New Acquisition: Great Expectations (1998)

 

La vérité (2019)

 

A stormy reunion between scriptwriter Lumir with her famous mother and actress, Fabienne, against the backdrop of Fabienne's autobiographic book and her latest role in a Sci-Fi picture as a daughter of a mother who never grows old. 

Undemanding family drama is amusing for having Ethan Hawke play the helpless bystander to a feud between the titans Deneuve and Binoche.

 

Great Expectations (1998)

On the set: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow and Alfonso Cuarón

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

A dark force threatens Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operatives Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

Surprisingly coherent and entertaining sci-fi yarn with an abundance of visual ideas and effects; needn't fear comparison with similar Star Wars productions.

First Reformed (2017)

A minister of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns and a tormented past.

Intense psychological drama effortlessy weighs in heavy topics and creates suspense by slowly escalating these issues; Hawke surprises with a stellar performance;  puzzling ending might disappoint some viewers.

Ethan Hawke

(ph: Francesco Caprio)

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Hawke

Getaway (2013)

To save his kidnapped wife, Brent Magna must drive at the orders of a mysterious man.

Basically just one endless car chase with lots of crashes throwing off any interest on the plot along the way. 

Maltin*1/2: "Predictable thriller consists mainly of one car chase after another."

The King (2017)

Forty years after the death of Elvis Presley, a musical road trip across America in his 1963 Rolls Royce explores how a country boy lost his authenticity and became a king while his country lost her democracy and became an empire.

Unusual documentary tracing Presley's life with a colourfully mixed collage of statements from film stars, musicians and analysts; the result is both a portrait of the artist as well as a critical comment to his cultural impact.

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.

Gattaca (1997)

 

 

A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

 

Atmospheric science fiction drama with excellent cast and settings draws a bleak picture of a genetically controlled future.

 

Halliwell (no star): "Glossy science fiction with a very soft centre under its hard surface."

 

Maltin**: "Bracingly intelligent, wittily ironic, and very well acted. Given the premise, however, the dull, conformist society depicted seems unconvincing." 

Predestination (2014)

For his final assignment, a top temporal agent must pursue the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time.

Intriguing sci-fi tale that bends the implications of time travel to an extreme; has great performances and splendid period detail for each time span represented.

La femme du Vème (2011)

A college lecturer flees to Paris after a scandal costs him his job, and in the City of Light he meets a widow who might be involved in a series of murders.

Messy psychological thriller with an otherwise good cast wobbles between reality and fantasy, but hardly uses the imbalance effectively.

Maltin***: "...this moody, dreamlike psychological thriller (which may or may not entirely in the protagonist's head) is often confusing and indecipherable but is very well acted and beautifully made."

Sinister (2012)

A washed-up true-crime writer finds a box of super 8 home movies that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose work dates back to the 1960s.

Although this horror movie does manage to create an atmosphere of dread and does find some strong (and disturbing) images plus a downbeat ending, it's all old hat adding nothing new to the genre.

Maltin**: "A horror film that's not exactly in the found-footage genre but is about found footage, which, of course, we see. Good-looking, well-produced movie (on a budget) - but based on a complicated, unlikely mythology - wearily plods its way to the expected ending."

Good Kill (2014)

A family man begins to question the ethics of his job as a drone pilot.

Well-intentioned drama with a great lead performance by Ethan Hawke does give some shocking insight into the drone warfare, but falls short of showing any political implications.