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Film Review: Jaws
★★★★★ Jaws didn’t just reel in millions at the global box office, it heralded the summer blockbuster era and turned Steven Spielberg into a superstar. Back on the big screen for a limited UK run, the director’s classy fish-themed thriller still wows. The making of Jaws was almost the undoing of Spielberg. Filmed on and…
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Film Review: Only You
★★★☆☆ IVF remains a rarely discussed topic in cinema, even though millions of people go through it each year, which makes Harry Wootliff’s debut feature, Only You, all the more refreshing. It all begins, as many romantic dramas do, with a meet-cute. One New Year’s Eve in Glasgow, Jake (Josh O’Connor) a part-time DJ and…
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Edinburgh 2019: Synonyms review
★★★★☆ Golden Bear-winning cultural assimilation drama Synonyms is expertly handled by its director Nadav Lapid. That of relocating, whether it be by city, country or even school, is an unsettling experience most can relate to, though it’s heightened – and duplicated – for that of lead character Yoav (Tom Mercier). Having travelled from Israel, where…
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Film Review: Mrs Lowry & Son
★★☆☆☆ Five years after portraying J.M.W. Turner in Mike Leigh’s award-winning biographical drama Mr Turner, Timothy Spall takes on the role of another English painter, this time for director Adrian Noble, well-known in theatre circles. The painter in question is Lancashire-born L.S. Lowry, famed for his urban life paintings. Instead of focusing its attention on…
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Film Review: Spider-Man: Far From Home
★★★☆☆ Peter Parker (Tom Holland), best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), and sardonic classmate MJ (Zendaya) are all coming to terms with life after the reversal of Thanos’ decimation – here termed “the blip” – in Avengers: Endgame. A school trip is the perfect excuse for our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man to take a break and pursue his affections…
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Which of these TV and film characters could afford to pay off their homes?
Have you ever stopped to wonder whether the fictional characters from your favourite TV shows and films (take Tony Soprano, for instance) could afford to pay off their homes in their lifetime? And for those who couldn’t, what type of pay rise would they need? Using real estate data and salary estimates, Australia’s biggest financial…
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Edinburgh 2019: End of Sentence review
★★★☆☆ The strained relationship between a father and his son is tenderly observed in End of Sentence, the debut feature film from Elfar Adalsteins. Predominantly set against the backdrop of Ireland, this drama – starring John Hawkes and Logan Lerman – treads a familiar path, and yet still manages to engage with its assured performances…
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Edinburgh 2019: Schemers review
★★★☆☆ Filmed in and around Scotland’s fourth largest city Dundee, Schemers – receiving its World Premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival – makes up for in rough-and-ready charm what it lacks in technical finesse. It’s a film backed by community spirit; Dundee-born David McLean acts as writer, producer and director, while the cast…
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Interview: Andrew Bujalkski, dir. Support the Girls
Mumblecore legend Andrew Bujalski’s latest film, Support the Girls, headed by the singularly brilliant Regina Hall, tells the story of a group of young women working at a Hooters-style bar in Texas. We sat down with the film’s director to discuss empathy, understanding, and the liminal spaces of the highway-dominated world in which the film is set.
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The mad, mad world of Quentin Tarantino
With some glittering suits and lousy talk, Quentin Tarantino has risen from a video-store geek to a movie-making maestro. His directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs, remains the ultimate tale of a heist gone wrong. The film was also a career-defining turn for Micheal Madsen who dances to Steeler’s Wheel Stuck In The Middle With You as…
VENICE 2026
