Oscars 2018: The latest odds
Bust out the proverbial popcorn because it’s that time of year again. Yes – you know what we’re talking about. The Academy Awards are almost here. On Sunday 4 March, the red carpet will roll out at the Dolby Theatre […]
Interview: Sebastián Lelio, dir. A Fantastic Woman
One of the biggest names to emerge from Chile’s new golden era of cinema, Sebastián Lelio first achieved international recognition with his fourth film Gloria, a dynamic comedy-drama about a middle-aged woman’s ill-fated romance with a retired naval officer. This […]
Fantasy vs. reality: Real-life portrayal in movies
We all enjoy going to the cinema to catch a movie from time to time. And while there’s plenty of fun to be had with movies based on true events, one of the joys of watching films is that the […]
DVD Review: Night of the Living Dead
★★★★★ After languishing for decades with sub-par public domain versions, George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead is finally granted the release it deserves, with a lovingly restored print. For the first time, the craft and artistry involved in […]
Film Review: Mute
★★☆☆☆ The latest film from Moon director Duncan Jones, Mute is a weak sci-fi neo-noir about a speechless man who goes in search of his missing girlfriend, only to discover a dark underworld. Left mute by a childhood boating accident, for […]
Berlin 2018: Yardie review
★★★☆☆ Hackney-born actor, DJ and now filmmaker Idris Elba makes his directorial debut with Yardie, a Caribbean twist on the well-worn conventions of the British gangster movie, based on the book by Victor Headley. The film follows a Jamaican drug […]
Berlin 2018: What Comes Around review
★★★★☆ While Middle Eastern cinema seems to be having a fresh resurgence of late, films that shine a light on ordinary people in these countries remain few and far between. With an industry all but decimated by years of political […]
What odds of a sequel?
Who doesn’t love a good standalone film? But have you ever watched a cult classic and secretly wished, “I want more”? You get so engrossed in a storyline, feel such a connection to the characters and just like that it’s […]
Film Review: Madeline’s Madeline
★★★★☆ Acclaimed independent filmmaker Josephine Decker (Butter on the Latch, Thou Wast Mild and Lovely) returns to UK cinemas with Madeline’s Madeline, a visionary study of the analogy between creativity and insanity. Acting requires pulling oneself inside-out psychologically and blurring […]
Film Review: Unsane
★★★☆☆ In light of the recent allegations of sexual harassment aimed squarely at the film industry, Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane – an i-Phone shot thriller about a woman pushed to the precipice of a mental breakdown – is a surprisingly shallow […]
Film Review: I, Tonya
★★★★☆ “The haters always say ‘Tonya, tell the truth’. There’s no such thing as truth!” No truer words have been spoken about ice skating’s most notorious ex-skater, and with I, Tonya, the time has come for us to find out…or […]
Interview: James Erskine, dir. The Ice King
James Erskine is an accomplished director and documentarian who has explored a number of different sporting greats through the medium of film. His latest, The Ice King, tells the life story of John Curry: a pioneer in the world of […]
DVD Review: The Ice King
★★★★☆ John Curry might not be a name immediately recognisable to younger sporting fans, but after a successful competitive career on the ice – topped off with a gold medal during the 1976 Winter Olympics – he blazed a trail […]
Film Review: Dark River
★★★☆☆ You wait years for a gritty social drama set within a farming community, only for three to show up at almost the same time. Fresh off the heels of Francis Lee’s brilliantly received God’s Own Country and Hope Dickson […]
Berlin 2018: Victory Day review
★★★☆☆ Training his eye on the 2017 memorial service held at Berlin’s Treptower Park, a site of pilgrimage for the Soviet diaspora, Sergei Loznitsa’s Victory Day is an absorbing study of nationalism and the collective memory of traumatic experiences. After the Second […]
Berlin 2018: Yours in Sisterhood review
★★★☆☆ A series of provocative and often heartbreaking conversations between the past and the present, Irene Lusztig’s Yours in Sisterhood, is a collective portrait of feminism, and a beautiful paean to the lost art of letter writing. Beginning as an […]
Berlin 2018: An Elephant Sitting Still review
★★★★☆ Powerfully conveying a longing for escape from ordinary life, Hu Bo’s An Elephant Sitting Still is a strangely alluring, four-hour portrait of the disillusionment and hollow sense of emptiness experienced by those living in a society marked by violent […]
Berlin 2018: L’Animale review
★★★★☆ It’s not difficult to guess which beast is being referred to in the title of Katharina Mückstein’s coming-of-age drama L’Animale. In rural Austria, Mati (Sophie Stockinger) is only a few weeks away from passing her final exams. But matters of […]