christopher robin | the m0vie blog

New Podcast! Scannain Podcast (2018) #30!

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Darren

It’s time for the latest Scannain podcast.

This week, I join Ronan Doyle and Graham Day from Speakin’ Geek to discuss the week in film news, what we watched, the top ten and the new releases. Films discussed include The Long Goodbye, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Upgrade. New releases include a number of arthouse releases (including The Guardians) and reissues (including Mildred Pierce), along with more conventional fare like Christopher Robin and The Equaliser 2 – which is sadly still not called “The Sequaliser.” Oh, and Ronan discovers that Sergeant Stubby: An American Hero exists.

Give it a listen at the link, or check it out below.

Filed under: Movies, Podcasts! | Tagged: 2001: A Space Odyssey, christopher robin, Film noir, mildred pierce, the equaliser 2, the long goodbye, the sequaliser, upgrade | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Goodbye Christopher Robin

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Darren

Goodbye Christopher Robin is largely a container for a set of impressive performances.

The most memorable aspects of this biopic are the three leading performances; Domhnall Gleeson as the writer himself, Margot Robbie as Daphne de Sélincourt and Kelly MacDonald as the nanny Olive. This triumvirate elevates the material to hand, fleshing out an overly broad and overly sentimental script through their ability to underplay moments. Gleeson, Robbie and MacDonald communicate their characters effectively through meaningful glances as much as overloaded dialogue.

Bear with me.

In some ways, Goodbye Christopher Robin suffers from a surplus of ambition. Written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Simon Vaughan, the film casts a very wide net, hoping to encapsulate decades in the lives of these characters. The result is that many of the film’s emotional arcs and beats feel truncated in the move to the next important event, which in turn leads the movie to amp up the sentimentality for maximum impact. There are moments where Goodbye Christopher Robin works perfectly, but there are more moments where it seems to fumble.

Goodbye Christopher Robin tries to cover too much ground. “That bear swallowed us whole,” Milne reflects towards the end of the story, but there is a sense that the script poses just as much danger.