REVIEW: PIECE BY PIECE

3.5/5

One Piece

93 Mins. Starring: Pharrell Williams. Screenplay: Morgan Neville. Director: Morgan Neville. In: Theatres.

Brick by brick, 'Piece By Piece' is the feel-good movie of 'Happy', 'Get Lucky' prolific producer and amazing artist, Pharrell Williams' life. The former music N.E.R.D., who formed The Neptunes with producing partner Chad Hugo, has scored hits from everyone from Jay-Z, to Gwen Stefani. No doubt, or frontin' about it. But the sweet singer and musical mogul in his own right has had quite the life and times. Nothing is regular about the man who blurred lines, made music for millions and minions and also formed a Billionaire Boys Club in Tokyo, Japan for white t-shirts way more expensive than Hanes. Now, 'Piece By Piece' finds seat by seats in cinemas in the Far East land of the rising sun, we can just see how ahead of his time and in his prime Pharrell was. I'm sorry Mr. Carter for stealing your line, like a son of a b#### searching for goodwill, but he IS for real.

LEGO have made movies for everybody. From Star Wars to Marvel. You only have to log in to your Disney Plus to see just how awesome that all is. But now, following the Chris Pratt starring 'LEGO Movie' and 'The LEGO Batman' movie that might actually be the coolest caped crusader since Adam West's camp, films from the Danish construction you company may seem as old hat as Pharrell's ones were big (after the trucker hat, Von Dutch like phase), but these brickfilm's are building their own universe like the M.C.U., or master builder K.E.V.I.N. Feige. LEGO blocks may sometimes feel as dated as the former futuristic beats of Pharrell and them, but it's still a trip. And the perfect one for the time capsule. Bringing the early days on Virginia Beach, with dreams of hearts in Atlantis, to life, like those times with Hugo, Shay Haley and Pusha T of The Clipse, grinding. Right in the same neck of the woods that Timbaland and Missy Elliott grew up in, honing their sound. It's no wonder the King of New Jack Swing, Teddy Riley, put down studio session roots here, giving Mr. Williams his first break in the biz. Them, plus a mountain of legos and big names, feature in this film. Some we won't spoil, but I'm sure you can guess all the rest, like, "he's a friend of mine". And just wait until you hear who his teacher is.

 

Knocking on your door, this 'ish really is bananas. P.H.A.R.R.E.L.L. And this really is his dog mess. Word to the hilarious poop emoji that keeps things PG-13 in this movie. Scripted and directed by Morgan Neville (who made the great Fred Rogers documentary 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?'), 'Piece By Piece' makes bricks out of the blockbuster music talent, like 'Better Man' (also out now in Japanese cinemas) made an ape out of cheeky monkey Robbie Williams. So take that, to anyone who thinks these biopics with a creative controlled twist are merely vanity pieces. Pharrell even throws shade at his own ego and arrogance in this film that at the start takes itself way too seriously, but in the end is just a love letter to all those who wanted to see him win. Even if in the end, that would leave him crying on Oprah. No matter, they're 'Happy' tears. There are almost as many Williams hits as there are LEGO bricks, and just as many artists who helped put him on...and this together ("what, what", superstaaar!), and this is what makes this performance piece so powerful and anything but child's play, Chuck. The Synthesia of this biographical documentary comedy is on an 'I Am Other' level. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Better Man', 'The LEGO Movie', 'Despicable Me'.

REVIEW: THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE

3.5/5

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

122 Mins. Starring: Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun, Henrique Zaga, Til Schweiger, Rory Kinnear, Henry Golding & Cary Elwes. Screenplay: Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Arash Amel & Guy Ritchie. Director: Guy Ritchie. In: Theatres.

Gentlemen, start your tugboats. As dodgy as that may sound, you really should make an appointment with 'The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare' led by Superman Henry Cavill, now it's here in Japan, almost a year after its American release. The Guy Ritchie movie between shows for Netflix (his spin-off of 'The Gentleman' movie) and Paramount + (right now's 'MobLand' of Tom Hardy and former double-0 Pierce Brosnan), based on 'Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII' by Damien Lewis (no, not that one), is the story of Winston's secret society of soldiers on the sea who helped the British beat Germany, as much as 'The Monuments Men' of America helped preserve all that loss art the führer was going to set aflame. If you like your Guy Ritchie films, like the timeless, throwback 'Sherlock Holmes' series, then this one is for you. As it Tarantino's it's way through the Nazis, dropping more shell casings than those 'Inglourious Basterds' did scalps.

