DVD Review: The Green Prince
There are many different angles of approach to storytelling in a documentary. Some directors opt for style over substance, whilst others indulge in a one-sided polemic. In The Green Prince, director Nadav Schirman made the decision to recount events from two different perspectives. Based on Mosab Hassan Yousef’s autobiography, this choice makes it feel more …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Cartel Land
The War on Drugs is not a conflict that either America or Mexico are winning. Mexican drug cartels control 90% of cocaine which enters the US market. Whilst the Mexican government concentrates its efforts on dismantling these cartels, on the other side of the border the focus is on stopping the trafficking itself. Both sides …
Film Festival Preview: EIFF 2015
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is renowned for unearthing the best in new cinema. It has a reputation of screening a remarkable range of British and international cinema, providing a springboard for many famous films. Taking place between June 17-28 in several cinemas across the heart of the Scottish capital, is large in scope …
Incoming: London Road
After two sell-out runs at the National Theatre, the feature film adaptation of London Road reunites the award-winning team, directed by Rufus Norris. London Road is out in cinemas on Friday.
Incoming: The Look of Silence
Through Joshua Oppenheimer’s work filming perpetrators of the Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered and the identity of the men who killed him. The youngest brother is determined to break the spell of silence and fear under which the survivors live, and so confronts the men responsible for his …
Film Review: Queen and Country
In 1987 John Boorman directed Hope and Glory. It was a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy growing up in London during The Blitz. It earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Film and Best Director. 27 years later he returns with the sequel, Queen and Country, which takes the story forward 9 years to …
Incoming: Gascoinge
Twenty five years ago the national game was unloved and beset by problems. One event – the performance of the England team at the Italia 1990 World Cup – changed everything. At its heart was the young Paul Gascoigne – a player who had come to prominence with his hometown club Newcastle United and emerged …
Film Review: Black Coal, Thin Ice
Offbeat is a word regularly used in relation to Asian cinema, and there’s often much lost in translation. Black Coal, Thin Ice, the new film by Diao Yinan, the director of Night Train and Uniform, eschews the current fad for overly stylish noir in favour of realism. Whilst the winner of the Golden Bear at …
Film Review: Shooting For Socrates
We love to back the underdog, especially when it comes to sport. Football has many tales of heroism, from FA Cup giant killings to the meteoric rise of the likes of Castel di Sangro. The World Cup is a particularly fertile ground for shocks, from Cameroon to South Korea there are endless examples of David …
Film Review: Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
I’m showing my age here, but I miss video. The humble VHS may have been as compact as a brick, have a picture which often resembled the end of the world (any female nudity was often accompanied by the kind of major crumpling which only repeated rewind, pause and playing causes) and truly classy covers, …