Sleepin_Dragon

The bank are preparing to celebrate its centenary by dressing up in historical dress. Ricketts from personnel arranged a meeting with Belinda and David, presenting an interesting proposition for the couple.

I came here after watching 'The Brutalist' - I badly needed a laugh. That film was so heavy, yet, unfortunately, this had more beige than laughs; it was effectively a comedy assault in beige.

The pub scene is so demeaning: Belinda is the branch manager, yet Barrington addresses David about her promotion. It's naff. The jokes about Ned's frustrations at being second fiddle to a woman are feeling very tiresome now - it's stuck on repeat.

I am genuinely delighted that Louise has ditched the bows and huge earrings; the appearance has toned down, and her performance feels a little more subtle.

I suppose it was nice to see the old Job Centre sign.

Would a bank really allow its staff to dress up like this? Nowadays, some branches even forbid Christmas jumpers.

4/10.

After surviving the Holocaust, architect László Tóth finds a new life in the USA. His immense talents are recognised by wealthy Harrison Van Buren, who commissions him to build a monument. Unfortunately, his new home isn't quite the land of hope and dreams.

The first hour is engaging and the story takes some unexpected turns, but after the intermission it nosedives. Every scene moves at a snail's pace - a harshly titled film called 'The Brutalist' somehow ends up feeling like watching paint dry.

The film makes its point about Harrison's desire for control over László's artistic talents in a very brutal, upsetting scene. The visuals are stunning, the costumes, cars, set design, and even archive footage are excellent. The music is also a highlight, with some amazing tracks.

It portrays the contributions of Hungarian immigrants to the US, showing both the sanctuary they were offered and the hardships and racism they faced. Adrien Brody is excellent, his face carrying the weight of a man who has known all kinds of hardship, and even delivers the film's lone laugh - a joke about his nose.

Despite the craft and performances, the storytelling is painfully slow. A runtime of 3 hours and 15 minutes feels self-indulgent and exhausting. You endure this film rather than enjoy it.

6/10.

Brooklyn dancer Ani performs for Ivan, who happens to be the son of a Russian oligarch. The pair decide to become exclusive, but after all the glitz and glamour, life changes drastically for her.

Initially I thought this was a dubbed film - it took me a while to realise it wasn't. I can see that this movie won a lot of awards, but my first question is why. It's not bad, it's actually pretty good, but multi-award winning? I'm struggling to see what I'm missing.

The pacing is painfully slow. Some scenes feel so padded it's like watching a kettle boil - it takes forever. Worse, it's highly predictable and plays out exactly as you'd expect from the premise.

The acting is a mixed bag. Some performances feel a little wooden, though Mikey Madison is very good and easily the standout. Oscar worthy? That's more debatable and does make you question the strength of the competition that year.

As expected, the film is full of nudity, explicit content, and drug use, and is very much about exploitation. It's mainly in English, but there are substantial chunks of Russian, so you'll need to stay engaged and actually watch it.

Overall, solid but bafflingly overpraised.

6/10.