On Sunday night, my friend and I came to the decision that it was finally time we crawled out of the pits we students call beds, and head to our nearest Curzon to watchThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (McDonagh, 2017). We staggered in from the cold, with smuggled bags of popcorn, sweets and other junk we could manage to remotely hide as we flopped into our seats. Despite being told multiple times by a variety of people that the discovery of a 50p bag of popcorn stuffed under my jumper, will not lead to my dismissal from the cinema with my head buried in shame. Nevertheless, the myth haunts me to this very day and I choose to walk in with the same sweat on my brow, as if I were walking through customs with a bag of heroine strapped to my stomach, instead of a bag of Nik-Naks from the corner shop. Finally settled, I allowed my excitement to take over. I have been eagerly waiting for a film that dares to delve down the tricky path that is dark comedy. Three Billboard executes the genre flawlessly and managed to send both my friend and I on a rollercoaster of emotions, discussing uncomfortable topics, exposing us to brutal violence and even accomplishing laughter here and there amongst the upsetting drama. We follow Mildred Hayes, played by Frances Mcdormand, a stern, seemingly emotionless woman who demands justice over the painful loss of her daughter. Sadly, her daughter was brutally raped and murdered with not a peep to be heard from the police over catching the monster that inflicted such agony. Mildred begins to take matters into her own hands and sticks up three billboards to mock and encourage Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) to come out of hiding and find the culprit. Of course Mildred’s act of vengeance brought attention from the media which only helped bring the case to light. However, the billboards also attracted negative attention and much backlash, especially from Deputy Dixon (Sam Rockwell), an emotionally unstable and abusive character with mummy issues coming out the ying yang! Sam Rockwell’s performance has to be the most challenging and simultaneously, the most captivating throughout the entirety of the film. Without giving too much away, Rockwell manages to make the transition from a notoriously hated, senseless being to an empathetic and caring character seeking redemption. However, it seems that the film did not hold a real ‘hero’ so to speak. McDonagh has produced multiple characters who are flawed and enduring the suffering that life, unfortunately, has to deal out in one form or another. I think that’s what I enjoyed the most, the fact that you were able to connect with a majority of the characters because of the realism they portrayed and how they all dealt with pain and grief in their own individual way. I think it’s safe to say that Mildred can be regarded as the epitome of girl power throughout the film. Her straight faced, determined, ambitious, don’t f**k with me attitude truly places her above all the men that attempt to stand in her way. She chooses to ignore and challenge those that argue her approach is too cruel, such as her abusive ex-husband Charlie (John Hawkes), Chief Willoughby and Deputy Dixon. Mildred’s drive and spirit fuels the story to the point where the audience almost feels the need to jump on the bandwagon of the fiery rage that burns within her and demand justice. Mildred pulls out a massive two fingers towards the naysayers and sticks to her gut, despite those closest to her attempting to sway her decision at any given opportunity. Although sad at times, McDonagh has carefully balanced the melancholy with wittiness so hopefully you will not be put off and think the story is nothing more than bleak and depressing. Nonetheless, there is a light at the end of tunnel and I hope that light leads to an Oscar!

