The Cinema Corner – February 9th

Movie of the week – Glory

Bulgarian drama Glory tells the story of a mentally challenged railroad worker who does the right thing in handing over a bag full of money he finds discarded by some train tracks, only to have his watch go missing at a ceremony in his honour. The film is bolstered by a gripping performance by actress Margita Gosheva as the government publicist who exploits the good deed, though at times the storytelling is a tad simplistic and contrived.

The 15:17 to Paris

Two contenders for the worst movie of 2018 battle it out this week. Following American Sniper and Sully, Clint Eastwood delivers another true life drama in The 15:17 to Paris. Based on the foiled terrorist attack on a Paris bound train in 2015, it stars the three real life heroes of the incident as themselves. The attack itself is well executed but it’s a mere five minutes in a film that veers between insufferable American propaganda and outright tedium.

Fifty Shades Freed

Even worse is Fifty Shades Freed, the conclusion (thank the stars) of the infamous trilogy. This one is the movie equivalent of an office at 4.30pm on a Friday afternoon – everyone’s still at their desks but nobody’s really working, save for Dakota Johnson, who deserves some sort of honorary Oscar for making it through this series.

By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com