Jojo Rabbit

It’s a story of a 10 year old boy, of Hitler youth who, just like his classmates, buys into the Nazi propaganda. He is wounded while training to be a soldier which keeps him from joining Hitler’s army. Jojo, suddenly having a lot of time on his hands, finds out his mother’s greatest secret. A teenage Jewish girl, hiding in the attic. Thomasin McKenzie goes from hiding in the woods in ‘Leave No Trace’ to hiding in Scarlett Johansson’s attic. The first half of the film is intentionally offensive and may be sickening to some, but please try to look past it. At my screening, a few people in the audience were outraged, sighed at the sight of Hitler and one shouted ‘I thought this was a family film!’, but please give it a chance.

‘You’re not a Nazi, Jojo. You’re a ten-year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club.’

8/10

The Irishman

Can’t believe no one wanted to buy it and they told Scorsese no one would watch ‘another gangster film’ of his in 2019, and only Neflix offered to buy it? The film turned out to be another Scorsese masterpiece. De Niro’s contacts are a little distracting, but I can look past that, because it’s one of the best films of the year. I keep asking people in my surroundings whether they’ve seen it and most don’t even know haven’t even heard of the film. They don’t really care for films or Scorsese for some reason? Both break my heart. Even though DeNiro doesn’t seem to be at his best, Al Pacino certainly is. I was pleased to see Ray Romano star in this too, he doesn’t act enough anymore. Some of my favourite scenes are the ones where Robert de Niro ‘paints the walls’.

9/10

Cats

I’ve chatted with this 70 year old lady after the screening and she said she had seen a few stage productions of Cats and she liked this one best because the story was much clearer as opposed to just cats singing. We’ve had a bunch of pre-teen girls laughing through the entire thing, even during Jennifer Hudson’s performace of the famous song. 20 minutes in, one of the girls shouted ‘Wait! It’s a musical?!’ They only shut up when Jennifer got off the ground and began to hit all those high notes that left the entire audience with goosebumps. Don’t forget to bow to your cat when you address them tonight. This is a good example of the trailer being better than the film itself. I teared up when the main character said ‘Are you going to try for a different life?’ Taylor Swift doesn’t perform the beautiful song she co-wrote with Cats creator Andrew Lloyd Webber, it’s experienced and accomplished ballerina and acting newcomer Francesca Hayward who sings it in the film. Taylor performs ‘Macavity’ about the film villain played by Idris Elba.

3/10

Burn Burn Burn

A story of two friends who embark on a ‘Thelma and Louise’- like journey around the UK, a last wish their deceased best mate had. One of the friends is desperate to get out of a loveless relationship and the other’s girlfriend cheats on her. They travel around England spreading their mate’s ashes and then encounter an elderly hitchhiker running from an abusive husband. They feel there’s something is wrong and offer to take her all the way to her son in Scotland. They can see the lady is scared of someone, but it isn’t until later on when she reveals the husband was going to kill her. The film stars Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael.

7/10

Katie Says Goodbye

A story of a young adult from a small town in the middle of nowhere, who dreams of moving to San Francisco. She works at a diner, while her unreliable mother sits at home, drinks and goes out with men. On her lunch breaks, Katie, played by Bates Motel’s Olivia Cooke, has sex with men stopping by the dinner. She makes a steady income from it, collecting only $11 dollars from her regulars. She finds a boyfriend, and doesn’t tell him what she does, when he finally, he stays with her at first but treats her badly. She refuses to sleep with two locals, but they don’t take no for an answer. I really wish they went into why she thought selling her body was a good way to earn money and showed us how she came up with this idea. Was sex with random people just another everyday activity to her? Was she abused by one of her mother’s boyfriends? She had a stable job, the owner seemed understanding, she surely could have asked for extra hours. Mireille Enos has a very little supporting role here, they really should have given her more to do. I like the simplistic scenography and costumes, most of the scenes were shot in the desert while Olivia Cooke is wearing the exact same clothes, her waitress uniform, in every scene. I am personaly familiar with a loved one taking all your money, so this twist, however predictable, was something I related to.

6/10