Film reviews and more
★★★★☆ The late Rob Stewart’s activist documentary Sharkwater Extinction is an urgent and moving plea for action against the illegal trade in shark fins and more generally for the conservation of marine life in our rapidly dirtier and emptier oceans. Sharkwater Extinction literally begins lost at sea. Diver, activist and filmmaker Rob Stewart recalls how he once surfaced miles […]
★★★★☆ Ralph Fiennes’ third directorial feature, The White Crow is an evocative portrait of Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev’s early career and defection to the West in 1961. Inspired by Julie Kavanagh’s biography, David Hare’s perceptive screenplay takes us from Nureyev’s birth aboard a Trans-Siberian train to his first successful tour in Paris with the Kirov Ballet. Although born […]
★★★★☆ Documentary as self-therapy, the Oscar-nominated Minding the Gap arrives in the UK this week following a flurry of State-side plaudits – all of which are entirely justifiable. Chronicling the lives of himself and two friends from teenage years to young adulthood, director Bing Liu has crafted a rich coming-of-age odyssey which is, in turn, illuminating, sobering and ultimately […]
Although plagiarism is much more common in the music industry and scientific studies, it’s not unheard of in other areas of visual arts – namely filmmaking. After all, looking for inspiration in all the wrong places is, apparently, only human, and if the result of this naughty research activity ends up being a bit too similar to another product […]