by GREG KING
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN is a compelling biopic that covers the early period of Dylan’s career, from his arrival in New York in 1961, as a nineteen-year-old, through to his controversial appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 when he played electric guitar accompanied by a backing band for the first time, which caused a furore amongst the traditional folk set. Timothee Chalamet (Wonka, etc) completely inhabits the enigmatic character of Dylan, and he even captures his distinctive nasally vocal style with many of his songs. From the first moment we see Chalamet, dressed much like the image from the cover of his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, we accept him as Dylan. This is a much more coherent and engaging and insightful look at Dylan than Todd Haynes 2007 film I’m Not There in which a handful of different actors tried to depict Dylan’s enigmatic nature and depict different aspects of his life and career. But this is not exactly a flattering portrait as director James Mangold (the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line, etc) and Jay Cocks (a former critic with Rolling Stone magazine) capture his ego, his tempestuous relationships, and his uncomfortable relationship with fame and success. The performances are excellent. Chalamet in particular highlights the contradictions and contrary nature of Dylan’s character and delivers his most complete and impressive performance to date. A Complete Unknown is an absorbing biopic that attempts to capture the essence of the singer’s prickly, elusive and reclusive personality. The film runs for 141 minutes but I was so absorbed in the story unfolding I was not conscious of the time.
CAUGHT STEALING is a fast paced, blackly comic and violent crime drama from director Darren Aronofsky, a filmmaker who makes intense, unflinching and often confronting dramas. It starred Austin Butler as Hank, a washed-up baseball player who works as a bar tender in a seedy bar. When he agrees to babysit his next-door neighbour’s cat he finds himself mixed up with Russian mobsters and a pair of Hassidic hitmen. Aronofsky maintains a fast pace throughout this adrenaline fuelled film, which delivers quite a few twists, and we are never quite sure where it is headed. Aronofksy’s regular cinematographer Matthew Libatique has done a great job with the visuals which capture the seedier side of the New York locations, and he imbues the nocturnal scenes with a palpable sense of menace.
Kathryn Bigelow’s countdown to nuclear Armageddon thriller A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is a Fail Safe for the new millennium. It is her first film in eight years, and is a tight and meticulously constructed thriller is set during the tense eighteen minutes between a nuclear missile launched from an unknown site and its arrival over Chicago. The film explores these same eighteen minutes from a number of different perspectives, including a US Air Force base in Alaska, the White House Situation Room, and finally as the President weighs up his options. The film is filled with tension and infused with a sense of urgency as the scenario unfolds seemingly in real time.
Music and vampires make for a potent mix in SINNERS, the latest film from Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed, etc). Michael B Jordan plays a dual role here as lookalike criminal brothers who open a sly dance and drink venue in America’s Deep South in the 1930s. But the opening night turns bloody when a group of vampires crash the event, resulting in buckets of blood and body parts.
THE LONG WALK is based on an early Stephen King novel written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. This dystopian tale set in an authoritarian America of the not-too-distant future was originally written as an allegory for the Vietnam War and the draft which saw a generation of young American men sent off to fight and die for their country in a far-off land. J T Mollner’s script adds in elements of a more fascist and authoritarian America, which holds some resonance with the contemporary political landscape in Trump’s America and its deep divisions. Its themes of family, friendship, loyalty, survival and sacrifice will resonate. This bleak, grim scenario starred Cooper Hoffman and Mark Hamill as the villainous Major who oversaw the gruelling and punishing walk and brutally enforced its rules.
A NICE INDIAN BOY is a gay themed romance based on the stage play of the same name which was written by Madhuri Shekar (3 Body Problem, etc). The romantic comedy/drama explores the romance between the gay Naveen, who has been raised by a traditional Indian family, and Jay, a freelance photographer and an artist who leads a more bohemian lifestyle. The film explores themes of Indian culture and tradition, religion, family values, acceptance, generational differences, and the question of arranged marriages versus falling in love naturally. It is directed by queer Canadian film maker Roshan Sethi, and it obviously holds some personal resonance for him. The film has plenty of warmth, humour and generosity of spirit to make this cute, feel good queer romance an entertaining crowd pleaser.
WEAPONS is an original mix of sci-fi and horror from director Zach Cregger (Barbarian, etc). One night seventeen children from the same class at an elementary school go missing, with only one child remaining behind. The film unfolds from multiple perspectives, with each chapter giving audiences new insight into what happened. The sophomore feature from Cregger it establishes him as an original voice in the horror genre. A superb cast has been assembled to flesh out the characters, including Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, and an unrecognisable Amy Madigan who brings home the film’s closing chapter in sensational fashion.
The winner of the Guilty Pleasure Award for 2025 goes to THE HOUSEMAID, a faithful adaptation of the best selling 2022 novel written by Freida McFadden. The film follows Millie (played by Sydney Sweeney in arguably her best role), a young woman just released from prison who becomes the live-in housekeeper for a wealthy family (played by Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar). Plenty of twists and turns in the story, which has been adapted from the novel by Rebecca Sonnenshine. Those familiar with the novel will appreciate the filmmakers’ efforts to remain faithful to the source material, while those unfamiliar with the novel will certainly be kept hanging on each new twist. Every new revelation changes our perspective of the three main characters, and it all ends in some gore, blood and even a bit of do-it-yourself dentistry that ups the ick factor.
NUREMBERG. At the end of WWII, the Allies held a series of war crimes trials to hold the Nazis accountable for the atrocities committed during the war. The highest-ranking prisoner put on trial was Reich Marshall Herman Goering (played here by Russell Crowe). Brought in to assess his fitness to stand trial was an Army psychiatrist (played by Rami Malek), and what results is a battle of wits and wills between the two men. The film incorporates some confronting archival footage shot during the liberation of the concentration camps which leaves an impression on the audience. Crowe makes Goering seem charming and intelligent but he also gives him an arrogant, narcissistic and manipulative nature.
Atmospheric and compelling, WHEN FALL IS COMING is a subtle murder mystery drama from France and is arguably Francois Ozon’s best film for years. Its plot was quite typical as it involved the use of mushrooms to poison a person. Michelle is a former prostitute who has retired to live a quiet life in rural France. She dotes on her young grandson Lucas, but Lucas is caught in the middle of the bitter fights between his mother Valerie and estranged father. But when Valerie dies following a fall from her apartment in Paris questions are raised – was it an accident, suicide, or something more sinister? Co-written with regular collaborator Philippe Piazzo, this subtly nuanced and brilliantly written film is shaped by secrets and lies, guilt, recriminations, family dysfunction and suspicion, and Ozon gives the material a deliberate air of ambiguity as they are not giving the audience any easy answers here.
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, the new film from auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, is a provocative and darkly comic, gritty and edgy chase thriller that taps into some of the contemporary social and political issues of a divided and fractured America today, including the hot button issue of immigration, racist cabals, extremism, authoritarian government overreach and the aggressive weaponization of the military for political purposes. This is arguably his most ambitious film to date, both thematically and dramatically. The film is adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland and while it retains the author’s paranoid tendencies and cynicism, Anderson has taken liberties with source material and included many contemporary touches that make it seem more relevant and topical and attuned to events unfolding in America today. Anderson has assembled a great cast that includes Leonardo Di Caprio, Benicio Del Toro and a buffed up and malevolent Sean Penn who plays a gung-ho soldier keen to join a sinister extremist right wing organisation with the benign sounding name of the Christmas Adventurer’s Club. However, it is unnecessarily bloated.
