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The Doo Dah Man
The film features some of the classic tropes of American cinema, most obviously from the road-trip movie and the ill-assorted buddy movie, but this familiarity belies a more substantial story about fathers and sons, as well as a deeper literary tradition that goes back to Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. A young man, Jake (Brittain), leaves
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The Banshees of Inisherin
The setting of the film is obviously meant to represent a larger canvas. Inisherin literally translates as Island of Ireland. But this may be just one of many misdirections by Martin McDonagh who gleefully toys with the tropes of Irish history. Far from being a parable about the distantly-heard Civil War, this is a more
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Aftersun
Though widely described as a coming-of-age film, Aftersun is more accurately an essay in reflection as the adult Sophie (Rowlson-Hall) looks back on a holiday at a Turkish resort in the 1990s spent with her father, Calum (Mescal). While the wider circumstances are never fully explained, it’s clear that this was a pivotal moment for
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The Lady Eve
Barbara Stanwyck shines in this hilarious revenge rom-com: a con woman sets her sights set on a likeable rich boob (Henry Fonda). One of the finest achievements of Golden Age Hollywood’s first writer-director, Preston Sturges.
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American Fiction
Intelligent, often hilarious American comedy-drama. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who challenges and satirises prevailing literary stereotypes about “Black” experience.
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Five Easy Pieces
Jack Nicholson announced himself as a leading man with his iconic portrayal of flawed American anti-hero Bobby Dupea: torn between his cultured upper-class background, and the blue-collar world he has adopted.
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The Holdovers
The star (Paul Giamatti) and director (Alexander Payne) of Sideways reunite, in this funny and bittersweet comedy-drama about staff and pupils of a New England boarding school ‘held over’ to reluctantly spend the holidays together.
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Thelma
In her first starring role at the age of 94, June Squibb plays a doting grandmother who is scammed out of $10,000. With the police offering no help, she decides to track down the scammers and recover her money.
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A Real Pain
In honour of their late grandmother, two mismatched cousins embark on a tour of Poland in this funny, intelligent road trip comedy. Writer-director-star Jesse Eisenberg won the Best Original Screenplay BAFTA; while a scene-stealing Kieran Culkin swept the awards season board, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
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On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
The buried secrets of a middle-class Zambian family are brought to light at the funeral of a family member. This powerful yet surreal drama won Welsh-Zambian writer-director Rungano Nyoni (I Am Not a Witch) a Cannes Un Certain Regard directing award and has cemented her reputation as a rising star in cinema.










