-
DVD Review: ‘Centurion’
★★★☆☆ In the aftermath of the announced abolition of the UK Film Council by the UK Coalition government, much has been made on how this will directly affect the country’s ability to firstly support its home ground talent, and secondly, the UK film industry’s capacity for competing with its European neighbours and Hollywood.Whilst many notable…
-
Cigarette Burns: Super-Mega-Death-Match-Team-Up-Showdown-Throw-Down-athon
Bombastic titles aside, I think it’s time we addressed the issue of the cinematic ‘team up’. With The Expendables (2010) now on general release (it’s every beefcake action hero from the last 20 years…together…all sharing the same grunt space!) and The Avengers (2012) movie on the horizon (it’s every Marvel action hero that isn’t an…
-
Theatrical Releases: ‘Splice’
Splice is a film with a lot to live up to. Firstly, it comes from Vicenzo Natali, the writer/director of Cube (1997): one of the best horror/sci-fi hybrids in recent memory. Secondly, Splice is Natali’s attempt to revive ‘body-horror’, a horror sub-genre that has been largely dormant since the 1980s.Recent body-horror offerings have either been…
-
Special Feature: ‘Nanook of the North’ at the First People’s Festival
As darkness falls on a Montreal evening and stars begin to appear, two Inuit woman take their places on stage under a giant wigwam. They face each other, join arms and the haunting sound of traditional throat singing silences the crowd who have gathered in the square. Accompanied by a small orchestra performing an original…
-
DVD Releases: ‘Hierro’
There’s something ultimately disappointing about the latest supernatural Spanish horror Hierro: it’s certainly stylishly shot and edited, its lead actress is impressive as a woman drained with grief and longing, and the plot is satisfyingly mysterious. However, as a film which has been boldly marketed as emanating “from the producers of Pan’s Labyrinth and The…
-
Theatrical Releases: ‘Gainsbourg’
If there’s one thing that Joann Sfar’s Gainsbourg (2010) – an innovative biopic of cult French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg – told me, it’s that he smoked…a lot. And sometimes, he didn’t shave for a few days. He also had an extraordinary allure for women since pre-pubescence. However, this was about all the insight provided by…
-
Theatrical Releases: ‘When You’re Strange: A Film About the Doors’
“If you remember the 60s then you weren’t there”. This common illustration of the 1960s is not only verified in the documentary When You’re Strange: A Film About the Doors (2009) for those who were unfortunately not at the party, but no doubt sheds some light on those who have forgotten.Oliver Stone offered a kaleidoscopic…
-
Special Feature: Future Cinema’s Dennis Hopper retrospective
Future Cinema, creators of the acclaimed Secret Cinema, presents a very special screening tribute to the late, great Dennis Hopper with a unique screening of David Lynch’s 1986 cult classic Blue Velvet on Saturday 31st July. A maverick, a renegade, a debauched hell-raiser – there are a long list of names that would aptly characterize…
-
Theatrical Releases: ‘Toy Story 3’
Fifteen years after the release of the groundbreaking Toy Story (1995) and eleven years after the release of the arguably superior Toy Story 2 (1999), Pixar are back with the next (and potentally final) instalment to the Toy Story trilogy. Director of both prequels, John Lasseter, hands the reigns to first time director Lee Unkrich,…
-
Film Review: ‘Predators’
★★★☆☆ It’s no surprise producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród Antal stressed that they wanted this film to be seen as a sequel only to the original Predator (1987) movie which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. With their simplified plots and cartoon-like feel, it was also no wonder that Predator 2 (1990) and the two spin-off Alien…
Cannes 2026