Reuniting with 'The Witcher' of Cavill after their brilliant 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', which deserves its own series (blame it on the other guy), 'Ungentlemanly Warfare' is all bullets, blood luster and bluster with almost as many screenwriters (Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Arash Amel and some guy), as it does actors (Henry, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun, Henrique Zaga, Til Schweiger, Henry Golding & Cary Elwes), but that doesn't stop it from being a lot of bloody full, old bean. It's all beards and twirling moustaches for your mutton chops too, as after Guy's rich success of 'Aladdin' and 'The Covenant', Ritchie has another note, that feels more like his form, before taking on the forthcoming 'Young Sherlock' series, by the book. A cavalier Cavill is on fine form too, as the 'Mission Impossible: Fallout', 'Argylle' and 'Enola Holmes' star is having so much fun now he is no longer the 'Man Of Steel' and might just keep that beard for the Wolverine (but you were just leaving, if you want to know more). Flirting up a storm with other captains and checking out more coats than Mickey Rourke in 'Sin City'. Henry's army, in this Jerry Bruckheimer produced vessel, is a crack crew on this voyage. Even if this movie was a bomb at the box-office, that could sink the Bismarck. 

The Toff Guys include a big and burly Alan Ritchson, stealing the show with a Hawkeye marksman bow and arrow as he reaches for that 'Jack Reacher' violence. Alex Pettyfer having his nipples played with more than in 'Magic Mike'. A breakout Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Babs Olusanmokun getting his revenge after being bested by Timothée Chalamet in 'Dune'. Henrique Zaga, the 'Basterds' own Til Schweiger, M's Rory Kinnear as Churchill like Brain Cox, John Lithgow and Gary Oldman before him. 'The Gentleman' Henry Golding blowing s### up like he did the scene after 'Crazy Rich Asians'. And even the great Cary Elwes siding with us Brits. But it's 'Baby Driver' star Eiza González that will really run you over like she's shot you down. Especially when the singer, set to star in Ritchie's next escapade ('Fountain Of Youth') gets on stage for a more shocking reveal than Fassbender's fingers. Speaking the kings, this heavily fictionalized version of history also features Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond who was also a part of British Intelligence. Kinnear, Golding's rumours, amongst others. There are plenty of bonded links to James. Yet, it was believed Fleming based 007 on the character played by Cavill. Now, if that isn't an audition, I don't know what is. Jolly good show, old sport. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Inglourious Basterds', 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)', 'The Gentlemen-Season 1'.

REVIEW: HERE

4/5

Peas and Carrots 

104 Mins. Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany & Kelly Reilly. Screenplay: Eric Roth & Robert Zemeckis. Director: Robert Zemeckis. In: Theatres.

'Here' lies one of the most criminally underrated movies of last calendar. And why? Was it because of what some trolls and conspiracy theorists on the internet said about Tom Hanks, trying to sully (no pun intended) his Hollywood good name? Is it because of the fear of an A.I. planet? Or, is it down to the fact that this fixed portrait of a film was too Hallmark, cheesy and corny for most, even at Christmas. Whichever poison you pick, one thing is clear, here is a big-three reunion that we've been waiting decades for. Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Robert Zemeckis are like peas and carrots, and great directors again. Although Hanks and Zemeckis reconnected on the 'Back To The Future' and 'Romancing The Stone' director's live-action take of Disney's 'Pinocchio' (as Geppetto no less), after 'Cast Away' and 'The Polar Express'.

You only have to see Hanks in previous CGI form on that train trip, without the cowboy whip, to see that Zemeckis is a bold and beautiful director, willing to take chances. I mean, here's a guy that turned The DeLorean (a famous car amongst drug-dealers) into the positive image of a time machine that even Jules Verne would be proud of. Let's look at the rest of the road, with some Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Emmys along the way. Before 'Space Jam', there was the animated live-action of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'. The horror hi jinks of before it's time black comedy 'Death Becomes Her'. A searching Jodie Foster in 'Contact'. A wounded Denzel Washington in 'Flight'. A high-wire Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 'The Walk' that served as a love letter to the twin towers. 'A Christmas Carol', 'Beowulf' (see, 'The Polar Express'), and Steve Carell's miniature world of 'Welcome To Marwen'. There's a wonder to his work.

