The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim ★★★☆☆
Directed by Kenji Kamiyama. Voices of Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, Miranda Otto. PG cert, gen release, 134 min
Busy, attractive anime telling of Middle-earth from just before The Lord of the Rings kicks off. Helm Hammerhand (Cox in full voice), king of Rohan, goes to war with rivals and ends up drawing plucky daughter Héra (Wise) into the conflict. Rich in Tolkien’s melange of Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxony, the piece is also at home to brutal anime-compliant surrealism, such as when a fanged freshwater octopus chews up an unfortunate elephant. Anybody half on board should have a decent time. It is certainly a heck of a lot better than the over-extended Hobbit trilogy. Full review DC
Queer ★★☆☆☆
Directed by Luca Guadagnino. Starring Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga, Lesley Manville. 16 cert, gen release, 138 min
An American writer takes drugs and falls in love in postwar Mexico. Guadagnino’s hugely disappointing adaptation of William S Burroughs’s posthumously published novella opens with Sinéad O’Connor’s cover of Nirvana’s All Apologies and randomised objects from that author’s Mexico City apartment. “Everyone is gay,” get it? The misused music and hollow visuals set the tone for a vacuous work that frequently feels like an over-styled catalogue shoot. One half expects price tags to appear on Vintage Typewriter and Distressed Whiskey Bottle. Full review TB
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The Bibi Files ★★★★☆
Directed by Alexis Bloom. Featuring Ami Ayalon, Raviv Drucker, Nir Hefetz, Binyamin Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu, Yair Netanyahu. Digital platforms, 113 min
Scathing documentary portrait of Binyamin Netanyahu’s long, ignoble history of receiving backhanders. Extensive footage of the police interrogations, running into thousands of hours, was leaked to the Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (who produced The Bibi Files) last year. These tapes are supplemented and contextualised by such talking heads as former prime minister Ehud Olmert and former Shin Bet head Ami Ayalon. A swaggering, unapologetic appearance by Yair Netanyahu, the premier’s son and presumed successor, signals a continuation of the family’s murky legacy. Full review TB
Chasing the Light ★★★☆☆
Directed by Maurice O’Brien. Featuring Peter Cornish, Harriet Cornish. PG cert, limited release, 88 min
Agreeable documentary on how Peter Cornish set up a famous Buddhist retreat in west Cork. In truth, some viewers, particularly those who don’t acknowledge that much ballyhooed “spiritual dimension”, will find their attention wandering during the lengthy encomiums to the Rigpa school of Buddhism. As we are told that life is akin to a dream, thoughts turn to Dr Johnson kicking his large stone after exposure to Bishop Berkeley’s notion that matter does not exist. Others will find much to savour from the philosophy as well as grand shots of the Atlantic coast. Full review DC
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