Schemers (2019)
★★★☆☆
Schemers is director David McLean’s appealing comedy-drama – a blend of Trainspotting and Gregory’s Girl with a touch of Good Vibrations – of how he became a teenage music promoter in Dundee.
biopic
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019) – On demand
★★★★★
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am is Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ spellbinding tribute to a literary treasure that makes you feel as if you have lost a friend.
Honey Boy (2019)
★★★★☆
Honey Boy by Shia LaBeouf is a searingly personal, self-immolating childhood memoir.
The Two Popes (2019)
★★★★☆
The Two Popes by Fernando Mereilles, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, is a sparklingly written, joyfully acted, behind-the-scenes imagining of historic events made personal.
Harriet (2019)
★★★★☆
Harriet, directed by Kasi Lemmons, is a conventionally made biopic of a supremely unconventional and inspirational woman, Harriet Tubman, taking her life story from slave to fearless abolitionist and conductor on the underground railroad to freedom.
BFI LFF 2019: Harriet (2019)
★★★☆☆
Harriet, directed by Kasi Lemmons, is a conventionally made biopic of a supremely unconventional and inspirational woman, Harriet Tubman, taking her life story from slave to fearless abolitionist and conductor on the underground railroad to freedom.
BFI LFF 2019: The Two Popes (2019)
★★★★★
The Two Popes by Fernando Mereilles is a sparklingly written, joyfully acted, behind-the-scenes imagining of historic events made personal that has its international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.
Mrs Lowry & Son (2019)
★★★★☆
Mrs Lowry & Son showcases Timothy Spall and Vanessa Regrave in a claustrophobic two-hander of the abusive relationship that drove one of Britain’s great painters.
Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love (2019)
★★★★☆
Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love is Nick Broomfield’s poignant, moving documentary about an enduring relationship between soulmates.
Vita and Virginia (2018)
★★☆☆☆
Vita and Virginia by Chanya Button is a literary biopic doesn’t do justice to its iconic protagonists.
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (2018)
★★★☆☆
John McEnroe’s fiery artistry on court is put under the microscope in Julien Faraut’s unique documentary John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection, which examines tennis as theatrical performance.
Sundance London: The Brink (2019)
★★★★☆
The Brink by Alison Klayman is a must-see documentary following dangerous eminence grise Steve Bannon over the crucial period of the US midterms and the EU elections.
Cannes Film Festival 2019: Day 3
★★★★☆
Cannes Film Festival 2019: Day 3
Amazing Grace (2018)
★★★★★
The late, great Aretha Franklin raises the roof singing gospel in Sidney Pollack’s unmissable Amazing Grace 1972 documentary.