John Bleasdale
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Venice 2018: The Mountain review
★★★☆☆ A troubled young man goes on tour with a renowned lobotomist in Rick Alverson’s wintry new work The Mountain, showing in competition at the 75th edition of the Venice International Film Festival. Andy (Tye Sheridan) lives with his father (Udo Kier) and works at the ice rink where his father teaches figure skating. He dreams…
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Venice 2018: Our picks of the festival
This Wednesday (29 August) will see the official opening of the 75th Venice Film Festival. The programme is crammed with internationally renowned directors and stars, boasting its most promising selection in years. Here are just a few of the most eagerly anticipated works on offer. First Man Damien Chazelle’s follow up to La La Land…
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DVD Review: The King
★★★★☆ Oscar-nominated director Eugene Jarecki’s fascinating new film The King charts the rise and fall of Elvis Aaron Presley, and links it to both the historical development of America and the rise of Donald Trump. Midway through The King things begin to break down. Literally. Elvis’ 1963 Rolls-Royce – which Jarecki has been using to…
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Film Review: The Eyes of Orson Welles
★★★★☆ Film historian Mark Cousins turns a loving gaze to the extraordinary global talent of the legendary American filmmaker Orson Welles, using his voluminous paintings and sketches as a point of departure. Having started his film directing career with one of the masterpieces of American cinema Citizen Kane, Welles himself has been as frequently regarded…
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Locarno 2018: Festival roundup
With the 71st Locarno Film Festival coming to a close at the weekend and the prizes awarded, our contributor John Bleasdale notes some of the highs and lows of Swiss based celebration of film. There were many strong independent and frequently eponymous women at Locarno this year. Meet Sibel, for instance, a young woman shunned…
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Locarno 2018: Golden Leopard goes to Yeo Siew Hua’s A Land Imagined
The 71st Locarno Film Festival came to a close today and the awards have been announced. The top prize was taken by Yeo Siew Hua’s A Land Imagined, a dreamlike noir about a policeman searching Singapore for missing migrant worker. Yolande Zauberman got the Jury Prize for her crushing documentary about child rape in a…
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Film Review: The Producers
★★★★☆ Two schnooks decide to produce a play that’s bound to fail as a way of fleecing their investors. Such is the premise for Mel Brooks’ 1967 debut film The Producers, as broad as Broadway and cheerfully, life-affirmingly tasteless and nuts. A mere twenty years since Hitler kicked the bucket in his bunker, comedian and…
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Locarno 2018: Our picks of the festival
One of the oldest European film festivals, Locarno celebrates its 71st edition with a vibrant programme of new films featuring 13 world premieres. Artistic director Carlo Chatrain curates his final festival before moving on to take over the reins of the Berlinale, and you can see what qualified him for the job in this exciting…
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Film Review: The Ciambra
★★★☆☆ Located on the toe end of Italy’s boot, Gioa Tauro is a testament to Italy’s failure to develop the south. Far from the tourist traps of Rome and Venice and even the fizzier, more dangerous charms of Naples, the town has become synonymous with poverty, crime and the failure of the state. A sequel…
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Film Review: Filmworker
★★★★☆ American director Tony Zierra’s latest documentary Filmworker chronicles a tale of dedication and sacrifice in the service of art and will be a must for Stanley Kubrick – and now Leon Vitali – fans everywhere. It isn’t often that an actor’s most prominent role ends their careers, but that’s effectively what happened to Leon…