Darkest Hour is directed by Joe Wright (Atonement (2007) and stars Gary Oldman, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Wright’s movie tells the story of Winston Churchill’s most defining trial: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation.
I’ll see this because Oldman is great and it sounds as though he may have nailed Churchill’s voice. There’s also Churchill’s very famous inspirational quotes to look forward to.
In The Exception , which takes place during the onset of World War II, Jai Courtney is a German soldier who falls in love with a young Jewish Dutch woman (Lily James).
What said soldier really ought to be focusing on instead is his job of investigating whether the Dutch resistance has planted a spy to infiltrate the home of Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland.
Directed by David Leveaux, the biggest pull to watch this movie, for me, is that I want love to win. I’m also a Lily James fan since she was in one of my favourites,Cinderella (2015) – even though someone referred to her performance as ‘bored and lifeless.’
There’s also Christopher Plummer, an actor who’s good in everything he appears in.
Starring Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lilly James, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, and directed by Edgar Wright, Baby Driver is the new action/crime/thriller about a young getaway driver who has been coerced into taking part in a heist job that’s doomed to fail.
All that came to mind right away as I watched this trailer was ‘What a great role for Elgort to land’. The next thought was, I want to see this simply because it looks good.
Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Flea and Sky Ferreira also star.
Burnt stars Bradley Cooper. It’s a film about a talented chef’s journey to get his life back on track following one huge misstep. After watching the Burnt trailer a few months ago, I found myself unsure about how good I may end up finding the finished product.
The expectation was that I would fall in love with the food in the movie whilst enjoying learning about Cooper’s Adam Jones. Instead, I found that I didn’t fall in love with the food nor did I connect very much with Cooper’s character.
The lack of connection with the protagonist may have something to do with Adam Jones not being particularly likeable. It could also be the film’s seemingly odd structure and the feeling that the musical score didn’t fit especially comfortably.
In short, Burnt isn’t in the top ten of my favourite Bradley Cooper movies. However, there are things I liked. For example, Uma Thurman’s performance stood out, and I liked how the story brought to mind teamwork, friendship and redemption. I especially enjoyed the interesting information about the Michelin Guide.
If you’re after a good movie for food lovers, the kind that will make you wish you could reach into the screen to grab a piece of what the characters are eating, I recommend Chef (2014) and Julie & Julia (2009). Burnt is probably more for rather serious Bradley Cooper fans and those curious about the experience of a successful Chef.
American Sniper (2014)remains my favourite of Cooper’s performances. I’m not sure that 2015 was his year. However, I loved Cooper’s work in director David O. Russell’s Joy (2015).
Starring Bradley Cooper, Omar Sy, Emma Thompson, Sienna Miller and Lilly James, to name just a few, the story centres around Adam Jones (Cooper) who moves to London to start afresh after some bad decisions.
The trailer looks good and dramatic. Peculiarly, IMDb has categorised the film as a comedy. I guess the laughs have been saved for the film.