And now, 'Here', based on the 1989 6-page comic story by Richard McGuire that became a 300-plus page graphic novel in 2014. Adapted in a screenplay by Zemeckis and Eric Roth. So make that a fantastic four reunion (like this summer) for the 'Forrest Gump' insider who also wrote 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button', 'Dune' and 'A Star Is Born' (which he was all Oscar nominated for), to go along with the Academy nominated movies of 'Ali', 'Killers Of The Flower Moon' and 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close', with Hanks. Now, this nonlinear family drama, simultaneously screen subdivided into separate, multiple panes of stories, tells the story of a single plot of land and the inhabitants that call this place their home.  Echoing 'The Tree Of Life', the great Terrence Malick's most divisive film, which is actually my favourite. Not to mention David Lowery's 'A Ghost Story', and the 'Cycles' episode of Disney's 'Short Circuit' short films that does everything this film does, and more, in mere minutes.

Sure, some may not like this picture put in a frame, but in a Hollywoodland world of one-shots that doesn't even give the cameraman a break for lunch, this fixed one really works. Some may feel it's fake, but it would make for a sensational stage show, but a lot of costume changes for all the players here, like 'Downton Abbey's' Michelle Dockery and all them dinosaurs. As for the Generative Artificial Intelligence. Say what you will, I promise I didn't use it to edit this piece, but the de-aging of Hanks and Wright will make you think Forrest is run, running again. You'll forget you're not watching an old film, or them as they are now...and wait until we get back to the future, too. As a Hummingbird flaps its wings from the Spanish flu to COVID-19, World War II and the Lay-Z-Boy, a hallmark Hanks and Wright work wonders together. As do the parents of 'WandaVision' star Paul Bettany, bottoming and diving deeper (like Colin Farrell in 'Saving Mr. Banks') and 'Yellowstone', 'True Detective' and 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows' star Kelly Reilly (reuniting with Zemeckis after their 'Flight' plan), never better. There's also wise words about worry in this world in a picture-perfect portrait of parents and the family they make in the frames of all our lived in living rooms and homes. 'Here' is something we can all understand. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Forrest Gump', 'The Tree Of Life', 'Short Circuit: Cycles'.

REVIEW: BABYGIRL

4/5

New Sensation

115 Mins. Starring: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde & Antonio Banderas. Screenplay: Halina Reijn. Director: Halina Reijin. In: Theatres.  

Live, baby, live. Amazing Aussie Nicole Kidman should have at least breathed steam on a polished Oscar nomination (like Demi Moore in 'The Substance') for her performance as 'Babygirl' in Halina Reijn's raging A24 movie that submits to lust. The erotic thriller penned and filmed by Dutch actor and director of 'Bodies Bodies Bodies' was named one of the top ten films of 2024 by the National Board Of Review. The same board that named Kidman the 'Best Actress' for this performance, like Venice's Volpi Cup. But still no love from The Academy? Ah well, no use crying over spilt milk. Instead, just drink in one of the world's most amazing actresses at the peak of her powers. And this comes after 'Bombshell' and the 'Destroyer' for the 'Big Little Lies' chameleonic star, not afraid to bare it all like 'The Paperboy' or those Kubrick 'Eyes Wide Shut' with former husband Tom Cruise. But this time it's not even the 'Desperado' on-screen lovely husband of Antonio Banderas who is her muse. But the John Lennon, Beatle to be, Harris Dickinson.

The star of 'Trust' and the heartbreaking 'The Iron Claw' and 'The King's Man' is ready for his big moment as the working class hero becomes a young intern with more than a cigarette to burn. He's so hot right now. Just ask Baby Alana Haim of Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' fame when asked in the street by a Tik Toker to compare Harrison to the likes of Michael B. Jordan. Her band of sisters also capturing Kidman leaving divorce court perfectly for the artwork of their 'Relationships'. Good girls. When it comes to the combustible chemistry between Dickinson and Kidman, the May/December pair will never be torn apart like the words of the late, great Michael Hutchence for Kidman's fellow country stars INXS (Kidman personally secured the rights after the movie had difficulty doing so). Sensual sax brooding over their body-on-body beauty for the most sexual movie that makes the toys of 'Fifty Shades' feel pathetic. Getting exactly what you want with this Christmas movie, like 'Carol'. Ding, dong! Your merrily will really be on high under this mistletoe, that leaves a bruising bite.

John Cena's safe word in 'Sisters' is "keep going", and this one really does, as it comes to you as a full force of nature that won't let up. This girl...no woman boss shows you all sorts of power dynamics like the French classic 'Elle' that courted even more controversy. There's 'Disobedience' to be had here with career and family lives on the line that even makes the deserved Oscar wins of 'Anora' seem tame for all you shrews. And just wait until the assistance of Trophée Chopard actress Sophie Wilde ('Everything Now', 'You Don't Know Me', 'Tom Jones') gets involved. Although in this movie's climax (no pun intended) it may be Banderas who gives us some of the bold and best acting, which shouldn't have been ignored by The Academy either. But in this critical and box-office success of another New York and A24 classic from Man Up films (pun, probably intended), it's Kidman's moment...and Dickinson's too. With one hell (to pay) of a fatal attraction, that's as good as Moore, full 'Disclosure'. Word to Michael Douglas. Kidman's robotic process automation company that puts Amazon to shame is nothing compared to her lust for anything but a mechanical sex life. Baby, the basic instinct of this indecent proposal dominates. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'The Substance', 'Elle', 'Eyes Wide Shut'.

REVIEW: MICKEY 17

4/5

17 Again

137 Mins. Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette & Mark Ruffalo. Screenplay: Bong Joon Ho. Director: Bong Joon Ho. In: Theatres.

Hey, Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine, they blow your mind. Hey, Mickey! BANG! BANG! SPLAT! Hey, Mickey! BANG! BANG! SPLAT! Snowpiercing a satirical cinematic classic, that's the same animal as Netflix's 'Okja', great South Korean director Bong Joon Ho serves as 'The Host' of his first film since his Oscar winning 'Parasite' bit both the Best International Feature and the Best Picture gold at the 92nd Academy Awards. Regardless of all that, this Warner Brothers and Brad Pitt Plan B production explosive epic was a box-office bomb. Despite garnering critical acclaim since Cannes for one of the Tarantino and Lee best today who cites Scorsese as his absolute inspiration to cinema. Never matter, this science-fiction black comedy has so much more to say and will stay with you long after the final credits have rolled, like the newspapers reading reviews those tilting up theatre seats should have heeded.

Based on Edward Ashton's novel 'Mickey7', 'Mickey 17' comes just a few years later for your antimatter blues (I smell a sequel). Like a Tom Cruise 'Edge Of Tomorrow' with 'Multiplicity' like Michael Keaton shaving his own tongue, 'Mickey 17' stars Robert Pattinson, Robert Pattinson, Robert Pattinson, and...well, you get the idea. It's 'Dumb and Dumber', too, for all you Beavis and Butthead jackasses. But this is 'The Batman's' best role since the darkest of nights, and one hell of a good time for the 'Twilight' superstar turned world's finest actor. 'The Lighthouse', 'Tenet', 'Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire'. This is one of Pattinson's most perfect performances ever. Like you've never seen...or heard him before. You want to talk about people playing conflicted characters to the hilt? How about someone who literally displays all parts of a person's personality for all to see, right there in front of you? The id, the superego, it's all there for you to unpack in your next cinematic session, which is amongst the best dark room therapy tickets can buy these days.

Bong lowers the boom too. Joon jabs at America, as the Korean returns to English language movies like the two this shares DNA with. Not to mention the social society of an applied age where we treat people like they are replaceable. The post-apocalyptic dystopian days broken promises of 'Snowpiercer', whose train even tunnelled its way to a Netflix series. The streaming service's outstanding 'Okja' creature feature that shows us how we really treat all creatures great and small. Seventeen, like a J-Pop group, also brings us the K drama of a colony that renders people as expendables like Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Unless those people are self-appointed "lords" of all these flies. With red caps, covering ignorance as well as they do bald patches, tipped to trumped-up politicians who crave attention and power, without giving any to the people they should ask themselves what they can do for. With an almost Harrison Ford, Red Hulk rage, Avenger and outspoken campaigning actor Mark Ruffalo (even gaudier than his 'Poor Things' character meets Stanley Tucci in 'The Hunger Games') and the great Toni Collette are basically playing The Donald and Melania.

Add the 'Beef' of the great Steven Yeun playing a total prick to absolute perfection. in this cut, and it's a good job a screaming and dying Pattinson has himself...or is it?! He's not alone, though. Whitney Houston biopic star Naomi Ackie ('Star Wars: The Rise Of The Skywalker', 'Blink Twice') wants to dance with somebody, and those somebodies love her...and her fully-charged scene stealing. Live. Die. Copy and paste. Clone and reprint, repeat, there is nothing disposable about this film's recycled message, like theatre waste. Even if it does feel a little long-winded in the end. It's still one of the best blockbuster's and a thinking man's one too. It may not gobble up any awards, but it will garner a cult following of movie nerds who will geek out on this for generations, like a Starship Trooper they lost their hearts too. This frozen-over piercer of a snow planet full of Creepers and more creeps and males with problems than a Radiohead song really plugs in. It's an epic experiment that works over and over again. No matter what it throws at you. Messy, but meaningful, this Mickey is no mouse in a world of men that act like rats. Eliminate that! TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Snowpiercer', 'Okja', 'Multiplicity'.

REVIEW: MOANA 2

3.5/5

With A Paddle

100 Mins. Starring: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Rachel House, Nicole Scherzinger & Alan Tudyk. Screenplay: Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller. Directors: Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller & David Derrick Jr. On: Disney +.

Setting sail on Disney Plus finally, after last fall's fond reception at the box office, 'Moana 2' makes its way to your streaming shores. Originally, you might have found the super sequel to the 2016 smash hit here. As the follow-up to the original movie, that is so good it will already have its own live-action feature film version next year, was originally conceived as a Disney + miniseries, like the 'Gone Fishing' short. But alas and aloha, 'Moana' is just too massive a franchise for Walt Disney's Animated Studios, without the Pixar lamplight shone upon it. You only have to watch the shorts (and we're talking like less than a minute short) on Disney Plus of 'A Fan Celebration Of Moana'. Serving as everything from better looks at pets than YouTube videos and make-up tutorials. Look at us, like Paul Rudd. Or should I say, "look at them!" Because look at this writer who waits for Disney films (aside from Marvel and Star Wars ones) to hit a Plus before he writes his reviews. But, hey, I live in Japan, we get all the films late.

I watched 'Moana' the day before yesterday to get ready for the March 26th streaming release of 'Moana 2'...shamefully, for the first time. WHAT?! It's been almost a decade. I know, I know. Ditto for the 'Fan Celebration Of Moana' (it's not hard to binge a series like that), the morning of. Setting everything up for the perfect mid-week Disney day, sorry 'Daredevil'...two episodes this week is just too much these days for someone heading to the bay of 40. 'Moana 2' directed by Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller and David Derrick Jr., with a screenplay from Jared Bush and Miller brings all your favourites back on song, dancing for this wicked musical. The absolutely amazing Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson (with The Rock reprising his role in the live-action...hey, he's demi-God big enough), Boba Fett himself Temuera Morrison, the grandmother spirit of Rachel House, Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and the great, screaming Alan Tudyk as your favourite boat snack.

Grossing a billi after one hundred and fifty milli (who am I? Lil' Wayne? I didn't even buy a ticket), this refreshing reunion is anything but waterlogged. This boat rocks too, with a new wayfinding crew that reconnects all sorts of people, for all of those looking out to sea for the ones they've lost along the way. And if you miss the cuteness of the head-tilting, like the ocean, baby 'Moana', then rest assured, she has a little sister who is just as kawaii to the button. The songwriting of 'Hamilton's' very own Lin-Manuel Miranda may be missed, but Abigial Barlow and Emily Bear still hit the high-notes with earworms that will make your "keep the kids happy" car playlists. No need to let it go. The third-highest cinematic journey of last calendar also received a Golden Globe animation nomination, despite the critical water being mixed. But where was the Oscar love? No matter. The coconut pirates knocking together are still a hit, and a vivid post credits scene promises more. 'Moana 2' is a lovely movie that fits with the first one perfectly. A beautiful story about family and coming of age. The very definition of "aloha". TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Moana', 'Encanto', 'Raya And The Last Dragon'.

REVIEW: CONCLAVE

4/5

The One Pope

120 Mins. Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz, Brian F. O'Byrne, John Lithgow & Isabella Rossellini. Screenplay: Peter Straughan. Director: Edward Berger. In: Theatres.

