Joseph Walsh

★★★☆☆ In Still Life (2013), Uberto Pasolini crafts a small, but poignant and well performed tale of life and death. It revolves around a dedicated South London council employee, played with gentility and humanity by Eddie Marsan, whose job is to track down the relatives of the recently deceased. Mr. May (Marsan) is a meticulous…

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★★★★☆ Débutante British feature film director James Kent, along with Calendar Girls (2003) screenwriter Juliette Towhidi, has succulently crafted an emotionally bruising, evocative and smartly streamlined adaptation of one of the greatest rallying cries to pacifism, Vera Brittain’s remarkable Testament of Youth (2015). An account of her war years between 1914-18, Brittain’s book is unique…

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★★★★☆ When it was announced that Disney would be making a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s beloved musical for Into the Woods (2014), the ears of fans pricked up. Would the House of Mouse keep true to the sinister tone of the original or would they coat it in sugar to make it more palatable…

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★★☆☆☆ Angelina Jolie has stated that she has given up on acting and is now solely a director. If her sophomore effort Unbroken (2014) – a biopic of Olympian long distance runner and World War II POW Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) – is to be taken as evidence, it might be wise she doesn’t entirely…

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★★★☆☆ Strap on your sandals and unsheath your swords! Ridley Scott has cinematically traversed ancient Rome with Gladiator (2000) and the crusades with the abysmal Kingdom Of Heaven (2005), now he invites audiences to ancient Egypt, to recount the Old Testament in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014). As ever, he achieves technical proficiency, but fails…

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★★★★☆ Originally conceived in 1958 by Michael Bond, Paddington Bear is given new life in Paul King’s quintessentially British family comedy. Packed to the rafters with a stellar cast that boasts Sally Hawkins and Ben Whishaw, Paddington (2014) is a tale of delights. Opening with the click of a black and white newsreel, a mustachioed…

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★★☆☆☆ At the age of 75, and with over 70 plays under his belt, prolific theatre director Israel Horovitz makes his cinematic debut, adapting his 2002 stage play of the same name, My Old Lady (2014). Given Horovitz’s proven track record of crafting critically successful and award-winning narratives for theatre, one would be forgiven for…

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★★★★☆ Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of James Brown, in Tate Taylor’s candid biopic, Get On Up (2014), is a bold, brash and innovative rendition of a man who was often perceived as all ego. He was a market-machine of tremendous talent at the forefront of music, making you love him with the fury of a hellfire…

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★★★☆☆ The decision to cast Benedict Cumberbatch as unsung war hero Alan Turing in Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game (2014) was a canny, albeit obvious move. No doubt Cumberbatch’s performance as the shrewd and logical detective in BBC’s Sherlock was a deciding factor. Within Cumberbatch’s performance, he presents Turing as if his mind never became…

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★★★★☆ Whether young or old, the 1984 classic Ghostbusters – directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Bill Murray (seemingly confirmed for the upcoming Ghostbusters 3 on IMDb), Sigourney Weaver and Dan Aykroyd – will always be enjoyable viewing. Rereleased in cinemas across the country this Halloween weekend, countless kids of the 80s will be able…

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