Phillip Ruland

This movie was a slog for me. Hard to sit through, I honestly didn’t believe any of it. That said, I can understand why F1 has done well at the box office as it’s full of racing scenes. In my view, the film could have easily been cut to less than two hours. The races all looked the same. The opposition drivers were virtually non-existent, consequently we get a driving competition between teammates Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) and Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). The latter driver being Hayes’s hotshot rookie teammate and on-track rival at APXGP. Sorry, but this isn’t a believable, nor a compelling racing rivalry. The film’s ending is predictably sentimental with Pitt channeling Robert Redford’s Johnny Hooker of “The Sting” with the “I’m not in it for money” sentiment after he wins the big race. Pitt then proceeds off into the sunset looking for his next, new racing fix. No sequels please.

Brilliant, absorbing film that captures the beginnings of frontier life in a small town somewhere in North America. The dialogue seems almost improvised, the cinematography done in dark, grainy shades suggesting ominous things on the horizon. This film is truly the anti-western, nothing approaching sentimentality with the characters. No heroes, just the bustle of life with death on the doorstep.

Utter cinematic genius. Charlie Chaplin at the top of his game in City Lights. The boxing sequence has to be seen to be believed. My sides are still aching from the laughter. The last of the great film silents, full of farce and poignancy. Terrific performances from all the actors.

A mesmerizing, highly original documentation about a woman’s life in France, 1975. The lead actress who portrays Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig) is phenomenal. Her Jeanne Dielman is uncannily real. We follow her every move. “Jeanne Dielman” is an utterly absorbing film that gets at being and time and existing in a world with absurd limitations. Jeanne Dielman is both an heroic and tragic figure that leaves an indelible mark on the psyche. A definite must-see for any person that appreciates the rich possibilities of film.

“Before Midnight” is not as satisfying a film as its two predecessors “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset” but it’s still damn good. There’s something a little off about it and I think it has to do with Celine (Julie Delpy). The character, as written in this the third ‘Before’ installment, doesn’t follow from the previous two films. She (Celine) swerves wildly in different directions taking on a little madness of her own. I just didn’t buy it.