"Saving Mr Banks", directed by John Lee Hancock

Movie, 2013

One of those schmaltzy films about a meeting of strong personalities which treads an historical and so entirely mapped outcome (Mary Poppins was made), but whose story and setting skillfully manipulate some strong emotional feelings and shine a light on alcoholism and its effects on families. A film far harder to like than to dislike; while the audience is played and scenes around the genesis of songs like "A Spoonful of Sugar" may have been and occasionally are a little awkward, the vision is illuminating and quite compelling.

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"The Lobster", directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Movie, 2015

Relentless, surreal film in which single people have forty-five days, under a strict regime in a strange hotel, to find a loving relationship or be turned into an animal. Events unfold and are, at turns, striking and brutal, with a few jaw dropping moments, but more often , an uneasy sense of a fil trying to be too odd and profound. The mood, throughout, is despairing and yes, there are laughs, but they're often dragged out of set-ups that are a little too brutal.