Even non-climbing enthusiasts will fall in love with Tommy Caldwell in this well-made documentary as he and his climbing partner attempt to free climb a route up the legendary El Capitan that had been deemed impossible to scale.
Spielberg’s journalistic procedural is a masterclass in supple filmmaking that is equally at ease portraying nuance as well as galvanising action.
This heartfelt, partially-animated documentary centering on a Japanese man who lost his wife in the 2011 tsunami doesn’t have any pretensions and works because of its sincerity.
Joan of Arc’s childhood is given a treatment that only Dumont could dream up—a period musical backed by heavy metal/rock music that is as madly fervent as it is wearisome.
Haneke’s attempt to find his singular voice in our modern, technological society feels uncannily familiar, though the film’s numerous themes don’t quite come across as typically succinct.
The constant intercutting between two related storylines—that of a White and Black family living in Mississippi in the 1940s—seems to have spread its narrative more thinly than intended, but this is still a crucial look at the ills of racism.
Even if you don’t give a hoot about the Olympics, this sensational Oscar-winning documentary about state-sanctioned sports doping in Russia is eye-opening and riveting.
It doesn’t quite top the religious experience that is the 1982 film, but Denis Villeneuve and DP Roger Deakins have created a visually and thematically expansive arthouse blockbuster that deepens the mythology of its universe.
The film’s radical nature hides within its safe, formulaic underpinnings in what is DC’s finest superhero movie since Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy.
A languidly-paced work that has a great concept exploring human connections across time, with some moments of sublime filmmaking, but Haynes’ overall grasp of tone and thematic intent is a letdown.
