Gladiator II ★★☆☆☆
Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen. 15A cert, gen release, 148 min
Mescal is strong as a successor to Russell Crowe in Scott’s much delayed sequel. Denzel is even better as his scheming superior. But, those performances aside, there is no convincing argument for Gladiator II to exist beyond the demand that something so lucrative should eventually generate something else equivalently lucrative (we’ll see). The narrative parallels with Gladiator – taking in soft-edged shadows of the earlier characters – only press home the current project’s second-hand status. The story is an inconsistent muddle. It’s no Gladiator. It’s no Asterix the Gladiator. At least there is satisfying gore. Full review DC
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point ★★★★☆
Directed by Tyler Thomas Taormina. Starring Matilda Fleming, Maria Dizzia, Ben Shenkman, Francesca Scorsese, Elsie Fisher, Lev Cameron, Sawyer Spielberg. 12A cert, limited release, 106 min
An extended Italian-American family descend upon their grandma’s Long Island home for Christmas festivities. Siblings bicker about the care of their ageing mother (Reistetter) and the possible sale of the house. A freewheeling and phantasmagorical mediation on Christmas and related movie tropes, this Altmanesque seasonal comedy offers a wistful riot of chatter and foods: separated red and green M&Ms, cherry affogato, and salami sticks. There are cruising parallels with American contemporaries such as Ross Brothers and Halina Reijn, but this daisy-chain has an earnest, festive charm unlike any other. It’s a vibe. TB
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Soundtrack to a Coup d’État ★★★★☆
Directed by Johan Grimonprez. Featuring In Koli Jean Bofane, Zap Mama, Patrick Cruise O’Brien, Patrice Lumumba, Nina Simone, Malcolm X. Limited release, 150 min
Fascinating documentary about the 1961 incident that saw jazz musicians such as Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach caught up in the aftermath of the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev responded to the neo-colonial fightback by banging his shoe on his desk at the UN General Assembly. This vibrant, fleetfooted chronicle deconstructs the complexities of Lumumba’s murder specifically and the wider African anti-imperialist struggles of the period. Editor Rik Chaubet and sound designer Ranko Pauković keep the rhythms pacy. Infuriatingly, the righteous anger remains relevant decades later. TB
In Camera ★★★☆☆
Directed by Naqqash Khalid. Starring Nabhaan Rizwan, Amir El-Masry, Rory Fleck Byrne, Josie Walker, Gana Bayarsaikhan, Jamie Ballard, Aston McAuley. Mubi, 95 min
In Camera follows the travails of Aden (Rizwan), an aspiring British-Asian actor moving about an unforgiving version of contemporary London. He tries out for a toothpaste commercial. He participates in pretentious exercises. When not pounding the pavements, he shares sob stories with his Irish flatmate Bo (Byrne), an overworked junior doctor, and, later, a new, mysterious cohabitee called Conrad (El-Masry). Khalid’s feature is an imaginative, sometimes spooky investigation of the actor’s life and of lazy assumptions about people of colour. It has a rigorous, cold aesthetic that reveals deep thinking. It is also, maybe, a tad too dry. DC
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