FILMS OF THE WEEK Stephen keeps meticulous records, and he recalls giving top marks to Stronger (2017), tomorrow at 23:05 on BBC2. So I watched it. It tells the true story of a man called Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenaal), who lost both his legs in the Boston Marathon terrorist bombing of 2013. The film shows… [continues]

FILM OF THE WEEK There must be people waiting breathlessly for Stephen Spielberg’s forthcoming remake of West Side Story (1961), but I’m not among them. The trailer looks terrible. The original West Side Story (1961) is a piece of film history, of course, but it is still vivid and alive.   Its concerns – youth, tribalism,… [continues]

Film of the week Trumbo (2015) was Bryan Cranston’s first big film role after his all-conquering lead in the TV hit Breaking Bad, and it wasn’t an obvious crowd-pleaser. It tells the story of Dalton Trumbo, who was, at least according to this account, the highest-paid screenwriter in 1940s Hollywood. He was also a Communist… [continues]