John Baker’s Blog

I’m not going to go on at length about the latest Mike Leigh film because he is one of my favourite directors and the film falls a long way short of his best work.
Sally Hawkins as Poppy is a primary-school teacher who is relentlessly cheerful. No negative thoughts or attitudes inhabit this thirty-year-old woman. She [...]

A nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson), is caring for a famous actress, Elizabeth (Liv Ullman), who became dumb during a performance of Electra and has not spoken since. The doctor tells Elizabeth she is using her silence as a form of protest. The two women, Alma and Elizabeth, are loaned the use of the doctor’s seaside [...]

Chilli Palmer is looking to make another movie. But this time it’s going to be based around LA’s music industry.
There’s a band headed by a woman with a voice, Linda Moon. There’s a group of gangsta rappers. There’s a low life pimp with a huge body-guard who has a record for throwing people out of [...]