Christopher Machell

★★★★★ On the Eastern Front, 10-year-old Ivan Bondarev (Nikolay Burlyaev) is a Russian scout spying on the German army in order to avenge his family. Ivan’s Childhood may not be master filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s finest work, yet his enduring aesthetic and political concerns are all present and correct in the director’s superlative debut film. We…

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★★★☆☆ In Barack Obama’s final year in office, Greg Barker documents the US President’s team as they implement diplomacy and foreign policy before the clock runs out on the administration. But while Barker’s documentary is firmly focussed on the outgoing President, a tangerine-coloured menace looms increasingly large in the background. The Final Year is not…

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★★★☆☆ Hungarian friends Zoli (Zoltán Fenyvesi) and Barba (Ádám Fekete) spend their days collaborating on a comic book at the disability centre where they live. But when they meet the dangerous yet intriguing Rupaszov (Szabolcs Thuróczy), all three of their lives take an unexpected turn. Inspired by his time volunteering at a disability centre, director…

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★★★★★ 1954, the height of the Algerian War. While the occupying French forces struggle to maintain control of the capital city, Algiers, Arab insurgents use guerrilla tactics to try to overthrow the French. Employing many of the techniques of Italian neo-realism, Gillo Pontecorvo’s stunning documentary-style features remains as starkly relevant now as ever. In the opening…

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★★★★☆ During the French summer holidays, 13-year-old Ava (Noée Abita) has just been diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition that is slowly blinding her. While her supportive mother, Maud (Laure Calamy) juggles attempting a sense of normalcy with her own personal life, Ava embarks on a journey of self discovery. Set in the same region…

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★★★★☆ Greg (Dave Franco) is struggling his way through acting school. He’s impressed by his fellow student Tommy’s (James Franco) fearless, unorthodox approach to performing, and after a series of knockbacks, the pair decide to collaborate on a project that will go down in infamy as one of the greatest bad films ever made. Based…

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★★★★★ “This is not going to go the way you think.” Crabbily spat at his new apprentice, Mark Hamill’s line is a pithy summation of The Last Jedi, arguably the most original and surprising entry in the series to date. Rian Johnson’s film is the real deal: a bold, risky venture unafraid to tell its…

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★★★★★ Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s films defined British cinema in the 1940s and 1950s, which were both artistically and commercially successful. In 1946 and at the height of their powers, Powell and Pressburger wrote and directed A Matter of Life and Death, one of the finest British films ever made. For strong openings, A…

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★★★☆☆ Mitsuko (Reina Triendl) is on a school bus with her friends when an invisible force rips off the top of the bus, severing all but Mitsuko in half. Running away in terror, she suddenly finds herself dressed in a different school uniform and with an unfamiliar group of friends. From there, things become increasingly…

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