Saints be praised... a f ilm at the cinema!
herself to its will. In this astonishing film, the religious conviction of the exorcist is far more terrifying than the theatrics of the possessed.
Miranda July’s Kajillionaire is funnier but perhaps even stranger. The US artist and film-maker seems determined to build on her cult status by toying with and often confounding our expectations. Her third feature film is about a family of c con-artists – scruffy Robert (Richard Jenkins), his cold cold-hearted wife Teresa (D (Debra Winger) and their g glum and wonderfully named 26-year-old daughter Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood). July makes us wait for the story behind her name (it’s worth i it). First we get some su surreal slapstick as Old Do Dolio pulls off some rub rubbish Mission
Imp Impossible-style rolls out outside a south California post office.
Once inside, she opens her mailbox and pushes her hand through a hole in the back. After reaching into the neighbouring cubbyhole, she escapes with her booty
– a padded envelope containing a tie. It turns out, for them, this is quite a haul. The comedy gets quirkier as the so-called “heists” become even more tawdry.
When they recruit a fourth member (Gina Rodriguez), Old Dolio begins looking at her parents through fresh eyes and the surreal comedy gives way to a surprisingly touching family drama.
AFTER Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman we have I Am Woman, another rock biopic named after a hit single. This time it’s the life of 1970s singer Helen Reddy that has been pushed into the rags-to-riches formula.
The plot moves to very familiar beats – the crumby early gigs, the sudden break, the boardroom squabbles and the titular single marching up the charts.
Fans of Reddy, who died just 12 days ago, should appreciate Tilda CobhamHervey’s warm voice, the nicely-staged live performances and the authentic period design. But the trailblazing singer doesn’t exactly “roar” in Emma Jensen’s timid script.
We begin in 1966 with Reddy arriving in New York from Australia with her young daughter to cash in on a victory in a singing contest. After suffering rejection, she lands a gig in a grotty nightclub and befriends Lillian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald), a famous music journalist who ends every sentence with an ominously significant cough.
While we search for our hankies, Helen quickly marries her mildly chauvinistic agent Jeff Wald (Evan Peters) and writes I Am Woman, which becomes the unofficial anthem of 1970s second wave feminism.
Sadly, I Am Woman is content to sketch the key events of a life but has little interest in the woman who lived it.