2021
-
Best Films Of 2021 and Screen Time December 2021
And so another year comes to an end, this time with a bin full of (mercifully, negative) lateral flow tests. Despite a few difficulties along the way, the film review project survived intact: if we count this post, then every single movie I watched, either at home or at the cinema (when they re-opened) has… Continue reading
2021, Aaron Sorkin, Adam McKay, After Love, Aleem Khan, Alek Keshisian, Another Round, Being The Ricardos, best of, Blond Ambition, Chloe Zhao, cinema, Darius Marder, Don't Look Up, Drive My Car, Edgar Wright, Emerald Fennell, featured, film, In Bed With Madonna, Jane Campion, Jasmila Zbanic, Javier Bardem, Kevin Macdonald, Last Night In Soho, Lee Isaac Chung, Madonna, Minari, movie, Nicole Kidman, Nomadland, Passing, Promising Young Woman, Quo Vadis Aida, Rebecca Hall, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Screen Time, Sound Of Metal, Steven Spielberg, The Mauritanian, The Power Of The Dog, Thomas Vinterberg, Top 10, West Side Story, writing -
House Of Gucci, Spencer, Respect and others – Screen Time November 2021
Here’s one way to sum up November’s cinematic delights: four films about fascinating, real women, and two films about equally fascinating, fictional women. Tellingly, the latter were far more interesting than the former, with one important exception, as I’ll describe in a moment. Continue reading
2021, 25 Years Of Innocence, Agata Kulesza, Aretha Franklin, Ayten Amin, cinema, Colin Firth, Egypt, Eva Husson, featured, film, film review, Graham Swift, House Of Gucci, Jan Holoubek, Josh O'Connor, Lady Gaga, Liesl Tommy, Mothering Sunday, movie, Odessa Young, Olivia Colman, Pablo Larrain, Piotr Trojan, Poland, Princess Diana, Respect, Ridley Scott, Screen Time, Souad, Spencer, Tomasz Komenda -
Dune, The Silence Of The Lambs, County Lines and others – Screen Time October 2021
Not the cheeriest of months… well, as long as we don’t count the Paw Patrol movie. Although I am partial to kids’ fare (which, in my view, requires extraordinary skill to pull off well), I must point out that this particular cinematic offering was enforced viewing as part of a childcare stint. But rules is… Continue reading
-
Annette, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and A Clockwork Orange – Screen Time September 2021
If September’s film viewing was bound together by an overarching theme, it was the idea of integrity. In Annette – Leos Carax’s memorably surreal musical – the main characters grappled with their attempts to remain true to their artistic lives – and their splintering selves – while singing their way through some deceptively banal songs.… Continue reading
-
Another Round, Supernova and Summer Of Soul – Screen Time July (and August) 2021
Things must be going back to normal if there were only three cinema outings for me in July (and none in August, incidentally). I pray this resumption of regular routines isn’t a short-lived reprieve and that we don’t return to the world of restrictions in the autumn. But no point worrying about that at the… Continue reading
-
The Father, After Love, A Quiet Place Part II and others – Screen Time June 2021
Strong central performances were the most notable feature of June’s best films. But first let’s get the exception out of the way. Peter Rabbit 2 (Will Gluck) is the very worst sort of children’s film: cynical, unfocussed and completely uninspired. It has no clue who its audience is, and very little interest in attempting to… Continue reading
2021, A Quiet Place part ii, After Love, Aleem Khan, Aneil Karia, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Whishaw, Diane Lane, Emily Blunt, featured, film, film review, Florian Zeller, Joanna Scanlan, John Krasinski, Kevin Costner, Lesley Manville, Let Him Go, Olivia Colman, Peter Rabbit 2, Screen Time, Surge, The Father, Thomas Bezucha -