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"The Commuter" In this action-packed thriller, Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson), an insurance salesman, whose daily commute home quickly becomes anything but routine. After being confronted by Joana (Vera Farmiga), a mysterious stranger, Michael is blackmailed into finding the identity of a passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, Michael is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life and death stakes for himself and his fellow passengers. The commuter trains into New York travel from the suburban areas into the inner city, terminating in the Financial District. Along the way, they pick up all kinds of people from every strata of society and, because there’s no first class, the passengers all mix in together. The story centers on Michael MacCauley, a former cop and a now mid-level manager at a faceless insurance company, who lives with his wife Karen (Elizabeth McGovern) and son Danny (Dean-Charles Chapman) outside of New York City. Like so many hard-working family men, he's facing a financial breaking point, trying to make ends meet on a paycheck that is stretched to the rafters and a son who's about to go to college. Michael has been taking the same train for 10 years, five days a week, and then one day he's fired. He doesn't know how to tell his wife, and he's double-mortgaged on his house. At the end of his last day in the office, Michael gets on the train ready to face his family and admit that he has been fired and that the family faces bankruptcy. After having a drink in the local bar with an ex-cop friend of his, he takes the commuter train back to face the music. Into the seat opposite him slides a woman who's not one of the regular commuters Michael knows. She introduces herself and makes him a strange offer. Would you do one tiny, little thing for $100,000? Something of hers has been stolen on the train and she needs help finding it. If he agrees to help, he’ll be generously compensated. Joana literally shaking up his otherwise mundane existence. We all come to a fork in the road at times where we're quizzed on morality versus need, and she's that quiz master. Of the hundreds of people on the train, most are just normal people who are innocent bystanders. But Michael is forced to trust a handful of passengers who offer their help. One is Walt (Jonathan Banks), a commuter pal. Another is Tony (Andy Nyman), a regular New York guy who s always on the train, who lends Michael his phone. Others who raise suspicion include college girl Gwen (Florence Pugh), Dylan (Killian Scott), a young guy with a tattoo who Michael vaguely recognizes, Vince (Shazad Latif), a Wall Street type, Jackson (Roland Møller), a burly construction worker, Oliver (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), a tired-looking guy with a guitar case, Eva (Clara Lago), a panicked nurse and Sam (Colin McFarlane), the train’s conductor. Following the worldwide success of "Unknown", "Non-Stop", and "Run All Night", Liam Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra reunite for a fourth time with the explosive thriller "The Commuter", about one man‘s frantic quest to uncover the truth about a train passenger before it's too late. The screenplay proves irresistible, not just for the bravura of the action and the thrill of the suspense, but for the moral conundrum the protagonist faces and it's consequences for him, the passengers on a New York City commuter train, and his family. On his commute home, the passenger sitting opposite him puts a proposition before him, find a passenger on-board the train who doesn’t belong, in return for a handsome financial reward. As an ex-cop with a strong moral sense of right and wrong, this is not an offer Michael takes lightly. Apprehensive to return home after just having lost his job, Michael eventually agrees to find the suspect amongst the sea of passengers, using his wit and skill to uncover their identity. But he soon realizes that he's at the center of a deadly conspiracy that only he can stop. If someone asked you to do something that seems insignificant, but you’re not sure of the outcome, in exchange for a considerable financial reward, would you do it? That’s the philosophical choice that our central character, a man of 60 who’s just been fired, has no savings, and mortgage he cannot afford, is faced with. Is he thinking just about himself or is he going to take into consideration the possible moral consequences of what he’s asked to do? It's really important to have Michael as someone who belongs to both worlds, he works in the financial district, but he's a real man who’s probably from a blue collar background and he has fought his whole life to give his family the best possible life. On the train ride home, he’s with a bunch of strangers who are also going through their own personal dramas, large or small. They all start off as strangers, but by the end, there’s a real sense of community between them, and it's very important to end it that way. The story almost plays in real time. The main character realizes what he’s set in motion; and sets out to identify the person that holds the key to the conspiracy. The tension cranks up at every stop as new passengers get on, and another clue is left for him. The danger gradually gets greater and greater and the film becomes this really fast-paced psychological thriller along the lines of a Hitchcock‘s "Strangers On A Train" or "North By Northwest". The audience is with him every step of the way, so we learn that his family is in danger only when he does. The film keeps the camera on the train, but imply that his family was in danger without showing it. "The Commuter" disguises a morality tale as a genre film. Michael strikes a Faustian pact with this mysterious woman and, once he’s agreed, the film plays out his deep regret. Joanna is the catalyst, a temptress who entices him, coaches him, and pulls his strings throughout. The film notes of mystery around some of Michael’s co-commuters, who may or may not be players in the conspiracy engulfing him. So when you meet a new character, you’re not sure why they’re on the train or what’s in their bag or why they’re acting the way they do. They’re rounded characters, so you care about what they’re thinking or what they’re up to. It's very important to keep our interest in them going throughout the movie so the payoff at the end is more satisfying. It's a spiritual sequel to "Non-Stop". With a mystery evolving around your central character, it has more impact if your protagonist is a normal guy. How much is he willing to do for money without knowing the consequences of what he's going to do? When extraordinary events happen to regular people, it's important that the first choices that these characters make are choices that we, as an audience, agree with, and that the action escalates plausibly from those choices.

