FIlm Review

Self-help books are by no means a recent phenomenon. They date back all the way to the ancient Greeks. However, it wasn’t until the latter part of the twentieth century that a multi-million-dollar industry shot up around the world. Whilst the Classics may have concentrated on wellbeing or ethics, this new explosion covered just about …

LFF Review: Lucky Grandma

We live in a materialistic society. On a daily basis we’re constantly reminded how little we have and how much better our lives would be if we had more. Hard work and effort will get the average person somewhere but it’s vastly unlikely to make them well-off. Let alone rich. Given the disparity between the …

LFF Review: Cold Case Hammarskjöld

In 1961, the UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld died when his plane crashed on the way to cease-fire negotiations during the Congo Crisis. Described as the “greatest statesman of our century” by John F. Kennedy, the Swede was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ‘strengthening the organisation’ and was considered to the template his …

LFF Review: Bacurau

Brazilian cinema is in rude health at the moment. The South American country, which has given the world such great films as City of God, House of Sand, Central Station and Pixote, has a strong pedigree in delivering vibrant and challenging film-making. In the last decade, Araby, Neighbouring Sounds, A Wolf at The Door and …

Grimmfest Review: Every Time I Die

Whilst traditionally, visions of horror cinema have revolved around monsters (whether human or not), the supernatural and the occult, there’s nothing more terrifying that what goes on inside our heads. Psychological thrillers and mental imbalance, whilst tricky subjects to marry, open up an almost infinite range of possibilities. None more so than for introspection and …

LFF Review: The Antenna

The Western world has long been suspicious of Muslim countries and their often-fanatical leaders. Radical Islam and liberal democratic values do not sit hand in hand. Turkey has long been seen as a friendly nation, particularly by the US and UK. One which has been regularly called upon to support ‘the war on terror’ in …

LFF Review: The Peanut Butter Falcon

There’s probably no actor more derided in modern cinema than Shia LaBeouf. After getting his big break in Transformers, there were a few signs that he might be a future star. However, LaBeouf’s career quickly went downhill and he became somewhat of a sad parody of himself. This included rampant plagiarism, public disorder offences and …

Grimmfest Review: Tales from the Lodge

Whilst portmanteau horror films were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, largely due to the work of Abacus, it’s not until fairly recently that there’s been a resurgence. Along the way we’ve seen the occasional highlight (most notably Creepshow), but it was arguably the release of VHS which sparked something of a comeback for the …

LFF Review: Transnistra

Whether it’s because of the collapse of the USSR and the communism of the Eastern Bloc, or a hangover from World War II, much of the internal and local politics of Eastern Europe is a mystery to many. Whilst many nations have regained independence, other claims have been suppressed, ignored or put on hold. Old …

Grimmfest Review: She Never Died