Reel stars of 2020
| Date | 01 January 2021 |
| Published date | 01 January 2021 |
Without the big studios hogging all the attention, smaller productions managed to find audiences on home-streaming and in socially distanced theatres.
These are my favourite films of the year?
1The PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD The Thick Of It writer Armando Iannucci provided much-needed laughs with a riotous adaptation of Charles Dickens' most life-affirming story.
Shot more like a TV sketch show than a dusty Victorian novel, it follows ambitious orphan David (Dev Patel)
down a very winding road to success.
Along the way he meets an array of delightfully quirky characters played by a racially diverse cast, sometimes within the same fictional family.
Benedict Wong channels WC Fields as thirsty accountant Mr Wickfield, Peter Capaldi is an infectiously optimistic Mr Micawber and Hugh Laurie turns back the clock to his Blackadder days as the potty Mr Dick.
2 Rocks This shockingly good Brit flick shines a light on an often-overlooked figure, the casting director.
Lucy Pardee spent a year searching for youngsters to star in this drama, set in the shadow of the city of London and it looks as authentic as it sounds.
A wonderful Bukky Bakray leads a multicultural cast as 16-year-old Shola who has to look after her little brother when her mum walks out.
On paper, this sounds like a standard lottery-funded misery-fest but, thanks to its energetic young cast, it's surprisingly uplifting.
3 1917 Sam Mendes' First World War spectacular was clearly conceived for the big screen. It got a decent run in cinemas before they closed in March but its strong story helped it become a big home-streaming hit during lockdown.
Two British soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) are sent behind enemy lines to deliver an important message. Filmed as one impossibly long shot, it is such an immersive experience that you give up looking for the joins.
4 PARASITE South Korean director Bong Joon Ho tells his Oscar-winning story with such visual flair that the subtitles often feel redundant. Like his excellent English language sci-fi Snowpiercer, it's a battle between the haves and the have-nots.
This time, we're in a modern-day Seoul where the impoverished Kim family take over the home of the rich Parks after becoming their servants.
What makes it so compelling is the way Bong throws in neat plot twists and quick shifts in tone.
5 Soul After a raft...
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