You’re the girl in the inner room. Alicja is your story. You talked, he wrote it down. I suppose it’s almost impossible to use an exuberant color palette for a film situated in a Slavic country. Every time the story takes place in such a communist or ex-communist country, the screen is filled with depressing colors. The closer one approaches Russia (the motherland of communism) the more gray, grizzled, and duller the images become. The desolation and gloom are splashing off the screen. Everything seems bare, simplistic and simply boring. To camouflage this problem in a film, one must have a fascinating and intriguing story, played by colorful actors. But that’s missing in “Dark crimes“. Even Jim Carrey has an impressive, gray beard. With a little imagination, you look at it as if it’s an old-fashioned black and white movie. Carrey did a great job in this serious movie. “Dark Crimes” is based on an article from the Washington Post about Krystian Bala. A writer who described an unsolved murder in detail in one of his books and was arrested based on this. Perhaps an interesting item to make a film about. But here the pace is similar to writing a book. Painfully slow. And Jim Carrey couldn’t remedy that by himself. This goofball who got in a fight with God Himself, who got plagued by a gang of penguins and who put laxative in the coffee of his best friend, wasn’t so bad in this more serious role. Unfortunately, his career has marked this good man. I expected any minute a spastic grin while doing an absurd dance with lots of leg-swinging. Personally, I think it’s quite logical because that’s the kind of movie role I associate Jim Carrey with. There aren’t many comedians who succeed to convince in a serious film. Dull, duller, dullest. The only thing this film radiates is dullness. And not just because of the scenery. The story is immensely long-winded. And as a fill-up, additional plots were added. So you’ll be presented with the story of the degraded detective and his will to take revenge on the injustice done to him. Obviously, you get the story of a detective who wants to solve the last case before he retires. A bit like Morgan Freeman in “Se7en“. But this time it’s because he wants to see his name fully cleared. There’s also the neglected wife who can’t longer cope with the absence and obsession of her husband. And finally, there’s the sex slave Kasia (Charlotte Gainsbourg), girlfriend of the writer Kozlov (Marton “The Equalizer” Csokas), who’s the culprit according to Tadek. She’s a drug addict and her SM past creates sinister images. One last time. Jim Carrey impressed. There are only a few moments you could call exciting. And that’s every time the writer Kozlov comes into the picture. His pseudo-intellectual jibber-jabber may not be essential from a substantive point of view, but his charisma and personality fill the screen completely. These were a few moments when you could feel the tension and intensity. Perhaps Charlotte Gainsbourg also caused a certain tension with certain images. However, all praise for Jim Carrey who impressed me, in an otherwise not so impressive film. His stiffness, resentment and the moments in which he realizes that he was wrong (with gagging as a result), are brought in an excellent way by Carrey. But that’s about it in this mediocre film. My rating 5/10

(Release Info London schedule; January 25th, 2019, 63 - 65 Haymarket, Westminster, 20:00 PM) "Second Act" As Maya Vargas (Jennifer Lopez) celebrates her 43rd birthday, she has one wish. A promotion. After 15 years at 'Value Shop', the past six as assistant manager, she’s ready to run the big box store in Queens. Her resumé doesn’t scream upper management, but her track record sure does. She’s an innovator who listens to customers, knows what they need and finds a way to deliver. But 'Value Shop' hires 'the right man for the job', a man with an 'MBA', not 'GED'- certified Maya. Maya’s boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) and best friend Joan (Leah Remini) try to boost her spirits, but Maya is frustrated as once again street smarts doesn’t equal book smarts. Was her entire future determined when she was 16, or can she actually reinvent herself in her 40’s? Maya’s prospects brighten when she lands an interview at the Manhattan consumer products firm, 'Franklin & Clarke'. When Maya’s friends show up to make breakfast before her first day at 'Franklin & Clarke', a spontaneous 'Salt-N-Pepa' dance party breaks out in the kitchen. Anderson Clark (Treat Williams) wants to meet her and invites his daughter Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens), a rising star at the company, to check out Maya, too. While Zoe is skeptical, Anderson is dazzled by Maya’s ability to think on her feet, not to mention her 'Wharton' degree, 'Peace Corps' service, 'Mastery Of Mandarin' and overall power player vibe. But unknown to Zoe, her father, and initially even Maya herself, those credentials were invented by Maya’s godson, who surprised her with a brand-new online identity for her birthday. Thanks to her years of experience working at 'The Value Shop' Maya lands the job, although she’s uneasy about the deception, and unsettled about her other secrets, she’s confident she can do the job. Her first day at 'Franklin & Clarke' pits Maya against Zoe in a big product development competition. 