Tag: Book-adaptation

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Ashes in the Snow (2018)

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 lead to the Soviet annexation of the Baltic region in 1940. This was followed by political repression and mass deportations, under the so-called Serov Instructions. Hundreds of thousands, entire families, were forcibly removed from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and sent to work in Siberian labour camps.

It’s a sad film about a period in history we should all know more about. Powley is compelling as the 16-year-old Lina, an innocent finding the strength to survive Soviet brutality.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3759298/

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The Good Nurse (2022)

All the tension in this low key “we know who done it” is in the unknowns of Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne). What will he do to his college Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) when he realises she’s on to him? Good but not great.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4273800/

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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – S:1 (2022– )

Season One of The Rings of Power feels more like a setup for what’s to come. The whole thing raises so many more questions than it answers. There are only nine episodes. I would’ve liked twice that to make it feel as if it goes somewhere. I only hope the production doesn’t get lost in the quagmire of epic budgets and creative freedoms.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7631058/

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Blonde (2022)

Blonde (2022) is harrowing. Visually and narratively inventive, it’s a tortured fever-dream of a biopic, about one woman’s abuse at the hands of men. I want to think there was some joy in Marilyn Monroe’s short life but it can’t be found here.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655389/

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Black Bird (2022)

Convicted drug dealer, played by Taron Egerton, is given a chance at redemption, when he goes undercover in a maximum security prison, tasked with coaxing a confession from a serial killer, Paul Walter Hauser. Strong performances from Egerton and Hauser but I can’t help wondering, if the story had been condensed into a feature would it’ve had more urgency?

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Slow Horses – S:1 (2022– )

When British intelligence agents make career-ending mistakes but aren’t fired, MI5 send them to Slough House, a purgatory of dullness run by the acerbic Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). When Slough House’s most recent arrival River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is assigned to keep an eye on a journalist associated with far-right politicians, he uncovers a plot to attack Britain. This felt truncated, very much like a setup, rather than a full season. Interestingly they trailed season two at the end of episode six. Surely the talent above and below the line deserves more that a paltry six hours.

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Wolf Hall (2015)

A fictionalised biography of Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), and the well traveled lawyer’s rise to power in the court of Henry VIII (Damian Lewis). Ultimately it’s a story of revenge. It’s slow, deliberately so, as much about contemplating a thought as about dealing with the consequences of an action.

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Cell (2016)

Father battles to reunite with his son after a signal, delivered through the cell-phone network, turns everyone into vicious killers. On paper it’s lightning in a bottle. The reality falls flat.

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Nightmare Alley (2021)

Planted firmly in the tradition of classic psychological noir, it’s seeded with moments of grisliness, and flowers with the requisite bitter betrayals.

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Anna (2021)

A virus spreads across the planet killing the adults but sparing the children. Scavenging in a decaying Sicily, Anna and her baby brother try to survive a world of kids gone feral.