Goldbeater

Eileen is a nearly 100-minute film whose plot can be said, with a bit of exaggeration, to take off some 20 minutes before the end, whereupon the viewer will say: “That was it?” The final showdown simply cannot justify the slow start. Those with a certain amount of patience may be quite happy with it, but I can't imagine that this film will satisfy a higher percentage of viewers.

I admit that I have seen very little of Brooke Shields's filmography so far, and the iconic Blue Lagoon still eludes me, but this biopic grabbed me all the more. The documentary Pretty Baby not only tells a very comprehensive story about the life of Brooke Shields, but also delves into painful topics such as typecasting, the exploitation of underage stars by their parents and the sexualisation of children in film and modelling. The less than two hours of running time are packed with information without any dead spots.

A very well-made documentary where actor Michael J. Fox reveals details about his life, career and especially his years-long battle with Parkinson's disease. Fox doesn't take anything lightly, and at times even goes into himself, but he is still incredibly full of optimism and energy. The combination of archival footage with live-action reenactments is almost indistinguishable – a really good piece of work.

For most of its running time it is a very strong film about a socially awkward loser and his indelible illusion of success in the bodybuilding world, which he tries with all his might to fulfil, even though the viewer knows from the first moment that he is not up to it. Jonathan Majors gives a very committed and engaging performance, although at times he perhaps pushes the envelope a little too hard and cries out for some acting awards. The solid feeling of a well-made drama is slightly diluted by the last half hour, which gradually offers perhaps more endings than The Return of the King, with the filmmaker choosing the least interesting one as the final conclusion.

If you are a fan of Mexican wrestling and are interested in the representation of gay wrestlers in its history, this is the film for you. Cassandro is otherwise a classically conducted biographical drama in all respects, practically in no way breaking out of the established templates of similar stories, but it must be added that it is also very solidly executed and led by a good performance by Gael García Bernal, although he does not resemble the real Cassandro at all.

A combination of a thought-provoking war crime documentary and a not-so-interesting amateur avant-garde in a 1 to 2 ratio. I respect the creative decisions, but it missed me by a mile.

A typical staple popular among indie film festival programmers. This warm story about the bonding of a child and his estranged parent must, perhaps out of obligation, be present at least once at every edition of such a festival, and the formula is the same every time. And I’m tired of it already. Hardly anyone will remember this British attempt a day later. And on top of that, it features a very smart child - so annoying.

A mediocre horror drama where the relationship between a mother and her young daughter is severely tested when the ghosts of her past start to resurface. Seen many times, unexciting, slow, those 100 minutes felt incredibly long. The setting of the Australian outback adds a bit of appeal to the film in the second half, otherwise I can't think of much reason to see it.

Talk to Me is an enjoyable little ghost story from the antipodes that doesn't try to get an audience response with cheap scares, but instead spends a good amount of time on the relationships between the main characters. The concept of ghost séances as risky fun for careless zoomers is an interesting premise that could sound utterly ridiculous in the wrong hands, but here it works very solidly, thanks mainly to the believable and not annoying characters of Australian teenagers.

A camera exercise on the theme of bizarreness produced by Steven Soderbergh. It has some clever visual ideas and a bit of stop-motion animation, but the plot itself is incredibly lame. As a half-hour short it would be fine, in feature length it's slightly tedious.