Stefan Pape
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Interview: Andrew Haigh, dir. Lean on Pete
After the success of both Weekend and 45 Years, British director Andrew Haigh now turns his attention to America, with Lean on Pete. To mark the film’s release we caught up with the talented young filmmaker to discuss this challenging adaptation, loneliness, and working with horses.
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DVD Review: ‘Easy Money’
★★★☆☆ It’s not very often that you see a new UK release that’s already had a sequel made and circulated in its native country. Knowing that this is part one does cause concern that it will have an open-ended finale, but it’s also encouraging to know that this initial offering was evidently good enough to…
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Film Review: ‘Ender’s Game’
★★★☆☆ If there’s one thing to be said of Harrison Ford, now one of the highest grossing Hollywood actors of all time, it’s that the man knows how to pick a project. Having starred in the likes of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, you’d certainly be interested forgiven for trusting…
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Film Review: ‘For Those in Peril’
★★★★☆ Back in 2010, emerging Scottish director Paul Wright picked up a BAFTA for his short film Until the River Runs Red. Now, trying his hand at feature-length filmmaking, Wright returns with For Those in Peril (2013), a worthy debut which holds great promise. Aaron (George MacKay) is the sole survivor of a disastrous fishing…
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DVD Review: ‘Robot & Frank’
★★★★☆ There’s something rather appealing about a feature centred around the friendship between an elderly man and his robot, and any enthusiastic expectations placed upon such a film are soon justified. Robot & Frank (2012) is a beautifully arranged debut production from Jake Schreier, as we follow the relationship between Robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard)…
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Film Review: ‘Thérèse Desqueyroux’
★★★☆☆ Following on from the critical and commercial success of A Royal Affair (2012) and the Oscar-winning Anna Karenina (2012), it seems that the French are once again looking to tap into the allure of the period drama. In cinemas this week is Claude Miller’s eponymous adaptation of François Mauriac’s Thérèse Desqueyroux (2012), far less…
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Film Review: ‘The Company You Keep’
★★☆☆☆ With a stellar cast consisting of an incredible nine Academy Award-nominated performers, it’s safe to say that the expectations for Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep (2012) are suitably high. However, such anticipation results in severe disappointment as we’re treated to a tedious, American equivalent of Last of the Summer Wine. Redford directs and…
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Film Review: ‘Dragon’
★★★☆☆ The opening scene of Dragon (Wu xia, 2011) features a family eating together, uniting over a meal as they sit around the dinner table; it’s this coming together of family, and the intimacy of home life, that sets the tone for the rest of Peter Chan’s martial arts drama – a multi-layered picture that’s…
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Film Review: ‘Bernie’
★★★☆☆ Having languished on the festival circuit for the past few years – including a showing at the London Film Festival back in 2011 – Richard Linklater’s Bernie (2011) finally makes its way into UK cinemas this week, reuniting the School of Rock director with ‘hot-cold’ Hollywood star Jack Black. Black plays the titular Bernie,…
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Interview: Mathieu Kassovitz, ‘Rebellion’
Having burst onto the scene with the incendiary banlieue drama La Haine back in 1995, it’s fair to say that French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz has never truly matched the raw, innovation of his sophomore project. That is until now, with the UK release of his intense real-life thriller Rebellion (L’ordre et la morale, 2011), in…