Thumbsucker

Mike Mills is a photographer, music video director, documentary maker and, every once in a while, he also makes a film. There have been three so far (a fourth is on the way) the latest of which is 2016’s 20th Century Women. 2010’s Beginners is the best known having won veteran actor Christopher Plummer an Oscar. Mills’ debut feature Thumbsucker was released in 2005. The story is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Kim though the film is also semi improvised. Mills uses a directorial style we could call relaxed. Sometimes the camera seems to drift from one person to the other which when you’re used to sharp talking fast cuts comes as a surprise. This emphasises the uncertainty felt by the family at the heart of the film and gives matters a dreamy quality. The title refers to the fact that seventeen- year- old Justin Cobb still sucks his thumb despite his parents’ attempt to pull him out of the habit. At first Justin appears to be the typical angsty movie kid but this is not a coming of age movie in that the story suggests we never come of age. We spend our lives seeking to do so, looking for answers but as one character suggests  “we’re all scared little animals”.

The Personal History of David Copperfield review

This charming film is not entirely what you might expect from Armando Iannucci whose reputation was made with dark comedic satire. Yet he has breathed life into this venerable tale giving it a contemporary spin only inasmuch as to show how identifiable a story it actually is. If for some reason you had no idea this was based on a book you might think it was penned recently as there’s nothing here that smells musty or old. Quite the contrary in fact- this adaptation is as fresh and enjoyable as run on the Yarmouth beach which provides one of its locales. But don’t accuse the director- who also co-writes with Simon Blackwell - of going soft as there is always a harder edge where Dickens is concerned.

Snowpiercer (film) review

Imagine the worst train journey ever and you’ve got Snowpiercer. This 2013 film has generated new interest lately partly due to director Bong Joon-ho winning a handful of  Oscars for his latest feature Parasite and also because a tv series is in the works. Somehow the original release of the film passed me by and I can’t remember it getting a massive publicity drive at the time. In some respects it is a typical post- apocalyptic movie- grim, unrelenting and painted in muted tones. In fact it is one of those films you start watching and then think- am I really going to stick with this for two hours? Well do stick with it because, while not perfect, Snowpiercer is an imaginatively presented thrill ride packed with claustrophobic action and not without strands of thoughtfulness.

Doctor Strange

Marvel’s mystical medic!

The latest instalment in Marvel’s mighty Universe revolves around an unlikely character. Stephen Strange is a skilled surgeon and doesn’t he just like everyone to know it. Till one day when distracted by his phone he is involved in a terrible car crash which inflicts the most damage on his hands if not his sanity. Refusing to believe his career is over his search for an unlikely solution to his problem leads him to Nepal where he seeks what he thinks will be the cure but turns out to be a mystical cult whose calm skills seem ill matched to his temperamental sarcasm. It does seem a tad familiar albeit buoyed by Benedict Cumberbatch’s identifiably frustrated persona and some neatly planted gags that stop the whole thing being taken too seriously. Oh and then there’s some folding buildings….