14 April 2013-04-14

Stacy Martin and Shia LaBeouf in Nymphomaniac

Out in the UK This Week Nymphomaniac Vol I (Artificial Eye, cert 18, Blu-ray/DVD/Digital) A middle aged man finds a woman beaten up in the street. Taking her back to his house ā€“ she doesnā€™t want the police involved ā€“ he coaxes her story out of her with nothing more than a bit of tea and sympathy. And so starts Lars Von Trierā€™s most ā€œnormalā€ film to date, effectively a Victorian bildungsroman in which one party (Charlotte Gainsbourg) relates the ping-ponging progress of her life, while the other party (Stellan SkarsgĆ„rd) prompts more revelations with a ā€œdo tell me moreā€. Von Trier barely bothers to hide the structure and sets about acclimatising us … Read more

Nebraska

Bruce Dern in Nebraska

Staggering along under a weight of folksiness, much like its old-guy hero is staggering along on his beat up legs, Alexander Payneā€™s latest movie is sweet and wry but letā€™s not all get too excited. The film certainly doesnā€™t. Bruce Dern is the old guy, an amnesiac oldster with a ā€œbeer isnā€™t drinkingā€ drink problem who reckons heā€™s won some obviously fake mailout sweepstake ā€“ ā€œyou could already have won a million dollarsā€ kind of thing. With nothing else to live for, and getting under the feet of his wife (June Squibb), Woody decides heā€™s going to get to Nebraska any old how to pick up his winnings, even if it means walking. … Read more