New acquisition: Sight & Sound

 

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)

 

 

After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.

This spin-off to Suicide Squad is a far superior movie and does everything right which the previous didn't manage to do: its humorous, its action is exciting and Margot Robbie is even more convincing as Harley Quinn (and obviously enjoying the role), accompanied by a strong cast of female companions.

Suicide Squad (2016)

 

A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.

Highly disappointing superhero drama with a sparkling set of big-name stars never really takes off with its thin plot and underdeveloped characters; alone Margot Robbie gives her Harley Quinn some panache and delivers most of the excitement and humor of the whole show.

Margot Robbie

Bombshell (2019)

 

A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Alies and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network. 

A top cast drama based on the actual events and depicting an important topic gives its stars lots of room to display their talent, but the events are unnecessarily toned down, probably to avoid legal liability, so that its message doesn't have the full impact it deserves.

 

Margot Robbie

(ph: Max Doyle)

Z for Zachariah (2015)

 

In the wake of a disaster that wipes out most of civilization, two men and a young woman find themselves in an emotionally charged love triangle as the last known survivors. 

Above-average doomsday melodrama is more focused on its plot and character development than cheap shocks, to its advantage.

Margot Robbie

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.

Mildly entertaining Tarzan variation has good effects, lively action and humor; performances, however, are adequate at best.

Suite Française (2014)

During the early years of Nazi occupation of France in World War II, romance blooms between Lucile Angellier, a French villager, and Bruno von Falk, a German soldier.

Well-made period melodrama with a good cast is more successful depicting a French community under Nazi occupation than with its romance, but does so with some suspense.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.

This Tarantino movie shows all the panache, high production quality, good set pieces, cinematic allusions and top performances and cameos, for which the director is generally celebrated, - so there's lots to be found here to please the senses - but it's essentially without a plot and therefore outstays its welcome; it's very superficial and mainly a buddy movie with outstanding DiCaprio and Pitt chemistry combined with a heavy streak of nostalgia for a bygone Hollywood era - and the Manson family (plus Sharon Tate) angle is cynically pitched in as a stilted plot device.

I, Tonya (2017)

Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.

Insightful biopic offers a plausible, if not tragically absurd explanation for the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan; the main attraction of this movie, however, are the stellar performances, notably that of Allison Janney.

Margot Robbie

Bio:

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

Focus (2015)

In the midst of a veteran con man latest scheme, a woman from his past - now an accomplished femme fatale - shows up and throws his plans for a loop.

Despite slick production, a good cast and a plot full of twists and turns, the movie fails to spark any interest, and the two leads create less charm than one would expect.