The Cynical Cinephiles

Director:  Craig Gillespie Cast: Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan We follow the troubled upbringing of brassy but skilled figure skater Tonya Harding (Robbie) with her extremely abusive mother LaVona (Janney). In 1991 she becomes the first American woman to land the notoriously difficult triple axel in competition, and is momentarily one of the best in her field. A few years later and a botched attack on a competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, orchestrated by husband (Stan), puts her at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in sporting history. If Goodfellas were to be re-imagined for the figure skating world, the result would look a lot like I, Tonya . Much like the 1990 classic, the film achieves highly comedic characters and dialogue while also weaving a tale of crime and a number of dark themes. Other pangs of Goodfellas are felt through the knowing voiceover, the narrative that extends through a life, and the unconventional but likable protagoni...

Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Lois Smith Having co-written and starred in some of the most acclaimed and beloved female-centred indie films of the past few years (namely Frances Ha and Mistress America ), Greta Gerwig has finally stepped behind the camera to direct her self-penned feature, Lady Bird , a comic yet emotional coming-of-age tale.  Lady Bird has since become an awards juggernaut and Gerwig has been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars, making her the fifth woman in the ceremony's 90 year history to achieve such an honour. Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (Ronan) is a senior student at a Catholic high school in Sacramento, California. Lady Bird has ambitions of attending an Ivy League College in New York and over the course of her senior year, she must navigate her family's financial struggles, turbulent romantic interests and h...