Original cardinal sin. Here are some popes that even Ricky Gervais can't mess with. Even though Gervais' Golden Globe gag was as great as THE roast of Hollywood in his final show as host, Jonathan Pryce's face was right. Keep 'The Two Popes' names out of your f#####g mouth! That Anthony Hopkins co-starring Netflix hit is a straight classic. Yet it's concave in relation to 'Conclave'. The Edward Berger (the amazing, new (Netflix) 'All Quiet On The Western Front') political thriller, scripted by Peter Straughan ('Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'), based on the book by 'The Ghost Writer's' Robert Harris. A 'Spotlight' on the Catholic Church so good kit even bests the two popes of Jude Law's 'The Young Pope' and 'The New Pope', second series, being John Malkovich. The best religious drama since Paul Scharder's 'First Reformed', armed with an explosive twist in its end, 'Conclave' just might be the best picture of the year. Even if the SAG Award-winning shoo-in (see: Moore, Demi) was pipped to the post at the Oscars by Mickey Madison and the workers of the amazing 'Anora' (see also: more Demi).

The Pope is dead. Long live. And this time, Highlander, there can only be one, unlike the two previous pope productions we just mentioned. This epic ensemble piece features big names doing big things in the form of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and a scene stealing Isabella Rossellini (laminate THAT, Ross!), but it gets even deeper the further you go down the call-sheet. Sex (not that kind, thankfully, as my parents were concerned going into that movie back home, when a couple of old dears coming out of the cinema complained about all the hanky-panky, and words to that effect (they were talking about 'Anora', of course)), scandal and other sordid details, 'Conclave' is a classic in its attention to detail. Finally released in Japan's indie cinemas (like it's still showing in the U.K. Everyman ones), the film is a cinematographer (Stéphane Fontaine) and sound engineer's dream. Thanks to my father's eloquent explanation (seeing it at the same time, albeit across the globe). There is a long speech early on where Ralph Fiennes speaks to a hundred plus cardinals in an old room with a lot of reverberation. Then dialling back the sound, the movie's production filters Fiennes voice so it sounds like he's talking to just you.

Which is very important...because that's exactly what he's doing in a first-person, fourth wall breaking speech that is really a sign of our times and the best since that blockbuster 'Barbie' one boxed up an Oscar nomination for America. You need to hear this, and that, and not read it here. Either way, Fiennes is formidable, 'The English Patient' showing patience and grace under pressure as everything is going up in smoke around him as the world is waiting and looking for the signal of a new pope. Kudos are in order for the people's choice, Stanley Tucci, too. My balding inspo and quite possibly one of the most versatile and vivid acting talents around. I mean, have you seen 'The Lovely Bones', or 'The Hunger Games' (the latter giving me hope for the future)? Pair these two with the inspired Isabella Rossellini, making the most of her moment, like all women in her place, and the always amazing (see the formidable first episode of 'The Old Man', where his back and forth with Jeff Bridges is even better than the geriatric John Wick shtick and tricks) John Lithgow, and you'll have no need for his sad face courtesy of Conan, urging you to wrap it up like Adrien Brody should have, chewing the scenery, like the gum he tossed. This ain't his first rodeo, like his beautiful moment with Colin Farrell, during 'The Penguin's' SAG Award speech.

This church in the wild has grossed over 100 million dollars at the box-office on a budget set barely at 20. This conclave election of secrets and lies is out for the world to see now after its premiere at the 51st Telluride Film Festival. Praised performances. Critics choices. One of the National Board of Review and American Film Institute's top ten films of the last calendar cycle of cinema. "Absolute", as Scorsese would put it in a meme. Tying 'The Brutalist' for BAFTA's (four) and winning a Golden Globe (hey, Rickey") for screenplay, it may have come up short with The Academy, but it was still a major candidate. Just like the supporting character actor performances of aid Brian F. O'Byrne, a heartbreakingly good Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto, ready for an Elvis Costello movie, and a revelatory Carlos Diehz. The final moments are worthy of all our applause, as you won't know the real truth like 'The Da Vinci Code' until the final chapter of this sermon, served with spirit from the Holy Ghost. And like the subtle symbolism of a tortoise in the final frame, this is the slow progress of a new world we can walk to together. One thing in 'Conclave' that needn't be up for debate. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'The Two Popes', 'The New Pope', 'First Reformed'.