★★★☆☆ Personal battles against mental illness have long been the mainstay of cinematic drama, with countless deserving Oscar winners (and an even greater number of less-deserving awards fodder) exploring the effects of autism, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s upon the most beautiful of minds. The latter is dealt with in novel form Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Whilst it would be churlish to say that Lukas Moodysson has ever really been away, it’s still possible to proclaim his return with the irresistible We Are the Best! (2013). Adapted from the loosely autobiographical graphic novel by his wife, Coco, it’s difficult not to be reminded of the Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ John Banville is one of Ireland’s greatest literary sons of recent decades. In 2005, he won the Man Booker Prize for The Sea, a tale of a man in later life consumed by both a dark secret from his youth and the recent death of his wife. Banville now Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Bruno Barreto’s handsome, English-language biopic Reaching for the Moon (2013) follows the passionate relationship between Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Bishop (The Lord of the Rings star Miranda Otto) and Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Glória Pires). It’s 1951 and Elizabeth, suffering from writers’ block, is encouraged by fellow Continue Reading
