D.C.Reviews

  From Director Bradley Cooper comes a fascinating, unfiltered look at relationships and the trauma / love that comes with them. Co-written by Cooper and star Will Arnett Is This Thing On? is a moving and at times hilarious piece of cinema that we really need more of. The story follows the impending split and full blown seperation of Will Arnet's Alex and his wife of 25+ years Tess played by Laura Dern. Having 2 kid boys it's a pretty brutal seperation for everyone as the boys bounce from mom and dad throughout living in each space from time to time. Struggling to deal with it Alex begins to take up stand up comedy in a open mic night form and channels his emotions through it leading to some amazing friendships, experiences and even some healing along the way.  Will Arnet is pretty much flawless throughout in a performance that I feel will go so unnoticed and become so underrated as time passes. His pain both physically and emotionally is plain to see and the way he uses comed...

  Set in the stunning landscape of Japan comes Rental Family a really special movie about love, connection and wanting to feel accepted. Brendan Fraser stars as an American actor named Phillip who has been living in Japan for nearly a decade bouncing from job to job mainly doing commercial work. His entire life changes when he takes up work at a place called Rental Family which is a service that provides comfort for people in need or at least that's what is sold to Phillip. What follows is one of the most intelligent, well written and performed movies I've seen in quite some time. Brendan Fraser is utterly mesmarising from beginning to end and carries the movie with such emotinal depth and weight. From becoming a stand in father for a young girl and her mom to helping an older man find peace in life before his completely loses his mind to dementia it's all really compelling stuff as the movie juggles such big aspects of life with ease and treats everything with respect. The...

  From director Chloe Zhao comes Hamnet which is based upon the novel of the same name. The story essentially follows young lovers William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes who suffer a family tragedy leading to the creation of the timeless classic 'Hamlet' play piece. Jessie Buckley is utterly remarkable as Agnes a young wife of three children married to the love of her life in what was at first a forbidden marriage and get together. The two end up marrying and all seems to be going well until tragedy strikes and a young member of the family is taken ill. What follows is an absolute masterclass of emotion, striking and mesmarizing filmmaking both from those behind the camera and those in front. There's a scene in this where Jessie Buckley makes the most surreal and harrowing facial expression that left me utterly breathless.  I was never the biggest Shakespeare fan truth be told and even as I've gotten older I have grown to appreciate his extreme talent and way with words...

  I love a good musical style movie. This movie tells the real life story of a Neil Diamond tribute act named ' Lightning and Thunder’ starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson Song Sung Blue is emotional, full of whimsical music moments and a connection between the two leads that is energetic. Jackman’s energy is infectious throughout here as he plays an aging showman who gigs from place to place doing tribute acts along the way. Also being an alcoholic who is sober for over 20 years his character is extremely flawed but you can’t help but still root for him. Kate Hudson is fantastic here too and I did not expect her to sing as well as she did it’s all very impressive stuff on the surface but where Song Sung Blue fumbles is in its second act that is very dark, very grim and absent of any real joy or colour, it all does come around again but it suffers a lot from a meandering and depressing second act! So is Song Sung Blue any good? Yes it is! It’s a pretty surreal true story that show...

Each year there is one foreign film that stands head and shoulders above everything else. Well this year it's none other than Sentimental Value which is more of a hybrid of a foreign and English speaking film. Starring Stellan Skarsgard, Elle Fanning and Renate Reinsve Sentimenal Value is a movie about a lot of things including, love, neglect, abandonment and family issues. It is a stunning piece of cinema that unfolds and flows perfectly as the essence of family be it broken or together is showcased perfectly.  Every single member of the cast is on top form here with really heavy and emotional moments throughout. Stellan Skarsgard who wants to make a movie with his estranged daughter after spending years and years apart is so layered and very abrasive to start but as the movie goes on it turns into a really soft performance and the same can be said for Renate Reinsve who plays one of his daughters. Elle Fanning who plays a modern day movie star is both charming and complex in what...

  Every football fan knows the story of what happened between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy ahead of the World Cup Finals in 2002. Even more so if you're Irish and a fan of football, it is one of the most infamous moments in the countrys history of sport as Roy Keane walks out on his team, country and manager after voicing his opinions on the horrible training facilities and overall atmosphere. It's a story this time around that is heavily dramatised as the movie proclaims before it begins and in that sense it works but on every other level Saipan is just a disjointed mish mash of real life footage with scenes of the actors in between.  Steve Coogan and Eanna Hardwicke are really good as both Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane, Hardwicke especially nails the vibe and tone of Keane with his really unique personality and stance on things. Coogan is a lot less jagged as McCarthy in a performance that while good feels safe at times and good in others, both actors explode in the final act a...