I began writing a lengthy 2* review of Blinded by the Light. Partly because I have a lot invested in this movie. I was born and raised in Luton in the 1980s and I am a pretty big Springsteen fan...I was at Curfewgate a few years ago!
My issues are as follows; it is uneven, it never quite decides if it wants to be a Sunshine on Leith-esque musical or a 'music' film more in the style of Sing Street.…
Structurally this film may be a little uneven but then again so is the relationship at its centre. It tells the story of an unrequited love between Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen. It is really touching and heartbreaking. Surprisingly so actually, I've never been this affected by a Nick Broomfield movie, although I am a huge Cohen fan. I understand some of the criticism, the middle section doubles down as a Cohen biography but even so it's fascinating. The LSD/shaving…
Well its a modern masterpiece, isn't it? One that gazes fondly to the past yet looks to the future. It is emotive, but one of La La Land's greatest strengths is its relative subtlety; its actually a lot more restrained than you might expect going in. It borrows from Demy, Donan and others with glee yet it never apes them and it stands on its own merits, of which there are plenty. The songs, the score, the long takes, the…
Isle of Dogs was as good as I expected it to be. The animation is sublime, the story is compelling and I enjoyed spending time in this uniquely Wes Anderson world. I'm a little bit tired of people expecting films to tick all the right boxes all of the time. As far as I could see Anderson embraced Japanese culture in a respectful and engaging way. Its one of the best animated movies of recent years.
