Star Wars: The Force Awakens recaptures much of the old magic, but leaves it to future installments to take the risks.

 

 A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

After the prequels more or less managed to strip the gloss off the franchise1, it seems apt that the opening lines of Star Wars: The Force Awakens refer to a sort of redemption.2

This long-awaited, almost mythical follow-up to the Holy Trilogy3 has the added advantage/burden of returning to the three characters we actually care about; namely Luke4, Han, and Leia.

Mia Madre is an insubstantial meditation on grief

 

For a film about the process of losing a loved one, Mia Madre (My Mother), the latest from writer-director Nanni Moretti, has a deceptively light touch.

Margherita (Margherita Buy) is a supposedly well-respected director of sensitive social realist dramas — her latest project is a polemic examination of factory workers fighting for their jobs in the face of layoffs.…

Grandma is an endearing tale of OAP rebellion

 

“Where can you get a reasonably priced abortion in this town?”

Elle Reid is not your run-of-the-mill septugenarian. With her mane of dark hair and her acerbic wit, she’d look more at home at a ‘60s campus demonstration than a retirement community.…