Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : Sally Owens ( Nicole Kidman , left) and her older sister Gillian ( Sandra Bulloc k, right) reunited for the sequel, ' Practical Magic 2 ', adapted from Alice Hoffman 's 2021 novel, ' The Book of Magic ' by Akiva Goldsman , Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel and directed by Susanne Bier . Still courtesy of Warner Bros . For those who remember Danish director Susanne Bier as the woman who, working with writer Anders Thomas Jensen, engaged audiences with the moral dramas Open Hearts , Brothers and A Second Chance , that auteur is entirely absent from her sequel Practical Magic 2 , an adaptation of Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel, ‘The Book of Magic’, the fourth and final book of her ‘Practical Magic’ series. Admittedly, there is a character in a coma brought about entirely by a young woman’s love, but the Susanne Bier of Dogme 95 would have focussed on whether the woman, witch’s daughter Kylie Owens (Joey King) should release the comatose Gideon (Xolo Maridu...

  Pictured : Displaced vehicular resident Amanda Ogle ( Rose Byrne ) shares to a group of addicts, her hand held by group leader, Barbara ( Octavia Spencer ) in a scene from the Seattle-set fact based drama, ' Tow ', written by  Jonathan Keasey and Brant Boivin and directed by Stephanie Laing . Still courtesy of Vertical / Roadside Attractions (US) How did American director Stephanie Laing expect audiences react to her film, Tow ? Insufficiently funny to be a comedy, lacking in sharp edges to be a drama, it relates the fact-based story of ‘vehicular resident’ Amanda Ogle and her attempt to retrieve her car, a 1991 blue Toyota Camry, from a Seattle-based towing company. The cast is stacked: Academy Award nominee Rose Byrne, Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Elsie Fisher (from Eighth Grade ), Octavia Spencer, Demi Lovato and the fiercely-imposing comedian Lea DeLaria, not to mention Simon Rex (from Red Rocket ) and Corbin Bernsen, the latter as a lawyer who never ...

  Pictured : Bonny ( Ida Fischer , left) and Lea ( Frida Hornemann , right) perform on the eve of a recording of a television talent contest. A scene from German writer-director Eva Trobisch 's third feature, ' Home Stories ' (' Etwas ganz Besonderes '). Still courtesy of  Pandora Film Verleih (Germany). For her third feature, Etwas ganz Besonderes (English title: Home Stories ) German writer-director Eva Trobisch focuses on a fractured family gathered to support sixteen-year-old Lea (Frida Hornemann) who has been selected to progress in an ‘X Factor’ style television music talent contest. The English title refers to the segment of the show that illustrates the contestant’s background, intended to make them relatable. These shows aren’t just about the voice. They intend to hook the audience with the competitor’s journey. But Trobisch doesn’t remake Little Miss Sunshine for the German market. Her film is emphatically not a comedy. Rather it explores unspoken tens...

  Pictured : Three young women ( Mona Berard ,  Yowa-Angélys Tshikaya and  Shirel Nataf ) attend a medical consultation accompanying their new flatmate, Héloïse ( Héloïse Volle , bottom left) in a scene from the Belgian film, ' Les Filles du Ciel ' (' Girls from Above ') written and directed by  Bérangère McNeese . Still courtesy of Memento Films (Belgium) For her feature debut, Les Filles du Ciel ( Girls From Above ) actress turned writer-director Bérangère McNeese has produced the archetypal Belgian film: social-realist, concerned with people on the margins who, having been dealt low blows, nevertheless find ways to get by. These ways are not always safe or legal, but we are invited to sympathise and in the process we learn (or re-learn) that there is good in everyone. In perpetuating a national cinema that only concerns itself with those in desperate need, McNeese and other directors working in Belgian cinema don’t offer role models for their audienc...