Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : Sood's cornered. Modern-day scrooge Eshaan Sood ( Kunal Sayyar ) fixes London's Christmas decorations with a steely glare in a scene from ' Christmas Karma ', adapted from Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' by writer-director Gurinder Chadha . Still courtesy of True Brit Entertainment . I never really liked Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, the story of a mean and miserly man visited by four ghosts who collectively teach him to use his wealth for the betterment of others. Where is the sequel when his generosity is exploited by individuals even meaner than he is? The turnaround in Ebenezer Scrooge is achieved not through wisdom, rather fear. He is offered a glimpse of life after his death and is shocked to discover how little he is thought of. Dickens’ narrative was ingenious for its time and spoke to a world filled with grinding poverty. However, these days, its ‘feel good’ ending doesn’t ring true. It would take more than a night visit by...

  Pictured : Nonagenarians Bessie ( Rita Zohar , left) and Eleanor ( June Squibb , right) have breakfast in a scene from the American comedy-drama, ' Eleanor The Great ', written by Tory Kamen and directed by Scarlett Johansson . Still courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics . Cultural appropriation – to tell a story that does not belong to you – has existed since the birth of literature. Both the Old and New Testament were transcribed from other people’s histories. Man has, apparently, related the word of a creator, an act – or series of acts – that could represent the largest hubris of all. Nowadays, individuals have the means to tell their own stories, from the ‘tell-all’ autobiography to the curation of a digital archive shared online. However, they are not always the best narrators of their own stories, lacking vocabulary, insight, even time, as well as being prone to self-censorship. An intermediary is helpful, be it a ghost writer, a playwright or an actor, someone sensitive...

  Pictured : British High Commissioner Wauchope ( Jeremy Irons , centre) launches Radio Palestine in a scene from writer-director Annemarie Jacir 's historical drama, ' Palestine 36 '. Still courtesy of British Film Institute / Curzon (UK) Ambitious and necessary, writer-director Annemarie Jacir’s passion project, Palestine 36 , experienced such a troubled production history than even Apocalypse Now helmer Francis Coppola would say, ‘that’s not for me’. A historical drama that charts the encroachment on Palestinian land by Jewish settlers, the film had to suspend production following Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Israel struck back carrying out a military campaign in Gaza that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The press was not spared in Israel’s campaign either; some 248 journalists covering the conflict have been killed. A review is not the place to discuss Israel’s reaction. Jacir’s film...

  Pictured : The couple Grace ( Jennifer Lawrence ) and Jackson ( Robert Pattinson ) celebrate their child's first six months in a scene from the film, ' Die My Love ', adapted from Ariana Harwicz 's 2017 novel by co-writers Alice Birch , Enda Walsh and co-writer-director Lynne Ramsay . Still courtesy of Mubi (photo credit: Kimberley French) Ariana Harwicz’s 2017 novel, Die My Love has been Americanized and brought to the screen by producer-star Jennifer Lawrence and co-writer-director Lynne Ramsay, via co-writers Alice Birch and Enda Walsh, as well as Martin Scorsese, whose Sikelia Productions is also involved. It is a tough watch, one hundred and eighteen minutes in the company of an unstable young mother, Grace (Lawrence), a writer who places her baby, boyfriend and herself in jeopardy. You watch it in a state of constant anxiety, clenching your buttocks and feel the need to change your underwear afterwards. Harwicz’s novel is set in France. Ramsay’s film, shot b...

  Pictured : A French family en vacances (left to right,  Bérénice Vernet , Sophie Letourneur , Philippe Katerine and Esteban Melero ) , the subject of co-writer-director Sophie Letourneur 's film, ' L'Aventura ', the follow-up to her 2023 film, ' Voyages En Italie '. Still courtesy of Unifrance / Arizona Distribution .   Of all the 450 or so films I have covered in this series over the past eleven years, L’Aventura , written (with Laetitia Goffi) and directed by Sophie Letourneur, has the lowest stakes. In it, a young French mother, Sophie (Letourneur) takes her two children, ten-year-old Claudine (Bérénice Vernet) and three-year-old Raoul (Esteban Melero) and her older partner, Jean-Fi (Philippe Katerine) on holiday to Sardinia, where they drive around the island, staying in various accommodations. Nothing particularly consequential happens for the entire movie’s length (1 hour and 40 minutes), though at one point Jean-Fi complains about Sophie re-packing the...

Pictured : Art graduate J.B. Mooney ( Josh O'Connor ) cases the Framingham Museum of Art in writer-director Kelly Reichardt 's 1970-set American crime drama, ' The Mastermind '. Still courtesy of Mubi. What use is an art degree if you are not driven to create? This is a question partly answered by writer-director Kelly Reichardt’s 1970-set film, The Mastermind . Artists are by their nature divergent personalities with a reflex for expression who question society and our relationship to others. In the narrative arts, they explore questions of morality, confronting divergence that is destructive in nature. Narrative artists are less concerned with ‘good verses evil’ than societal benefit verses narcissism. However, a creative urge is also narcissistic, venerating the self. Against that is the belief that art can foster curiosity about others. By contrast, narcissists are only curious – nay, paranoid – about how others perceive them. Reichardt’s protagonist, art graduate...