Film reviews and more
★★★★☆ The Olympics have long proven to be an excellent stage for socio-political statements. At the 1968 Mexico Olympics, American 200m sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos both raised a black-gloved fist during their medal ceremony to show their support for racial equality. Despite being on the podium that day, Peter Norman’s role in the proceedings have gone largely […]
★★★☆☆ Considering the press attention director Simon Aboud’s feature debut Comes a Bright Day (2011) so far has enjoyed, expectations are understandably high. Submarine (2011) star Craig Roberts plays Sam Smith, a Camden council estate escapee who winds up as a bellboy in a swanky hotel. He’s a magpie, in that he gravitates towards shiny, pretty things, but the […]
★★★☆☆ Best known for directing cult classic American History X (1998), Tony Kaye is back with his latest release Detachment (2011). Having secured Edward Norton an Academy Award nomination for the former, Kaye has attracted a high profile cast for the latter, with Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden, James Caan, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu and Bryan Cranston all in […]
★★★☆☆ Having premiered at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Rebecca Thomas’ Electrick Children (2012) contorts the American Indie genre with a tale of teenage confusion set against the backdrop of organised religion. With an enticing narrative twist, a star-making performance by Julia Garner and some mesmerising aesthetic flourishes; Thomas’ debut has all the ingredients required of a cult classic.Rachel […]
★★★★☆ Winner of the prestigious award for European Film Academy Documentary of the Year, prolific Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán returns to UK cinemas this week with Nostalgia for the Light (2010). On the surface, Guzmán’s latest is a handsome ode to the astronomical observatories situated in the vast, altiplanos of the Atacama Desert. Yet buried underneath its celestial skies […]
★★★☆☆ Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey add to their arse-nal of recent impressive performances this year with Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike (2012), a surprisingly sincere and intelligent comedy about male strippers. Mike’s (Tatum) passion lies in constructing ‘one-of-a-kind’ pieces of custom furniture, yet the bulk of his income comes from stripping at a seedy Tampa nightclub run by bare […]
★★☆☆☆ It was always inevitable, but time appears to have finally been called on the popular Ice Age series. What was once lovable and warm-hearted has become a cynical corporate cashpoint, and aside from the reliability of mischievous, acorn-loving squirrel Scrat, there’s not much to take away from the latest entry, Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier’s Ice Age 4: […]