Film reviews and more
★★☆☆☆ The cinematic spectre of the terrifying hoodie rears its head once again in Simon Blake’s debut feature, Still (2014), which is in cinemas now. At its centre is a startling performance filled with conflict and nuance from the ever-excellent Aidan Gillen (best known for television’s Game of Thrones), but it’s the tug-of-war between atmospheric character drama and grim, […]
★★★☆☆ British cinema faces an uphill struggle in making multiplex-friendly fare: producing films that will both appeal to fans of big budget blockbusters and also avoid feeling like a cheap imitation. In this instance, Spooks: The Greater Good (2015) does at least have familiarity on its side. The television series, which ran for nine years and had a reputation […]
★★☆☆☆ There’s a moment around twenty minutes into Rosewater (2014) that’s so astoundingly awful in its pandering earnestness that it taints everything that follows. The offending scene involves social media chatter across Tehran culminating into a huge word cloud that fills the screen, spelling #Iran. While many will chalk it up to a lapse of taste on the part […]