Palatkik

The Hand Of God [2021] In 1980s Naples, a young teenager pursues his love for football and Maradona as a family tragedy strikes, shaping his uncertain but promising future as a filmmaker. Beguiling mixed Italian drama/dark comedy, based on the film makers own tragic experience makes for some compelling viewing. Worth seeing when the mood suits.

Bergman Island [2021] A couple retreat to the Fårö island, that inspired Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, to write screenplays for their upcoming films when the lines between reality and fiction start to blur. Good cinematography in a drama where not much ever happens.

Pistol [2022 TV Limited Series] Based on the Steve Jones' memoir Lonely Boy about the birth of punk in Britain, this is an uneven but great fun watch for those with a penchant for the era. Some lively performance recreations with good soundtrack though the facts maybe muddled as Lydon had nothing to do with it. Worth seeing.

Ricky Gervais: SuperNature [2022] TV Special of the comedian with his signature black humor doing stand up on stage at the London Palladium. Takes on the rules of comedy with amusing self-mockery of everyone easily offended. Comedy doesn't always travel, and this, whilst a good laugh, along the lines of his Golden Globes hosting but more vulgar, comes over as a little lazy and juvenile. Worth seeing when the mood suits.

Ali & Ava [2021] Ali and Ava, both lonely for different reasons, meet and sparks fly. Over a lunar month a connection begins to grow, despite the legacy of their own past relationships. Award winning and endearing UK drama set in Yorkshire with two leads showing real chemistry in a story full of detail.

Everything Everywhere All At Once [2022] An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led. One of the strangest most intense action packed movies of recent times, highly inventive and original with a full range of emotions.

Operation Mincemeat [2022] During WW2, two intelligence officers use a corpse and false papers to outwit German troops before the Allied invasion of Sicily. Old school style war drama recounts the famous war deception. Good performances, plenty of intrigue, usual WW2 CGI imagery we have become used to in a rather bland production.

The Outlaws [2021 TV Series] Seven strangers from different walks of life, each of whom have broken the law are forced together to complete a community service sentence in Bristol, UK. A quirky six part dark comedy series, with an odd but likeable cast choice, paints such a broad brush with so much going on as to make it only mildly entertaining. More in series 2 to come.

Stephen [2021 TV Limited Series] The true story of the ongoing struggle by Doreen and Neville Lawrence to achieve justice for their murdered son Stephen and how a detective, Clive Driscoll, put together a re-investigation that finally, more than 18 years after his death, secured the convictions of two of the gang who committed the murder before the Met finally closed the case in 2020. Decent award nominated three part ITV cop drama, covers the landmark re-investigation involving double jeopardy and institutional racism issues. Worth a look.

Jungleland [2020] Two brothers try to escape their circumstances by traveling across the US for a no holds barred boxing match that becomes a fight for their lives. Gritty drama set around the seedy gangster world of underground fighting, rises above mediocrity with two convincing leads.

Stay Close [2021 TV Limited Series] The lives of a photojournalist, a former stripper mom and a homicide detective are disturbed by a terrible event from the past. Netflix series filmed in and around Blackpool UK that is best binged watched whilst doing something else, average at best albeit entertaining.

The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe [2022 TV Limited Series] Four-part UK TV drama based on the true story and book of how prison officer John Darwin faked his own death in a canoe accident to claim life insurance and avoid bankruptcy - unbeknownst to his two sons. Simple to follow well-made crime drama from the point of view of his coercive controlled wife and partner in crime.

Benedetta [2021] A 17th-century nun in Italy suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions. She is assisted by a companion, and the relationship between the two women develops into a romantic affair. Entertainingly lurid and erotic French period drama. Perhaps the first mainstream movie with a squirting lactating nipple in it?

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story [2022 TV Limited Series] UK entertainer Savile had charmed a nation with his eccentricity and philanthropy in some eyes. But sexual abuse allegations exposed a shocking unseen side of his persona. A bleak two part three hour documentary doesn't really say much that hasn't already been told, but just emphasizes it in haunting style for a global audience.

Dopesick [2021 TV Limited Series] A broad canvas depicting America's struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Purdue Pharma, to a distressed Virginia mining community and the hallways of the DEA. A strong cast carries this sometimes cluttered formulaic story, based on a depressing true story. Worth a look.

The Souvenir: Part II [2021] In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship, an aspiring movie making student begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborate fiction. This is a follow-up to the first part of two years prior. A bit more art house abstract and not as interesting, albeit worth a look as a reminder how good part one was.

The Pact [2021 TV Limited Series] An unexplained death of a disliked brewery heir - and five friends bound together by a fragile pact of silence. Lightweight whodunit UK TV limited series, decent lead actor with a so-so support cast, entertaining albeit forgettable.

Pirates [2021] Three eighteen-year-old friends journey from North to South London to celebrate New Year's Eve at the turn of the millennium in a period piece when flip phones were hip and accents almost indecipherable. A nostalgic feelgood movie, some good gags, in a story-line that just stays afloat.

The Responder [2022 TV Series] A crisis-stricken, morally compromised first-responder tackles a series of night shifts on the beat in Liverpool, while trying to keep his head above water personally and professionally. This is a UK TV police drama at its best, astonishing lead performance, top support actors in a darkly atmospheric and disturbing plot. Very entertaining, a second series beckons.

Don't Look Up [2021] Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth. A disaster movie in genre and delivery. Star studded smug satire that is mostly cringe with few laughs.

Drive My Car [2021] A renowned stage actor and director learns to cope with his wife's unexpected passing when he receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima. A three hour long adaptation of a short story is a worthy, albeit not great, foreign language movie dealing with grief. The subtitles on some copies of this can be a bit confusing.

Our House [2022 TV Limited Series] Based on the novel of the same name, tells the story of a woman, who arrives home one day to find a family of strangers moving into her house and her husband disappeared. Enjoyable lightweight TV thriller for when the mood suits, some good performances, plot holes abound.

Master [2022] Two African American women begin to share disturbing experiences at a predominantly white college in New England. Mediocre thriller, plays the tiresome race card as only US movies seems capable.

Red Rocket [2021] A washed-up porn star returns to his small Texas hometown to scrounge off the wife turned pro and mother in law again. Well delivered black comedy piece of Americana underbelly life in the Texan work belt done to a backdrop of the 2016 election campaign.