Incoming: Wonder Woman
Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside …
Film Review: The Shepherd (El Pastor)
There’s something about rooting for the underdog which brings people together. Whilst traditionally cinema has reflected this in sport movies (such as Rocky, A League of Their Own or Cool Runnings), there’s been a more politicised shift of late. Whether that be Daniel Blake in Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner or Marion Cotillard’s Oscar-nominated performance …
Blu-Ray Review: Spotlight on a Murderer
A title sequence can give you an insight into what is likely to come. Gaumont is the first and oldest film company in the world. Its logo is in many ways a badge of honour and a guarantee of quality. The studio has brought us classics like 8 ½, Possession, Rififi, La jetée, l’atalante and …
Incoming: The Other Side of Hope
Khaled (Sherwan Haji) arrives at the port of Helsinki concealed in a coal container, fleeing war-torn Syria to seek asylum in Finland. Dazed and frustrated by the monolithic administration he encounters at the detention centre, he makes a break for it and heads out onto the streets. There he meets Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen), a former …
Incoming: The Red Turtle
Through the story of a man shipwrecked on a tropical island inhabited by turtles, crabs and birds, The Red Turtle recounts the milestones in the life of a human being. The Red Turtle is in cinemas from Friday.
DVD Review: Short Poppies
When Flight of the Concords arrived on our radios and screens it was an absolute revelation. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie produced an all singing, all dancing, Kiwi comedy masterclass. However, probably the crowning glory of that series was Rhys Darby as the hapless Murray. Darby teamed up with Clement’s again for the latter’s directorial …
Blu-Ray Review: Toni Erdmann
Every so often a film comes along out of the blue and just blows everyone away. That was the case with Toni Erdmann. After premiering in competition at Cannes last year, Maren Ade’s film went on to garner rave reviews and an Academy Award-nomination. It was frankly robbed of the Oscar by Asghar Farhadi’s The …
Blu-Ray Review: The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead
The British punk scene was one of the most inventive, culturally important and exciting periods of music of the 20th Century. At its height during the late 1970s, bands such as The Clash, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Buzzcocks revolutionised a whole industry. However, arguably the true pioneers of the movement were The …
Film Review: I Am Not Madame Bovary
It’s almost impossible for anyone outside of East Asian to truly understand the power of stardom in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and China. To the outsider, it can be truly baffling and scary. Hollywood have been slow to catch on, but is beginning to capitalise in these markets. Take Fan Bingbing, she’s such a huge …
Incoming: Colossal
Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is an out-of-work party girl who finds herself in relationship trouble with her sensible boyfriend, Tim (Dan Stevens), and is forced to move back to her tiny hometown to get her life back on track. She reconnects with childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), a good-natured bar owner with a coterie of drinking …