Darkest Hour
dir. Joe Wright (2017)
Wright tries a tad too hard, as if having to trick the audience into engaging with politics (despite their inherent drama). The score, in particular, proves relentless. Where Churchill so often is merely caricatured, Gary Oldman brings nuance. Lily James is excellent.
Léon
dir. Luc Besson (1994)
A moving friendship tale that stops just short of Lolita-ism and owes its impact more to the acting talents of Jean Reno, Natalie Portman (on debut) and Gary Oldman than to writer-director Luc Besson’s attempts to bring French sensibilities to American film-making.
Kung Fu Panda 2
dir. Jennifer Yuh Nelson (DreamWorks, 2011)
A sequel more for younger viewers. The highlights come not so much by way of the main characters but rather through Po’s goose father (James Hong), the soothsaying goat (Michelle Yeoh) and, most of all, the villainous peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman).