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DVD Releases: ‘True Grit’ (1969)
With its release in 1969, Henry Hathaway’s original adaptation of Charles Portis’ True Grit breathed new life into a tiring Western genre. The Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone had stolen the interest of a culturally evolving American audience, one whose values were transforming in relation to the major changes happening in the world of pop culture, and…
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Special Features: Meryl Streep as Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’
Pathé today announced that principal photography had begun on Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady (2011), written by the award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Brick Lane [2007]) and directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia [2008]). The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of the UK’s much maligned first female prime minister, a woman who smashed through the…
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DVD Review: ‘I Spit on your Grave’
★☆☆☆☆ Back in the 1980s when The Evil Dead (1981), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) were still banned in Britain by the then draconian BBFC and the 1984 Video Recordings Act, there were a lot of films floating around which gained an audience, not because they were any good, but…
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DVD Releases: ‘Bella’
Alejandro Gomez Monteverde’s Bella (2006) is an emotional, well acted film about mistakes and second chances. The story follows the entwined lives of three people: Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), a former footballer whose dream of making it into the professional leagues is taken away by a terrible accident; Manny (Manny Perez), Jose’s adopted brother, who wants to…
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DVD Releases: ‘Peepli Live’
As an Aamir Kahn production, Peepli Live (2010) automatically carried with it a lot of respect and hype from the world of Indian Cinema. Directed and written by Anusha Rizvi, the film tells the tale of two brothers, Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Raghuvir Yadav), whose farm is about to be seized by the…
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DVD Review: ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’
★★★☆☆ Being that director Thor Freudenthal has only one previous feature to his name, and that being Hotel For Dogs (2009), you’ll forgive me for approaching his second outing, Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010), with a hint of trepidation. As a somewhat cynical twenty-something, it’s always hard to review the kind of wholesome, well meaning…
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Film Review: ‘Rabbit Hole’
★★★★☆ Whilst Nicole Kidman’s recent Oscar nomination for ‘Best Actress’ at this year’s upcoming 83rd Academy Awards came as a surprise to many, few would probably still contest the decision having witnessed the Antipodean actress’ superb latest performance in John Cameron Mitchell’s impressive debut feature Rabbit Hole (2010).Based on playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s stage play of the same name…
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Special Feature: Woody Allen’s latest to open BIFF 2011
It was today announced that Woody Allen’s new film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2011) will open the Bradford International Film Festival on 16th March 2011. This year’s festival will run 16th – 27th March. Allen has attracted stellar British talent for his new feature including Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Pauline Collins, Ewen…
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Third Window Film Festival 2011: An Introduction
From February 11th to 13th 2011, Third Window Films in conjunction with the Coventry University East Asian Film Society (CUEAFS) present the East Winds: A Third Window Film Festival. The festival’s goal is to raise awareness of Asian cinema to a university crowd who might normally not have much chance to catch Asian cinema on the…
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Special Feature: Kevin Macdonald to direct Bob Marley documentary
Academy Award and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald has boarded the upcoming Bob Marley documentary Marley (2011). Director of two of the most acclaimed documentaries of recent years, One Day in September (1999) and Touching the Void (2003), Macdonald will join with the Marley family, Chris Blackwell and Steve Bing to direct what may prove to…
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