New Movies

1937. 1954. 1976. 2018. A Star Is Born has had a version for almost every generation of cinema, and the pull of its story can travel across eras with ease. In Bradley Cooper's latest version, he takes the '76 approach of transferring the story to purely music: self-destructive star Jackson Maine (Cooper) stumbles into a back street bar one day in search of more booze. There he comes across a performer in Ally (Lady Gaga) that fascinates him, and one he wants...

Having made her debut with stranger than fiction doc The Wolfpack, Crystal Moselle appears to have almost literally stumbled on the genesis of her first fiction feature. She ran in to the all girl skateboarding crew Skate Kitchen on the New York subway and, fascinated by them, bought them coffee and began to hang out with them. This led initially to the short film That One Day and eventually to this film; a blend of fact and fiction with the...

In Björn Runge’s The Wife, Glenn Close offers a truly outstanding performance as the long suffering wife of an insufferably vain novelist (played by Jonathan Pryce). Adapted for the screen by Jane Anderson from Meg Wolitzer’s 2003 novel of the same name, the film is a beautifully understated, thought provoking and deeply affecting study in codependency and deceit, which is only slightly let down by a needlessly stagey style. After nearly forty years of marriage, Joan and Joe Castleman (Close and Pryce) seem very happy...

Kate Novack has all the necessary ingredients for a fascinating study of one of the fashion world’s seminal players in her documentary, The Gospel According to André.  Sadly, however, Novack never quite manages to get under the skin of the films titular subject, and the end result leaves little food for thought. The Gospel According to André chronicles the rise of the larger than life, both in character and physical stature, fashion editor André Leon Talley from the segregated south to the fitting rooms and runways...

Faces Places has a brilliantly simple premise. The film follows photographer JR and legendary film director Agnès Varda as they travel to small French towns and photograph the people they find there. The photos they take are in turn used to create large murals which are plastered onto nearby buildings. Through doing this JR and Varda speak to members of the local communities and learn about their lives and what makes these places tick. They are able to seek out fellow eccentrics and their conversations can be both bizarre and insightful....

In A Simple Favor, director Paul Feig offers a riotously funny, stylish and beautifully well observed Gone Girl-esque mystery thriller which somehow manages to be funnier and far more engaging than it has any right to be. Adapted by Jessica Sharzer form Darcey Bell's 2017 novel of the same name, the film mixes brilliantly acerbic one-liners and an impeccable visual style to tell a cleverly thought-out story of mystery and intrigue. And if that wasn’t enough, we are also treated to two fantastic performances courtesy of...

After decades spent in mostly supporting roles, legendry American actor Harry Dean Stanton reminds us of his talents in the low-key but thoughtful Lucky. 30 years on from Paris, Texas, which propelled Stanton to fame, he once again finds himself in the American desert in his final screen role before his death almost exactly a year ago. Known simply by his old nickname Lucky, Stanton plays an elder man at ease with life and comfortable with his daily routine. Each day he...

After a horrific accident at a rodeo competition, Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) must deal with his brain injuries and a life of mediocrity in rural South Dakota. I had the pleasure of speaking with Brady Jandreau prior to seeing The Rider, and it was a relief that director and writer Chloé Zhao was able to bring his humility and authenticity to the screen. Jandreau gives a powerful performance in this dedicated character study, which often so closely reflects his own affinity with...

There are three things that King of Thieves has to figure out before it’s getting a tan in Margate: First, you’ve got a story that most people watching already know the basic facts to, the 2015 Hatton Gardens robbery. An audience knowing the resolutions can sap the drama if you’re not being alert (also not helped by the existence of a previous film about this, 2017's The Hatton Garden Job). Second, the moment the event happened every man and his dog was saying it should...