New releases from The Orb, Meredith Monk, and Marconi Union
Small isn't necessarily the beautiful solution
MARIA DUARTE remains unconvinced by a sci-fi satire positing miniaturisation as the answer to global overpopulation
Matt Damon in Downsizing
RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
Downsizing (15)
Directed by Alexander Payne
DESPITE brimming with big ideas and a fascinating premise providing a small-size solution to the world's overpopulation problem, sadly this social satire can't escape its many shortcomings.
It starts with Norwegian scientists discovering how to successfully shrink human beings to five inches tall and thus devise a radical solution to global overcrowding.
It then follows occupational therapist Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) from Omaha who, barely making ends meet on his meagre salary, decides to give himself and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) the life they had always dreamt of by convincing her to downsize.
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