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Wicker is an ingenious oddity. It’s a fairytale but there’s nothing remotely ethereal about it.
The earthiness of its humour is a large part of its charm. The residents of the medieval village where it’s set have a keen regard for the expressiveness of the “f” word in all its conjugations. They also revere the institution of marriage, which means that unmarried women occupy the lowest position in the village pecking order.
The Fisherwoman knows all about that. As a single woman noted for the briny odour she trails in her wake, she’s long been the butt of the villagers’ jokes and she’s learnt to ignore them. Olivia Colman, a popular choice for any director out to explore the comedy of embarrassment, gives her a guilelessness which conceals her irritation. But one day, she becomes so frustrated with the condescension she’s forced to endure that she decides to act.
FILM Wild Horse Nine ★★½ (MA15+) 117 minutes
As a writer of comic dialogue, Martin McDonagh relies heavily on one simple technique: if a word or phrase sounds vaguely amusing the first time round, repeat it as often as you can.
His new film, Wild Horse Nine, is set on Easter Island – primarily, it would seem, so the dialogue can include a maximum of references to “the big heads”.
The film relies on repetition in another sense as well: its plot is a retread of McDonagh’s first feature, In Bruges , released in 2008 when he was already one of the UK’s most successful playwrights. That involved Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as bumbling Irish hitmen marking time in the Belgian city of the title, awaiting orders from their short-tempered boss (Ralph Fiennes).
It’s more than 70 years since Godzilla made his debut on Japanese screens, and he’s still with us. Better than that, he’s more monstrous than ever, having notched up a great success in 2023 with his last film, Godzilla Minus One .
Originally, there were no plans for a sequel, but the film’s hefty box-office returns and its visual effects Oscar made its producers think again. And the franchise’s guiding premise certainly hasn’t dated. The nuclear threat is still hovering, made more relevant by the hazardous state of today’s geopolitical landscape.
Like its predecessor, Minus Zero comes from the venerable Japanese studio, Toho, and it has the same production team led by writer-director Takashi Yamazaki.
So many movies are made by people who appear to believe in nothing, the idea of “faith-based cinema” has an appeal, even for those of us far from sharing the faith in question. Still, the kindest thing I can say about Drummer Boy is that it more or less means well.
What we’re dealing with is an earnestly sentimental musical in which brother is pitted against brother in the American Revolutionary War, a conscious metaphor for the divided America of today.
Reportedly, the storyline also mirrors past tensions in the relationship between directors Joel and Ben Smallbone, members of an Australian family who moved to Tennessee in the 1990s and grew up to become major players in the realm of contemporary Christian entertainment.
If you’re heading to the cinema or just your couch, our reviewers have you covered with the new releases you need to know about each week.
And don’t forget to sign up to our Screening Room newsletter for must-see movies, interviews and the latest news from the world of film. Popcorn not included!
