I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

 

 

Full of misgivings, a young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents' secluded farm. Upon arriving, she comes to question everything she thought she knew about him, and herself. 

 

Beautiful photography and set pieces, stellar performances and an increasingly surreal plot make this film an intriguing watch, although it asks more question than giving answers, and the ending is a bit disappointing.

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

 

 

After being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that its inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange-looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor.

Big-budget and star-cast adaptation of H:G. Wells' classic sci-fi novel lands a fascinatingly wild and hilarious fail on almost every level, among which Marlon Brando's ridiculous performance is only one of the many facets you need to see to believe.
 

Halliwell (no star): "Incoherent horror, notable for one of Brando's more eccentric performances, mercifully brief."

Maltin*1/2: "Heavy-handed retelling of H.G. Wells' novel...Grotesque in the extreme, obvious, and ultimately pointless, but Brando devotees will want to check out his flamboyantly silly performance, and makeup buffs should admire Stan Winston's remarkable creations." 

 

 

Timeline (2003)

A group of archaeologists become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve a friend. The group must survive in fourteenth century France before they can escape back to the twenty-first century.

Quite mindless entertainment, not tethered by any plot coherence let alone the paradoxes of time travel; lots of talent wasted for the fun.

Halliwell (no star): "Risible adventure, so daft to be almost, but not quite, endearing; the performances are beyond redemption."

Maltin**: "Lively, noisy, convoluted story becomes so confusing it's difficult to know who's who, let alone what's what."

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)

Set during WWII, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

Heart-wrenching and tragic tale is successful in envisaging the mad hypocrisy of the Nazi ideology, but only skims the horrors of the Holocaust.

Maltin***: "Unique Holocaust fable...Quietly powerful drama personalizes the qualms and contradictions facing German families during the Nazi era."

Regression (2015)

A detective and a psychoanalyst uncover evidence of a satanic cult while investigating the rape of a young woman.

Despite a good cast and the attempt to create some atmosphere this movie disappoints with an absurdly contrived plot and indecisive direction.

Wonder Woman (2017)

When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny.

This over-average super-hero movie has a conventional plot for its genre, and the exposition is a bit overlong, but it wins with an enjoyably refreshing feminist stance, its amiable hero perfectly cast with Gal Gadot, great action sequences and a fine sense of humour.

The Zero Theorem (2013)

A hugely talented but socially isolated computer operator is tasked by Management to prove the Zero Theorem: that the universe ends as nothing, rendering life meaningless.

Intended as a dystopian satire with a message about the meaning of life the result is  haphazard, incohesive and finally disappointing; cast and visual effects are worth the watch, though.

Anomalisa (2015)

A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.

Basically, it's "Disillusioned executive has an affair on one of his business trips, but in the end decides to stay with his family", and obviously this is based on a stage play; but realizing this story in animation emphasizes its conciseness and introspective, somewhat otherworldly character - and its weirdness.

The Theory of Everything (2014)

A look at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife.

Despite the title, this well-produced movie focuses on the couple's relationship and skips the science; period detail is excellent, and the main attraction are Redmayne and Jones' performances.