a delight? Each and every one of this studio's wholesome creations has bought raucous, lighthearted entertainment to viewers both young and old, and this latest outing, Farmageddon , is no different. The plot, the story of a wayward alien longing to go home, is undoubtedly a simple one, but it's the way this understated premise is made into a real gem of a film that makes it so special. As with all Aardman creations, Farmageddon may have a U certificate, but there's plenty here for adults to enjoy too, with references to War of the Worlds, Doctor Who and Close Encounters peppered throughout. The attention to detail is also second to none, with inconspicuous asides being as humorous as the central jokes - you could ...

*** 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...