Nomadland, Mogul Mowgli, Akira and others – Screen Time May 2021
May 2021 will forever be remembered as the month when cinemas re-opened. So perhaps it was fitting that the first post-lockdown release I enjoyed on the big screen was Nomadland, Chloe Zhao’s much-lauded meander through the unsettled lives of the USA’s itinerant ‘community’, as seen through Frances McDormand’s complex, loveable central character. All films should… Continue reading
2021, Agnieszka Holland, Akira, Andrea Riseborough, anime, Bassam Tariq, Charlatan, Chloe Zhao, cinema, Covid, Delia Derbyshire, Doctor Who, featured, film, film review, Frances McDormand, Frankie, Ira Sachs, Isabelle Huppert, Ivan Ostrochovsky, Jan Mikolasek, Japan, Katsuhiro Otomo, Lisa Rovner, Luxor, Marisa Tomei, Mogul Mowgli, Nomadland, Riz Ahmed, Servants, Sisters With Transistors, Tokyo, Zeina Durra -
The Mauritanian, Promising Young Woman, Sound Of Metal and others – Screen Time April 2021
How to be good? This was the question that seemed to tie together most, if not all, of April’s film viewing. From the sun-saturated capers of Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief (great fun, but certainly one of the master’s less memorable efforts) to the pulse-quickening horrors of Bryan Fogel’s The Dissident (an important piece of… Continue reading
2021, Alfred Hitchcock, Bryan Fogel, Carey Mulligan, Darius Marder, Emerald Fennell, featured, Hillbilly ELegy, Jodie Foster, Kevin Macdonald, Lee Isaac Chung, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Riz Ahmed, Ron Howard, Screen Time, Sound Of Metal, Tahar Rahim, The Dissident, The Mauritanian, To Catch A Thief -
Tina, Ammonite, Midnight Cowboy and others – Screen Time March 2021
Through no conscious planning, March turned out to be a time for extraordinary women, at least as far as film-viewing was concerned. The month’s first movie – Pieces Of A Woman (dir. Kornel Mundruczo) – certainly didn’t shy away from placing the female experience at the centre of its focus, but it was a tediously… Continue reading
-
The Fullness Of Paradise – A Special Project With Amouage
Once again came the momentary struggle against the lack of control over my drifting body, to be replaced by a sense of surrender It is with tremendous excitement that I’m able to give you the very first glimpse of The Fullness Of Paradise, a modern fable I’ve been asked to write for the Oman-based perfume… Continue reading
About Me
I am a writer and award-winning perfume critic currently living in the south of England and working on a novel. For my perfume-related writing, please visit Persolaise.com.
SEARCH
Newsletter
ARCHIVE
- May 2023
- Jan 2023
- Jan 2022
- Dec 2021
- Nov 2021
- Oct 2021
- Sep 2021
- Jul 2021
- Jun 2021
- May 2021
- Apr 2021
- Mar 2021
- Feb 2021
- Jan 2021
- Nov 2020
- Jun 2020
- Feb 2020
- Jan 2020
- Dec 2019
- Nov 2019
- Oct 2019
- Sep 2019
- Jul 2019
- Jun 2019
- May 2019
- Apr 2019
- Mar 2019
- Feb 2019
- Jan 2019
- Dec 2017
- Oct 2012
- May 2012
- Jan 2012
- Dec 2011
- Nov 2011
- Oct 2011
- Sep 2011
- Jul 2011
- Jun 2011
- May 2011
- Apr 2011
- Mar 2011
- Feb 2011
- Jan 2011
- Nov 2010
- Oct 2010
- Sep 2010
- Aug 2010
- Jul 2010
- Jun 2010
- May 2010
- Apr 2010
- Mar 2010
- Jan 2010
- Dec 2009
- Nov 2009
- Oct 2009
- Sep 2009
- Jul 2009
- Jun 2009
- May 2009
- Apr 2009
- Mar 2009
- Feb 2009
- Jan 2009
- Dec 2008
- Nov 2008
- Oct 2008
- Sep 2008
- Jul 2008
- Jun 2008
- May 2008
- Apr 2008
- Mar 2008
- Feb 2008
- Jan 2008
- Dec 2007
- Nov 2007
- Oct 2007
- Sep 2007
- Jul 2007
- Jun 2007
- May 2007
- Apr 2007
- Mar 2007
- Feb 2007
- Jan 2007
- Dec 2006
- Nov 2006
- Oct 2006
- Sep 2006
- Aug 2006
- Jul 2006
- Jun 2006
- May 2006
- Apr 2006
- Mar 2006
- Feb 2006
- Jan 2006
- Dec 2005
- Nov 2005
- Oct 2005
- Sep 2005
- Aug 2005
- Jul 2005
DARIUSH ALAVI 