★★★☆☆ Beat literature and its purveyors have had a long and varied relationship with the silver screen which has seen no less than three films about them in the last few years. James Franco accepted the challenge of the lead in Allen Ginsberg pseudo-biopic Howl (2010), whilst Walter Salles took Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ The first movie penned by Sylvester ‘Sly’ Stallone that he hasn’t acted in and featuring the possibility of Jason Statham beating up James Franco, there are lots of reasons to be excited about Gary Fleder’s Homefront (2013). Unfortunately, this formulaic retro action throwback doesn’t deliver on any front. All Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Whether it be Bambi (1942), The Jungle Book (1967) or The Lion King (1994), almost everyone has a favourite Disney animation from their childhood that still holds up on repeat watches. A terrific combination of a heartwarming story, effervescent animation and memorable musical numbers, Frozen (2013) has the potential Continue Reading
★★★★☆ An ornate, clinical study of gay identity in a predominantly Catholic Poland, Tomasz Wasilewski’s Floating Skyscrapers (2013) pulsates with vitality and sexual repression. A belligerent statement about contemporary attitudes towards LGBT culture, this confident sophomore feature appropriates arthouse aesthetics in a daringly barbed fashion. Kuba (Mateusz Banasiuk) is a Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Towering pieces of work, be they literary, theatrical or cinematic, are often subject to reincarnation in a variety of mediums, such is their enduring quality. Originally a stage play created by Harlem Renaissance figure Langston Hughes, Black Nativity (2013) is the latest example of this frequent occurrence. Whilst writer Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Directing duo Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado came bursting onto the genre scene with their debut feature and 2011 FrightFest favourite Rabies (2010). Ostensibly a teen slasher, it subverted conventions to craft a dexterous, satirical portrait of the social and civic landscape in their native Israel. They now return Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Opening to a glorious, sun-dappled French townscape before setting the tone of things to come with a clumsy, crossword led allusion to Joanna Hogg’s vaguely comparable upper middle-class drama Archipelago (2011), debut director Virginia Gilbert’s existential exploration of expat life, A Long Way from Home (2013), actually has far Continue Reading