Sandy’s Film Reviews

656 Films have been rated or reviewed by Sandy.

Swimming Pool (2003): Very good; great acting. Great Luberon setting. Lightweight & diverting.
A Simple Favour (2018): Totally brilliant entertainment; stylish, witty, smart & very funny at every level. A spoof the on American upper–middle class and a genuine thriller as well. The two lead women are outstanding!
Other Side of Hope, The (2017): Very sad if you know the reality. No–one smiles in this and Syrians are treated icily by the bureaucracy – better by (most) ordinary folk. But the Finns are bizarre! Another indulgent, uninformative, unlovable Finnish film.
Notes on Blindness (2016): Patchy drama on Hull's blindness (Prof Religious Educ) & family. Neglects deafness cf Oliver Sacks' essay Mysteries of the Deaf (NYRB 1986). No music in Hull's world (Wikipedia). Fun extras eg Imogen's "Radio H' c.f. real Imogen in The Guardian
Mud (2012): Nuanced film about living on the Arkansas R. Terrific acting. Good script. Subplots: loyalty of the boys to each other, strangers, parents & between men & women generally. Trust is a limited commodity here. This is no B–grade movie, very fine.
Touch of Evil, A (1958): Brilliant Orson Welles' B–movie. Terrific fun & very good.
Midnight Cowboy (1969): All–time classic thriller!
Story of India with Michael Wood, The (TV Series) (2007): Stunning photography & well–constructed clear story of the subcontinent's complex history from earliest times. Really terrific; fascinating, beautiful & up–to–date. A must–see for anyone who cares about our world today.
Aquarius (2016): Long, slow,witty & very original. Not everyone's cup of tea; gutsy portrait of a brave lively widow fighting against developers to keep her lovely home. Stunningly nuanced acting of Sonia Braga. Sophisticated intergenerational story, but v. modern.
Post, The (2017): Not better than'The Most Dangerous Man in America:Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009)' which poignantly reveals the courage & loneliness of this great man and is a real doco. "The Post' is noisy; linotype machines & printers are nostalgic.

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Sandy’s Film Reviews