Category Archives: Historical Drama

The Odyssey review — An epic journey home

Directed by Christopher Nolan | Written by Nolan, based on Homer's epic poem | 172 min | ▲▲▲▲ | In Cinemas Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has called this 3000-year-old story a foundational text, and it's certainly inspired his work in the past — or, at least, involves themes he's interested in: The hero's journey, homecomings, non-linear…Read More

Michael review — Who’s bad? This is.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua | Written by John Logan | ▲1/2 The best I can say about this box office-busting Michael Jackson biopic is it's professionally made — how could it not be from the Hollywood journeyman director who gave us The Equalizer franchise and the writer of Gladiator and Skyfall? It's also surprising, given their…Read More

The Bride! review — An ode to disobedient geometry

Written and Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal | 126 min | ▲▲1/2  | Crave A raucous, semi-inspired reimagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the way Universal turned the myth into a franchise, not to be confused with this one from the 1980s. This is a deeply feminist vision, coming from actor-turned-filmmaker Gyllenhaal, whose solid first film,…Read More

The Choral review — A pleasantly sad song

Directed by Nicholas Hytner | Written by Alan Bennett and Stephen Beresford | 113 min | ▲▲1/2 The word that comes to mind when perusing these filmmakers' body of work is "distinguished." Hytner has spent much of his time recently filming UK National Theatre productions. His last feature was a decade ago, The Lady In…Read More