Incoming: Mustang
It’s the beginning of summer. In a small village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are on their way home from school, innocently playing with local boys. But prying village eyes view their games with suspicion and the girls’ behaviour – and refusal to repent – quickly causes a scandal among the family. …
Blu-ray Review: In a Lonely Place (Criterion Collection)
Humphrey Bogart is undoubtedly one of the biggest Hollywood stars of all time. In a period when studios still made vehicles for stars, he was the biggest ticket. Even when the star system began to crumble after World War II, Bogie’s reputation and star power still remained. He still remains a cultural icon to this …
DVD Review: Battle for Sevastopol
It’s safe to say that popular history has long been the domain of white men. Whilst we still live in a patriarchal world, things have begun to change over the past decade when it comes to re-assessing our shared histories. Despite being heavily restricted, the role of women has generally been downplayed or ignored, especially …
Incoming: Everybody Wants Some
Set in the world of 1980s college life, Everybody Wants Some follows a freshman’s first weekend of college, experiencing a fraternity-like lifestyle with his hard-partying teammates as they navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood. Everybody Wants Some is out in cinemas on Friday.
Incoming: Knight of Cups
Once there was a young prince whose father, the king of the East, sent him down into Egypt to find a pearl. But when the prince arrived, the people poured him a cup. Drinking it, he forgot he was the son of a king, forgot about the pearl and fell into a deep sleep. Rick’s …
DVD Review: A War
War is very simple in theory. Actions during conflict are governed by a huge book of rules, regulations and scenarios. All well and good on the training ground but in the heat of battle the rulebook can sometimes be thrown out of the window. There’s always a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ decisions but the correct choice …
DVD Review: Hard Tide
Gangsters, drug dealers and growing up in dysfunctional and anti-social families are the staple of low budget British dramas. Sadly, this generally leads to insipid, uninspiring and unoriginal sub-soap opera plots with soap opera actors. Directors Nathaniel Wiseman and Robert Osman skirt dangerously close to cliches in Hard Tide, but a strong central performance, some …
Film Review: In The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Not Afraid and the Two Eyes are Not Brothers
Experimental film-makers continually straddle the divide between art and film. Indeed, on many occasions it proves impossible to find where one starts and the other begins. There’s a certain art in appreciating these films which often requires patience and great concentration. Ben Rivers is one of the most renowned exponents in this field. The likes …
Incoming: Florence Foster Jenkins
Directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen), Florence Foster Jenkins tells the inspirational true story of the eponymous New York heiress who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great singer. The film celebrates the human spirit, the power of music and the passion of amateurs everywhere. The voice Florence (Streep) heard in her head …
DVD Review: The Forgotten
Britain has a rich history of producing varied and gripping horror films. Hammer Films is undoubtedly the most famous UK production company, building a reputation of making high quality Gothic horror films between the 1950’s and 1970s. More recently, British successes include Under the Skin, Beberian Sound Studios and Kill List. Oliver Frampton’s directorial debut, …