Grandma, By the Sea, Sisters The Film Review

ahead to the weekend sport including big fights into different -- on two

different sides of the Atlantic. Hello and welcome to

The Film Review on BBC News. To take us through this week's

cinema releases is Mark Kermode. We have grandma. We have By The Sea,

arthouse Brangelina. And Sisters. There has been talk of an award for

Lily Tomlin. She plays a grandmother who spends the day with her

granddaughter, attempting to raise money that Sage needs for an

abortion. They visit all her old friends. She basically regales her

with tales of feminist authors and women's liberation and stories of

her lost lifetime partner, Violet, and also of her recent break-up with

Olivia. Here is a clip. So, what is she doing

with me, right? I tell you, she sent me an essay

she had written about my work. And then we did and she

was cute, and so damn I've written more in the last four

months than I wrote in the five What really like about the film as

they treat its characters all completely equally. The film

absolutely believes in a women passed back right to choose. The

film would have been called Bad Grandma because she has more tattoos

and gets into more fights than her granddaughter. But she comes from a

generation where great battles have been won. She is reconnecting with

her granddaughter and is appalled about how little her granddaughter

knows. As they get to know each other, they discuss different

histories. I thought the film worked because you believe in the

characters. The role was written for Lily Tomlin and she makes it all

completely her own. Tonnes of terrific supporting performances.

The whole film has a loose limbed hand-held feel which feels a bit

1970s. You think how long ago the Lily Tomlin was doing Nashville. I

really enjoyed it. It is 79 minutes long, one of the new comedy that

knows not to outstay its welcome. It is poignant and bittersweet, smart

and intelligent. There is a dynamite central performance by Lily Tomlin,

who is absolutely at the top of her game and makes you engage with the

central character. I liked it very much. By The Sea, Brad Pitt and

Angelina Jolie. It has been dismissed as a Brangelina vanity

project. It is meant to be inspired by European Sir Mark of the 60s.

Angelina Jolie now writes, directs and stars. Brad Pitt is an author

who comes to a hotel in Malta. He wants to write but cannot because he

has fallen out with his wife. Together they have a terrible time

in this very upmarket hotel suite until a good-looking couple move in

and they have a very voyeuristic relationship. In many ways, the

problem with it, the film is far too interested in its central

characters. It takes a long time for anything to happen. You can seek

revelations coming from a long way off. It is not bad, not as bad as

some of the reviews have suggested. Ultimately it is too involved in

characters who, on the outside, are not that involving full it is too

interested in people who are not that interesting. It is languorous.

But slow is correct. Sisters, I really fancy that. It sounds like

Bridesmaids remade. There are sisters who are appalled to discover

their parents have decided to sell the family home in which they grew

up. They are not best pleased. Here is a clip.

Why didn't you tell me you sold the house?

Because we knew you try to talk us out of it.

You're selling your clocks, by the way?

The things in that house meant something to us.

Each one of those objects is a puzzle piece in the story

Clutter has a name and it's Pokey, the Christmas tree elf.

I laughed for 20 seconds, 30 seconds. Structurally Della macro

the film falls apart. -- structurally, the film falls apart.

They have one last party. As the party turns into Animal House, the

film starts to fall down. The performers are good enough but even

when overall structurally it is falling apart, individually,

particularly the central couple, they are described in a newspaper is

having an understanding which is like jazz musicians playing. They

risk of each other really well. It was directed by the guy who brought

us Pitch Perfect. I laughed all the way through, even as I realised

towards the last third, when it was falling down, it was still managing

to make me laugh. I loved more in this movie than the ones last week

when we were talking about Christmas with the Coopers. It has a slight

festive edge to it. It is the funniest Christmas comedy out there

by quite some distance. It is Christmas crude though, isn't it?

Yelena it is. It is too long. It does not have the depth and the

weight of Grandma but it is consistently funny. On your

recommendation I saw Brooklyn. There was definitely my best of the week.

It is brilliant. It is very difficult to sell because it is

understated. Isn't the lead actress absolutely fantastic. I said it was

fantastic. He put off because he thought it would not play for him

and it does. I know 70 people who thought the same thing when get into

their, they are really impressed. I really liked Sunset Song. The

interior is digital. I thought a very good central performance. I am

a really big fan of Terence Davies. He tried to make it 15 years ago. It

has been a long wait but it has been worth it. It is interesting. By The

Sea, it took eight years to make. Sometimes it is worth the wait and

sometimes it is not. In the case of Terence Davies, it was a funding

issue. At the same time as sex lives of the potato was getting funding,

he was being told there was no funding for him. Really! One thing

about your DVDs is I have never heard of them mostly. Future Shock!

The Story of 2000AD. What I like about this is it tells the story of

where it came from, who worked for it, how it changed how it came out

of punk Britain. How it fell in and out of creativity. It talked about

the films that are inspired by it. If you are not a comic book

aficionado, it is completely understandable, very engaging. I

liked it very much. It looks at how films like the Stallone Judge Dredd

and the second movie and things like hardware, I thought it was very

gripping. But after Sunset Song. Thank you very much.

A quick reminder before we go that you'll find more film news

and reviews from across the BBC online, including

Hallow. This weekend will be a little bit mixed. Tomorrow morning,

the chance of rain and snow across some parts of the country. Not