Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Disney+ review - how the boy from Sayreville, NJ conquered the world

★★ THANK YOU, GOODNIGHT: THE BON JOVI STORY, DISNEY+ How the boy from Sayreville, NJ conquered the world

Four-part documentary series outstays its welcome

To mark the 40th anniversary of New Jersey’s second-greatest gift to rock’n’roll, Disney+ have served up this sprawling four-part documentary which tells you more about Jon Bon Jovi and his band of brothers than you ever needed to know. Or, possibly, wanted to.

Janey review - fitting punchline for a contentious comedian

RIP JANEY GODLEY A fitting punchline for a contentious comedian

A rounded portrait of the Scot who told Trump to go home

The Glaswegian comedian Janey Godley, the woman who put the punch in punchline, has what she would call a “mooth” on her. It delivers pith and grit and lots of short words needing asterisks. Though possibly not for much longer, as she is in the throes of ovarian cancer.

The Last Year of Darkness review - a loving portrait of a Chengdu gay bar

★★★ THE LAST YEAR OF DARKNESS A loving portrait of a Chengdu gay bar

Disaffected Chinese youth find a safe haven in a venue that is under threat

Yihao is a disaffected 20 year old living in Chengdu, capital of Sichaun Province. A thriving centre for business and commerce, Chengdu looks like any other modern city. You could mistake it for downtown Chicago except that, apart from the Walmart logo, the signage is in Chinese.

Drive to Survive, Season 6, Netflix review - F1 documentary overtaken by events

★★★ DRIVE TO SURVIVE, SEASON 6, NETFLIX Real-life dramas in the paddock were too late to make the cut

Real-life dramas in the paddock were too late to make the cut

When the first season of Drive to Survive launched on Netflix in 2019, it was greeted with suspicion by some in the Formula One paddock. But with its sixth season now up on Netflix, just ahead of next weekend’s 2024 season-opening race in Bahrain, the show can congratulate itself for having helped to bring about a revolution within Formula One.

Occupied City review - unquiet Nazi crimes

Steve McQueen’s cool double-portrait of Amsterdam trauma

“I feel as if I am live reporting from a shipwreck,” Dutch-Jewish journalist Philip Mechanicus wrote en route to his concentration camp murder. Steve McQueen’s four-hour reverie on Amsterdam’s Nazi occupation teases out the scars of that arbitrary, vicious time beneath his adopted home’s placid streets. Filming during 2020’s pandemic, this becomes a time-jumping double-portrait of his adopted home city, though the inexact mirroring often cracks.

Blu-ray: Werner Herzog - Radical Dreamer

★★★ BLU-RAY: WERNER HERZOG - RADICAL DREAMER Herzog back home to his roots

Conventional doc brings Herzog back home to his roots, hinting at myth and magic

Weird, quirky Hollywood Werner can obscure the fierce visionary who warred with Kinski in the jungle. This is even true of many of his own features since moving to LA which, like his peer Wenders, usually pale next to his reverent, supernal documentaries. Thomas von Steinaecker’s conventional doc emphasises his latter-day, parodic cult stardom but, thanks to Herzog’s enthusiastic engagement, still gets valuably close to his heart.

Scala!!! review - a grindhouse cinema remembers

Energetic doc evokes cinemagoing as a wild, life-changing event

This week, the makers of Scala!!! threw a party in what remains of its subject – a notorious, beloved repertory cinema in then sleazy King’s Cross, born 1981, dead 1993, and now a dowdier music venue.

Best of 2023: Film

BEST OF 2023: FILM Theartsdesk's film critics cast their net wide

Kicking off the top choices of the year, theartsdesk's film critics cast their net wide

Numbers indicate if entries are listed in order of preference


Saskia Baron

Anatomy of a Fall

Broker

Fallen Leaves

Joyland

Killers of the Flower Moon

Otto Baxter: Not a F**ing Horror Story

Return to Seoul

St Omer

Scrapper

A Thousand and One

Is There Anybody Out There? review - autobiographical documentary on disability

★★★★ IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? Autobiographical documentary on disability

Ella Glendining makes an impressive debut with her portrait of life with physical difference

Ella Glendining has made an impressive documentary debut with the autobiographical essay, Is There Anybody Out There? Born without hip joints and very short thigh bones, we first encounter her as a perky, confident little girl walking in the woods near her home, in video footage filmed by her parents. They were aware from the first pregnancy scan that she was different and have done an exemplary job of ensuring that she had as happy a childhood as possible.

Robbie Williams, Netflix review - tormented superstar bares his soul

★★★★ ROBBIE WILLIAMS, NETFLIX Gruelling rockumentary explores the price of fame

Gruelling rockumentary explores the price of fame

If you thought being a pop star might be fun, this four-part voyage around the tortured soul of Robbie Williams may convince you otherwise. He has sold 75 million records and historic numbers of concert tickets, scored 13 Number One albums and seven Number One singles in the UK, and has a shed full of gongs including 18 Brit Awards. But even so, now three months short of his 50th birthday, he still seems to feel that it could suddenly all end tomorrow, or possibly even this afternoon.