'Franklin & Clarke’s' heavy hitters align with 'Team Zoe', but Maya and her tiny crew of corporate misfits are determined to succeed. Maya Vargas, a born-and-bred Queens girl, is having her 'Is that all there's'? moment when "Second Act" begins. She's disappointed when we meet her first. Maya has ridden the bus to 'The Ozone Park Value Shop' in Queens for 15 years. Each day, she puts on her smock and name tag and handles the store’s business with a firm and friendly hand. She knows she has what it takes to be the boss. The problem is convincing the chain’s 'CEO' that she’s qualified. But Maya, still wrestling with choices made as a teenager, has lived with regret ever since, and it’s holding her back. The people close to her would say she’s suffered long enough. But Maya has never even told her longtime boyfriend about this part of her life, and keeping that secret from him adds to her burden. Maya really is an every person. We all have dreams and often don't achieve them all. Maya is a person who made certain choices because of things that happened early in her life. There's a lot of regret about how it could have been different. As she tries to climb the ladder and things don't go her way, she sees some of those past decisions as the reason. But then she gets to cross the bridge! With that crossing, she becomes 'Manhattan Maya'. The film shows how women support each other through thick and thin. Maya is destined to be bigger than her friends. Joan is focused on being a mom, but wants Maya to get her chance. She believes that out of all of their friends, Maya is the one who will make it. But when Maya starts to lose sight of who she really is, it’s Joan who keeps her grounded. Of course, not every woman is as supportive. Hildy (Annaleigh Ashford), the product development executive assigned to work with Maya, sees her as a rival. They’re supposed to collaborate and come up with a product together, but Hildy wants to be top dog and will do anything to get there, including stomp on her fellow lady. She’s also one of the first people to see through Maya, and question if something else is going on. Zoe, 'The CEO’s' ambitious daughter, has her guard up, too. Zoe is not Maya’s biggest fan when she arrives at 'Franklin & Clarke'. She’s another woman. Another woman is a threat. But gender is also the reason Zoe’s attitude quickly changes. To see another woman hold her own in a male-dominated space is something that most women look up to. Zoe respects Maya and through that, they form a connection that Zoe didn’t expect. Maya in Queens is a bit sassier than 'Manhattan Maya', with a big hoop earring and bigger hair. Attitude! Borough girls naturally know how they want to look because they’re exposed to a lot of street style. Maya becomes the chic girl in Manhattan, some silks, some softer silhouettes, without completely abandoning the original. Because you can't do that. It's not a lobotomy. The original has to remain there to be believable. You always have to consider what a garment is going to do in a scene. It's not only the look of something, you've to tell the story. It's not a fashion runway. It's interesting for people to see combinations they wouldn't have thought of. This film is about reinvention, because so many people are stuck in lives they don’t want dreaming of lives they do, only to realize they had the power all along to change. It's about a woman who feels she never got a fair shake. But then she gets an amazing opportunity, albeit not entirely honestly, that changes everything for her. Maya learns she does not have to be stuck forever. You can always reinvent. You can always make a change. You can always keep growing and to me that message has so much relevance for everybody, but especially for women. She gets to know what life is like when your dreams come true. And of course she has to deal with the fall-out of lies while achieving the goal. In one of the favorite scenes at Michael Jordan’s 'The Steak House N.Y.C.' at 'Grand Central Terminal'. Maya, Zoe and her dad are having lunch when Maya’s Queens friends, posing as old 'Ivy League Chums', pop by to check on their girl. The film gets all of the women together and we see them interact, and that’s when the real soul of the movie comes out. "Second Act" inspired many conversations about second chances and reinvention and not giving up. About women empowering themselves and each other. About not letting one event become your whole story. About going for your dream, no matter your age or background or zipcode. This movie itself is a reminder that everything deserves a second look, a second chance. It's coming to the world at a time where people need to be reminded you just have to get creative when you’re thinking about what you’re going to do with the next 40 years. "Second Act" always means the second act of the show, when all the good stuff happens. It’s where we back up the story; it’s where the hero confronts their biggest battles, and where we've the opportunity to make the biggest, boldest choices. The mantra for "Second Act" is the only thing stopping you is you. You don’t have to hide. You really can just let all those feelings go.