The Post

Posted on November 4, 2018 by jaycluitt

In 1971, and following the deaths of her father and husband, Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) found herself the de facto owner and publisher of The Washington Post, despite how little faith or respect her all-male team of advisers had for her. Meanwhile, the Post’s editor-in-chief, Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), fought to make the Post a relevant competitor to the more established national newspapers, and a lead on some illegally copied, highly classified government documents may be the key to making that happen.
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The Mountain Between Us

Posted on July 30, 2018 by jaycluitt

Alex (Kate Winslet), a photo-journalist for The Guardian, is desperate to catch a flight from Idaho to New York for her wedding the next day. Similarly Ben (Idris Elba) needs to get to Baltimore to perform an urgent surgery. When an incoming storm grounds all the flights the two band together and charter a small independent pilot (Beau Bridges) and his dog to take them part of the way. However, the flight goes awry and Ben and Alex find themselves stranded, injured and lost amidst the Uintas Mountains. With no hope of rescue, they must all work together if there is any hope of survival.
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Phantom Thread

Posted on May 9, 2018 by jaycluitt

The wonderfully named Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a highly respected and sought after fashion designer in 1950s London. Whilst he is capable of designing exceptional dresses, he requires all other elements of his life to be taken care of and controlled by his ever-present sister Cyril (Lesley Manville). When Reynolds visits the countryside he is served breakfast at a restaurant by Alma (Vicky Krieps), and is instantly smitten with her, and they later go on a date that ends far differently than she probably imagined. He has had muses before, but there’s something about Alma that keeps her around for far longer than his previous flings.

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Bullitt

Posted on May 8, 2018 by jaycluitt

Johnny Ross (Felice Orlandi) is due to be the surprise witness at a mob trial in San Francisco, and needs protective custody to keep him safe over the weekend leading up to the trial. Politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) is behind Ross’ appearance, and enlists the high profile Police Lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) to run the operation, but as can be expected, not everything goes to plan.
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The Age of Innocence

Posted on April 15, 2018 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.

Wealthy New York aristocrat Newland Archer (Day-Lewis) announces his engagement to the well-respected May Welland (Ryder), and their blissful life together seems entirely mapped out for them. However, the arrival of May’s cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska (Pfeiffer), has the potential to derail the course due to the scandalous activities of her philandering husband, and her growing mutual attraction to Newland.
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The Exorcist

Posted on October 20, 2016 by jaycluitt

Famous actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is working on a film in Georgetown, Washington D.C., when her twelve year old daughter Regan (Linda Blair) begins displaying strange behaviour. After months of medical and psychiatric examinations, it is believed that Regan may be possessed by a demonic spirit, and the only way to resolve the situation is via a religious exorcism.
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Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Posted on August 11, 2016 by jaycluitt

Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a put-upon movie producer for Capitol Pictures in 1951. Over the course of one 27-hour period he must deal with rival gossip columnist twins Thora and Thessaly Thacker (Tilda Swinton), a rising western star (Alden Ehrenreich) being reimagined as a dramatic actor, much to the chagrin of his new director (Ralph Fiennes), the unexpected pregnancy of a swimming starlet (Scarlett Johansson), offers for Mannix himself to change to a high powered position in another company, as well as the supposed kidnapping of major star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) by a Communist cell calling themselves “The Future” and the fall-out from Whitlock’s disappearance, which is delaying the production of a lavish epic.
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Labyrinth

Posted on May 21, 2016 by jaycluitt

When she is forced to babysit her infant half-brother Toby, selfish teenager Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) invokes a goblin magic spell that summons Jareth, the Goblin King (David Bowie) to snatch Toby and take him to the Goblin Kingdom. Sarah has just thirteen hours to make her way through Jareth’s labyrinth to save Toby, or he’ll be turned into a goblin and will stay there forever.
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1900 (Novecento)

Posted on April 23, 2016 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.

Two boys, Alfredo and Olmo, are born within minutes of each other in January 1901. Alfredo is the grandson of landowner and family head Alfredo Berlinghieri (Burt Lancaster) whilst Olmo’s grandfather, Leo (Sterling Hayden), is a peasant and Alfredo Sr.’s foreman. The two boys grow up together, never forgetting their respective places within society and, once grown (into Robert DeNiro and Gérard Depardieu) they find themselves on opposite sides of a class struggle, exacerbated by the presence of fascist guards led by the new foreman, Attila (Donald Sutherland).
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Rocco and His Brothers

Posted on March 20, 2016 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.

After the death of her husband, Rosario Parondi (Paxinou) takes her four youngest sons Simone (Salvatori), Rocco (Delon), Ciro (Cartier) and Luca (Vidolazzi) to stay with their oldest brother Vincenzo (Focás) in Milan. However, Vincenzo is trying to build his own life there, having just celebrated his engagement to Ginetta (Cardinale). The family are forced to stay in very humble lodgings, all sharing one room and not enough beds, whilst the boys struggle to find work in the city. Eventually the multitude of vices commonplace to city life begin to drive the brothers apart, especially by the beautiful yet troubled Nadia (Girardot).
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