Movies

David Lean, Mike Leigh, Terry Gilliam, Stephen Frears , Terrance Davies, Ken Loach, Danny Boyle

‘Genius’ Review

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National Geographic’s first scripted series features Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn doing strong dual work as Albert Einstein.

 

 

Like time or space, criticism can also be relative.

For example: If you were to have told Albert Einstein that something he did was “above average” chances are good that he would whack you upside the head with a violin. If, however, you were to tell National Geographic that a scripted program the network produced was “above average,” well, maybe accustomed to reviews for TV movies based on Bill O’Reilly books about killing historical figures, NatGeo would know how to take a compliment.

Genius, National Geographic’s adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s book Einstein: His Life and Universe, is an above average event series about an extraordinary man. In form and execution, it may be an unremarkable depiction of being remarkable, but it’s also handsomely produced, reasonably intelligent and well-served by paired leading men Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn.

“Time is not absolute,” Einstein says in a 1922 classroom lecture in Berlin. “The distinction [ . . .  ]

Read Full Review at Source: ‘Genius’ Review | Hollywood Reporter

Bruce Robinson on the inspiration behind Withnail, disbelief in politicians and his hatred of smartphones

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Driving towards the Herefordshire home of writer and director Bruce Robinson was already proving something of an ordeal. Here I was, about to interview the creator of what must be the UK’s and possibly the world’s most iconically cool film, Withnail and I, and I was driving a non-descript VW Polo and feeling distinctly sober. Of course, I should have been in a clapped out 1960s Jag, dragging on a Gauloise and recklessly swigging from a bottle of Haut Brion while listening to Hendrix [ . . . ]

More: Bruce Robinson on the inspiration behind Withnail, disbelief in politicians and his hatred of smartphones | The Independent

Elle: empowerment in darkness 

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Elle is the sensational new thriller from Paul Verhoeven, and his first major film in a decade. Starring an outstanding Isabelle Huppert, this French film is not an erotic thriller, like the Dutch director’s infamous Basic Instinct. Instead, it’s a gripping film about a businesswoman’s complex response to being raped. From the opening shot of her cat watching the horrific event unfold, you know you’re in for a typically audacious film from a vastly under-appreciated director.

Verhoeven is best known for directing bombastic sci-fi/action classics like Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers. Rather like the work of Douglas Sirk in the Golden Age of Hollywood, Verhoeven’s films were written off as lowbrow trash in their day, only for their artful, cutting satire to be appreciated later. He creates discomfort in his audience by playing with cinematic elements many take for granted. His incredibly glossy films use deliberately gratuitous sex and violence to comment on the dark undercurrent of both American cinema and society.

Even Showgirls, a popular contender for the worst film ever made, has been re-evaluated by critics and is appreciated by arthouse favourites like Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Rivette.While his last American film, Hollow Man, proved to be a hit, Verhoeven felt his films were losing his personal touch, and that Hollow Man could just as easily have been made by some other director. He retreated to Europe to [ . . . ]

Read Full Story: Elle: empowerment in darkness | Arts & Culture | Film | spiked