Daniel Gumble
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Barbican Film: Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Blackmail’
When considering the many great works of Alfred Hitchcock, the title Blackmail (1929) is, for many, not one that would immediately spring to mind. Far more likely would be those famous household titles, such as Rebecca (1940), Psycho (1960), or The Birds (1963), each having embedded themselves firmly into the fabric of cinematic and popular…
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Film Review: ‘Mary and Max’
★★★★★ In recent years there has been a rapid decline in the output of clay animation films. This would appear to be due to the huge increase in CGI animation films from Hollywood, such as Disney Pixar’s WALL.E (2008), Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) to name but a few. The highly polished, glossy…
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LFF 2010: ‘The American’ review
★★☆☆☆ As an artist known primarily for his work as a music video director and band photographer, Anton Corbijn’s latest project The American (2010), starring George Clooney, could well be seen as a drastic departure from his well-established roots. Corbijn’s debut feature Control (2007) yielded great critical acclaim, although some may have noted that being…
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LFF 2010: ‘Leap Year’ review
★☆☆☆☆ A depiction of intense loneliness and psychosexual torture, Michael Rowe’s minimalist debut feature Leap Year (Año bisiesto, 2010) raises many a difficult question with regards to its seemingly complex gender politics. It follows the life of Laura, played with vulnerable perfection by Monica Del Carmen, a lonely freelance journalist who lives alone in a small Mexican apartment.…
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Raindance Film Festival 2010: ‘Rebels Without a Clue’
With debut feature Rebels Without a Clue (2009), director and writer Ian Vernon attempts to blend elements of so-called gritty social-realism with black humour, in a film that is about as misguided as it’s unfortunate title suggests. The tag line, “Teenagers with guns, drugs and a cool car. All they need to do is lose their…