Contributions from David Jenkins | Little White Lies

Contributor David Jenkins

Close-up of a person with dreadlocks performing on stage, holding an electric guitar and microphone.
Review

Bob Marley: One Love review – a low-calorie music bio

by David Jenkins

An ultra-conventional jukebox biog where a celebration of the music trumps a true exploration of the man.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Close-up of a man with long, dark hair and a serious expression against a blue background.
Review

The Settlers review – a brutally violent anti-western

by David Jenkins

This haunting debut by Felipe Gálvez Haberle dismantles the violent colonial trappings of the classic western.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Three adults conversing at a table in a restaurant, with drinks and a lamp visible.
Review

American Fiction review – wry literary satire is a mixed bag

by David Jenkins

Jeffrey Wright shines in a bold contemporary arts satire that doesn’t quite manage to hit all of its targets.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Animated ducks playing in a pond surrounded by autumn foliage.
Review

Migration review – A sorely underpowered duck tale

by David Jenkins

A ripe set-up in which a family of ducks migrate in the wrong direction is squandered in this haphazard and empty family animation.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Group of people gathered around a gravestone, wearing black clothing.
Review

This Blessed Plot review – a rough-hewn Brit ghost story

by David Jenkins

The latest from British non-fiction filmmaker Marc Issacs offers an ethereal cross-cut of working class lives in deepest Essex.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Two smiling women, one wearing a patterned dress, the other a large straw hat, sitting together and laughing.
Review

The Color Purple review – rides on its stellar performances

by David Jenkins

Blitz Bazawule delivers an all singing, all dancing update of Alice Walker’s harrowing story of women in postbellum Georgia.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Older woman speaking on stage, film festival poster visible behind her.
Festivals

Glasgow Film Festival announces A-grade line-up

by David Jenkins

A grand banquet of film has been laid out for the festival’s 20th anniversary edition.
Two individuals in intimate profile, close face-to-face, in black and white.
Festivals

Berlin announce exciting 2024 competition line-up

by David Jenkins

Outgoing artistic director Carlo Chatrian delivers the world cinema goods for his final edition at the helm.
A woman with blond curly hair, wearing a nude-coloured dress, sitting at a desk and holding a newspaper or document.
Review

The Disappearance of Shere Hite – a profile doc with hidden depths

by David Jenkins

The life of the idiosyncratic US sexologist is parlayed into a story of rank misogyny and violent moral conservatism.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Two men with moustaches holding a banner that reads "Knowledge is Power" against a pink and purple sunset sky.
Top Ranking

Ten essential Werner Herzog films

by David Jenkins

In celebration of a BFI season of the German maverick’s sublime work in film, we pick ten of our absolute faves.