★★★★★
While The Favourite marks the first time director Yorgos Lanthimos has produced a film from his own pen, usually accompanied by Efthymis Filippou, fans of the Greek auteur’s oeuvre need fear not. Led by a trio of stellar performances, this is a tragicomic triumph every bit as deliriously barmy as the likes of Dogtooth and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It even features lobsters.
★★★★
Barely five foot tall and almost two decades past the US retirement age, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has, in recent years, somehow added the title of ‘pop culture icon’ to her already impressive, often trailblazing, curriculum vitae. It is this remarkable journey that drives the narrative of Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s inspiring biographical documentary, which explores how a Jewish woman from Boston rose against discrimination to become only the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court. Contrary to Justice Ginsburg’s own reputation, when it comes to titular adoration, this is a film with little by way of dissent.
★★★★
Here’s a sequel we were expecting half a century ago. Anyone who’s seen John Lee Hancock’s terrific Saving Mr. Banks will know why it‘s taken Disney so long to realise the dream of turning P. L. Travers’ practically perfect nanny into a franchise – the writer hated Walt’s adaptation in 1964 – but done it the studio finally has. If Mary Poppins Returns isn’t quite supercallifragilisticexpialidocious, it’s at least five letters there.
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