Film reviews and more
★★★☆☆ Seen as Russia’s “secret weapon” by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, is it possible that the Bolshoi Ballet, a towering pillar of the nation’s culture, be justly compared to an ancient civilisation synonymous with oppression, corruption and vacuous luxury? Given […]
★★★★☆ Every once in a while a tale from real life springs up seemingly out of nowhere, offering the kind of rich, larger-than-life content most documentary makers could only dream about chancing upon. The Wolfpack opens with a sweded version […]
★★★☆☆ Tiller Russell’s quick-fire, often jaw-dropping documentary Precinct Seven Five opens with a pledge. On 27th September 1993 Michael Dowd, once a New York City police officer in reputedly the most dangerous precinct in the country, vows to tell the […]
★★★★☆ There’s always a mix of excitement and trepidation when a famous musician’s life is brought to the screen. Will it result in an uncompromising examination of the artist in question or an airless hagiography? There’s certainly much dramatic mileage […]
★★☆☆☆ Initially coming off as a rather sharp and cheeky teen comedy, Rick Famuyiwa’s Dope prefers style over substance. What is set up in the first act as a charming if not typical story (a quirky black teen & his […]
★☆☆☆☆ American playwright turned writer-director Leslye Headland received a fair amount of critical praise for her debut feature Bachelorette (2012), which saw a trio of women asked to be bridesmaids to a former victim of their school bullying. Her sophomore […]
★★★★★ Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 classic Le Mépris deserves to be seen on the big screen. There, it can ravish the senses and connect with the viewer in a way that is utterly lost on a television set. Godard’s film must […]
★★★★☆ Reinvention and familial turmoil have long been hallmarks of David O. Russell’s particular brand of knockabout cinema and his latest collaboration with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, Joy (2015), is a wonderful fairytale marriage of the two. It’s a […]
★☆☆☆☆ 2015 saw something of a Krays craze. Amid the brouhaha surrounding the Tom Hardy double act that was Brian Helgeland’s Legend, a plucky contender sought to muscle in on the red carpet turf of its glitzy, all conquering adversary. […]
★★★☆☆ Tom Hooper has made several films about men playing roles. 2009’s The Damned United concerned the managerial exploits of Brian Clough (Martin Sheen), a legend of football who alpha-ed his way to the top of a fiercely competitive business. […]
★★☆☆☆ Ramin Bahrani’s At Any Price (2012) has one of those bland three-word titles which bodes no good, yet the results are intriguing if uneven. The Whipples are a family of farmers but the industry has changed and competition is […]