danieljfarthing

In iconic writer / director Pedro Almodóvar's first English-language film "The Room Next Door" Julianne Moore reluctantly agrees to accompany her friend Tilda Swinton on a final vacation to the forests outside their native NY... where Swinton plans to euthanise herself, to end the slow misery of her terminal cancer. More upbeat & engaging than it sounds (thanks in part to Almodóvar's colourful direction and John Turturro in support) it still meanders through it's intellectual themes (fear of death, suffering, guilt, etc) & artsy references (such as 1987's "The Dead") rather than gripping into an actual plot. Fans of Almodóvar will love it, while haters well they gonna hate.

There was no call for a sequel to mediocre light Brit drama "Bank Of Dave", and certainly not one as dire as the "Bank Of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger" borefest. Salt o' the earth Burnley banker Rory Kinnear & wife Jo Hartley (now with Chrissy Metz, Amit Shah & Pearce Quigley (the latter two being particularly poor)) this time take on corrupt payday lenders and their US paymasters. Chris Foggin again directs without atmosphere, and it's again written by Piers Ashworth who adds laughable melodrama to his trademark pious schmaltz as he plays very loose with 'the truth' of the tale. Hugh Bonneville & Def Leppard feature again, but don't save it - like a tepid cup of tea, it is awful.

In 2004 Brit-drama "Dirty Filthy Love" the stress related growth of Michael Sheen's acute OCD & Tourette's kills his architecture career and marriage (to Anastasia Griffith)... but he can't let the latter go as it mutates into an obsession. Through Shirley Henderson's self-help group (and with friends like Adrian Bower) he tries to fight it, but his affliction takes a deeper & deeper hold. It's tough but engaging viewing - props to director Adrian Shergold, writers Ian Puleston-Davies (with the first of his only two screenplays) & Jeff Pope, and of course to Sheen but particularly Henderson who is outstanding. It is a gritty movie, over 20 years old, but is still worth a watch.