Archive
MR. MALCOLM’S LIST – Amelia Warner
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Mr. Malcolm’s List is a new British period comedy-drama directed by Emma Holly Jones and written by Suzanne Allain, based on her novel of the same name. It stars Freida Pinto, Sope Dirisu, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Park, Zawe Ashton, and Theo James. It’s one of those typically genteel ‘comedy of manners’ stories, and in this instance follows a young woman in 1800s England named Selina Dalton (Pinto), who agrees to help her friend Julia Thistlewaite (Ashton) get revenge on a suitor – the titular Mr. Jeremiah Malcolm (Dirisu), London’s most eligible bachelor – who rejected her for failing a ‘requirement’ on his list of qualifications for a potential bride. The revenge comes by way of a long con, wherein Selina pretends to be his perfect woman… but then Selina begins to fall for Malcolm for real, leading her to wonder whether she should continue with the hoax. The story is all very much in the broadest Jane Austen tradition, with perhaps a little bit of influence from the more contemporary Bridgerton TV series, and has been a reasonable box office success on both sides of the Atlantic. Read more…
WILD MOUNTAIN THYME – Amelia Warner
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Wild Mountain Thyme is an Irish-themed romantic comedy drama, written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, based on his own 2014 stage play Outside Mullingar. The film stars Emily Blunt as Rosemary Muldoon, a headstrong young woman who owns a farm in rural Ireland. Rosemary’s farm is adjacent to another one, owned by the elderly Tony Reilly (Christopher Walken) and his son Anthony (Jamie Dornan). Rosemary has been romantically interested in Anthony her entire life, but Anthony is shy, and a little ‘odd,’ and is unaware of Rosemary’s feelings for him. Not only that, Anthony continually claims how much he dislikes farming, and does not want to take over the property after his father dies. Things come to a head when Tony decides to leave the farm to Adam Kelly (John Hamm), a distant nephew in America; when Adam visits the farm he takes an immediate romantic liking to Rosemary, forcing Anthony to finally decide what he truly wants out of life. Read more…
MARY SHELLEY – Amelia Warner
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The British author Mary Shelley, who lived from 1797 to 1851, is best known today for her Gothic novel ‘Frankenstein,’ one of the most influential books of all time, and which has come to be regarded as the first true science fiction story. The romantic drama film Mary Shelley takes an extended look at Shelley’s early life, especially the exalted scholarly circles in which she moved; as the daughter of philosopher William Godwin she had an in-depth classical education, her circle of friends included the poet Lord Byron and the early horror novelist John Polidori, and she was married to poet Percy Shelley, all of whom were significant influences on the story she conceived one stormy night on the banks of Lake Geneva in 1818. The film stars Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, and Tom Sturridge, and is directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, the world’s first female Saudi Arabian film maker, whose previous work includes the critically acclaimed 2012 drama Wadjda. Read more…
Shop at the Movie Music UK Store
Member of the
MOVIE MUSIC UK 