Cyrano movie review: out of tune
Peter Dinklage is wonderful, but this feels like a suggestion of a movie, not an actual one. It’s not romantic; there’s no humor, no absurdity. Its unpleasantness is as puzzling as it is inescapable.
Winston Churchill
Darkest Hour movie review: a surrender to open-and-shut history
A feature-length Oscar clip, two hours of Gary Oldman stomping around in a Winston Churchill suit. There’s too little drama and too much inevitability in what amounts to a reanimated Madame Tussaud’s waxwork scene.
Churchill movie review: stumbling over truth
This low-stakes, emotionally limp portrait may be intended to humanize a towering, almost mythic figure, but instead just needles and undercuts him.
Letters from Baghdad documentary review: Gertrude Bell, the original Lawrence of Arabia
One of the most cinematically beautiful documentaries ever is a phenomenal portrait of a shamefully forgotten woman who helped shape political history.
The Imitation Game movie review: decoding Alan Turing
A marvelous combination of thrilling intellectual adventure and sensitive portrait of a man ahead of his time both personally and professionally.
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (aka The Butler) review: civil-rights servant
A deeply moving melodrama about a subtly subversive black butler at the heart of the White House. You will need Kleenex.
‘Doctor Who’ blogging: “Victory of the Daleks”
All spoilers. Don’t read until you’ve seen the episode.
‘Doctor Who’ blogging: “The Beast Below”
Tons of spoilers. Don’t read until you’ve seen the episode.
