Travis Johnson

Right off the bat it’s important to demarcate the actual life and experiences of Sam Bloom and family from the film based on them. Sam Bloom, a nurse and avid surfer, was in the grip of depression following an accident that rendered her paraplegic when her children adopted an orphaned magpie that they dubbed “Penguin”. The bird’s rehabilitation mirrored Sam’s own journey, and their shared story fo...

Director of The Rider and the upcoming Marvel tentpole Eternals (I am baffled, too) Chloe Zhao shines a light on some of the grimmer aspects of the United States’ ongoing economic desertification with her latest film. Nomadland inserts us into a growing subculture of modern day nomads, who drift from place to place in ramshackle RVs, picking up seasonal work where and when they can, telling their ...

Well, it’s the ‘80s, isn’t it? Certainly the production, the costuming, and the soundtrack won’t let you forget it. And being immortal, our gal – Gal Gadot, that is – is still around. Having saved the planet from descending into an eternity of conflict back in World War One, Wonder Woman is working at the Smithsonian by day under her civilian name of Diana Prince, and fighting crime by… well, not ...

Tim Winton is hard to adapt for the screen. Do it right, as in Simon Baker’s 2017 feature directing debut, Breath, and you can wind up with something quite special, a thoughtful meditation on adolescence and loss, with a palpable sense of time and place. Do it wrong, as in Gregor Jordan’s take on Winton’s 2001 novel, Dirt Music, and you wind up with a soporific seaside soap opera. Yes, I’m proud o...

Philosopher filmmaker Terrence Malick specializes in making dense, cerebral, challenging films whose oblique narratives tend to frustrate viewers keyed to traditional storytelling, while delighting those who are open to his meditative, deeply spiritual musings on All of It. Still, even his most ardent admirers generally admit that 2017’s romantic drama Song to Song was a misfire, and so A Hidden L...

Writer and director Greta Gerwig follows up her acclaimed solo directing debut, Ladybird, with this effervescent adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 1868 novel. Little Women follows the four March sisters – headstrong emerging writer, Jo (Saoirse Ronan); quiet, domestic Meg (Emma Watson); saintly Beth (Eliza Scanlen); and puckish, artful Amy (Florence Pugh) – as they grow to womanhood in Civ...