25 April 2025.
Sorry – this is not a great week for releases….
But some good news – the excellent LA COCINA (reviewed last week) at the GRÜTLI, is also showing at the BIO Cinéma in Carouge!
THE ACCOUNTANT (MR. WOLFF 2) **
As the film starts it feels like Ben Affleck is still awfully mad at Jennifer. At least that was my first impression. He plays such an uptight, socially challenged character that it almost seems as though he’s putting on an act. A super accountant with his finger in many pots, he’s a handsome fellow, but without much to back up that facade, as the excited girls in a dating event quickly find out.
This is a strange film about a two brothers (the other one is Jon Bernthal playing a wild assassin) who are worlds apart, have not seen each other for years, and yet get together for some heavy duty killings and retaliations.
I’ve already forgotten the logistics of the yarn, but all the vicious mayhem finally comes down to two guys softening up towards life and each other as they begin to realise their brotherly connections. There are some sweet times in between episodes of excruciating violence, especially down in Mexico. This is definitely for the testosterone crowd – a bloodthirsty mess with a few rays of warmth and humour through their quirky discussions. I was not convinced.
DROP **
A lovely woman and an attractive man are on a first date, having met online. The city is gorgeous, the high rise restaurant is trendy and very upmarket. She’s a young widow, a bit reluctant to start the dating game. She’s left her little son at home with her sister who has been encouraging her to get out. All seems fine, and the couple are getting along surprisingly well, despite an overly enthusiastic waiter.
Now, how do we ratchet up this pretty picture? Make it into a cellphone thriller in which some mystery person is forcing the woman to assassinate her date or her son will be killed at home. And she’s seeing all this on her cellphone, over and over again.
Somewhat preposterous and overdone, it’s a prettier but lesser model of Joel Schumacher’s gripping 2003 “Phone Booth”, with Colin Farrell.
Maybe a fun date film….?
HARD TRUTHS (DEUX SOEURS) * (reviewed some weeks ago)
I have never seen such a relentlessly nasty, aggressive, destructive character portrayed in a movie.
It’s a Mike Leigh film (“Secrets and Lies”, “Mr. Turner”) with his favourite actress, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and he has a solid reputation as a serious, down-to-earth director of films about the English working class (a somewhat greyer Ken Loach).
But that is no excuse for subjecting us to this barrage of vile, incessant ranting.
However psychologically apt it may be in its comparison of two completely different sisters – Pansy, the angry, depressive one (Jean-Baptiste), and her mild and kind younger sister Chantelle, and how their characters mould and affect their individual families – this is an exhausting film and I personally was ready to leave halfway through.
But it’s had top reviews, so go ahead and take a chance, if that’s your inclination….
And beyond cinema: AZNAVOUR CELEBRATION! Here is an exceptional homage to the late, great French/Armenian singer, songwriter, actor Charles AZNAVOUR at the BFM (place des Volontaires 2) in a multi-media ciné-concert on Sunday, May 4th at 18:30.
You may have seen the superb biopic “Monsieur Aznavour” this past year, but this immersive experience will bring out even more immediate aspects of his international performances and his films, all surrounded by a live orchestra.
It is like having AZNAVOUR back for one more time – absolutely thrilling and unique to one evening only.
This is a chance not to miss, whether a fan or only curious about one of the greatest showmen, ever. MAY 4th at 18.30 at the Batiment des Forces Motrices.
More info at: Seven Art.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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