If you have read my article in the latest issue of Sorted, you’ll know that 2023 was a pretty mixed year at the cinema, to be honest, every year is. We had some outstanding, incredible films mingling with turkeys that were so bad they almost defied belief.
But that’s all behind us now, a new year has dawned and hope for cinematic joys springs eternal. So, what’s out early doors? Here’s a brief round-up of what you will find at your local picture houses during January. In no particular order:
One Life: While Oscar Schindler was getting ready to save many from the concentration camps, Nicolas Winton was already hard at work rescuing refugee children from Prague as Hitler’s forces moved ever closer. Years later his story would be told on the BBC’s That’s Life programme and he would get to meet many of the 669 he saved. One of those moving, stirring, distressing. tear-jerking films that also leaves you with joy in your heart. A must see I would say. Both Sir Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn are terrific as is the rest of the cast. A great film.
Anyone But You: I won’t bore you with the all too obvious plot, it bored me stiff, suffice it to say there were nine of us watching at the start and two walked out. Would have happily joined them. Just avoid it, please. I need a Fosters! Please note, I do know some people who loved this.
The Boy and the Heron: I was underwhelmed by this new film from Studio Ghibli. I know it’s been doing great box office in the States, and I don’t doubt it will do well here but, honestly, it’s pretty average. It is good to look at, has a good score, and the voice cast on the dubbed version I saw is fine but, to be honest, it’s all a bit much. It’s like they decided to throw everything at it, including, the kitchen sink, and what has emerged is a bit of a jumbled mess. One of the main problems is that at two hours, I feel it’s too long and the central story does get a bit lost amid a need to fill the time.
The basic story is that Mahito, a 12-year-old boy, struggles to settle in a new town after his mother’s death. However, when a talking heron tells him his mother is still alive, he enters another world through a nearby tower. Yes, there is some wonderful and imaginative animation on display, but as Pixar has repeatedly proved that story is everything, I am afraid this one gets lost. Six out of ten from me. If it had been an hour and a half and more focused my score might have been higher.
Ferrari: I haven’t seen any other reviews so for it’s worth, here’s mine. Yawn! There are one or two moments of action featuring the famous fast car (One of them devastating) but other than that I found this deadly dull I’m afraid. Good performances but the domestic life of Ferrari didn’t hold my interest. Frankly, I didn’t care. I just wanted to see the cars, learn about their development, and watch them in action. But well over an hour of this film is about his home and family life, which does tie in with the car business admittedly, but boy did I find it boring. The only time the film never really catches fire is when we see the cars in action but given the two-hour plus running time, that’s not enough. I am sure other opinions are available but for me, a real let down. Never gets out of second gear!
Priscilla: This is an interesting companion piece to Baz Luhrmann’s Biopic from last year. Much more low-key key with the emphasis on just how young Priscilla was and how despite real determination on her part, not to be, she was manipulated. A tremendous, and interestingly enough mature, performance by Cially Spaney who is in nearly every scene. The film has a good score, a few too many montage sequences for me, and several “home movies”. I did find it dragged a bit in the middle but on the whole, the story is well told. Seven out of ten from me. Worth seeing, especially if you don’t know the story but if you don’t catch it on the big screen you won’t lose much by seeing it on a smaller one. The real Priscilla is the executive producer and it’s based on her book so presumably most of what we saw was accurate at least!
That’s probably enough to be going on with but please don’t forget that my film of 2023 is now available to stream. If you fancy a night in with a great movie, seek out Typist Artist Pirate King. You can’t go wrong. That’s all folks!
Main Photo Credit: Luis Quintero via Pexels
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