FIlm Review
Film Review: My Golden Days
We live in an age of nostalgia but it’s natural to become more and more nostalgic as we grow older. Memories hold a great deal of power and we tend to look back at periods of our lives through rose-tinted glasses. Arnaud Desplechin’s new film, My Golden Days (Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse), plays up …
Film Review – Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story
Comedy comes in many shapes and sizes but occasionally there are mavericks who manage to create something so absurd that it’s brilliant. Britain has a proud history in this field. The forerunner was undoubtedly the peek into Spike Milligan’s mind afforded by The Goon Show in the 1950s. Monty Python and The Flying Circus followed. …
Film Review: Gook
On 29 April 1992 in South Central Los Angeles a trial jury acquitted four LAPD officers after they were captured on video beating Rodney King during an arrest. It sparked six days of riots which caused 63 deaths, $1 billion of property damage and began a new conversation on race relations in America. This one …
Berlinale Review: Infinite Football
Name me a football fan who hasn’t ever dreamed of managing their favourite club. Personally, I was addicted to Football Director on the Spectrum at an early age. It’s funny how a lot of data can occupy an avid mind. Then Championship Manager and Football Manager took things to another level. I spent hours inventing …
Film Review: Sweet Country
Hollywood has showed a renewed energy and vigour towards exposing the harsh cruelties of the slave trade over the past few years. 12 Years a Slave, Django Unchained and Mudbound, have all found success both critically and at the box office. However, the spotlight on the plight of those in bondage under colonial rule is …
Berlinale Review: The Green Fog
There are many directors whose work keeps returning to the same focal point. That could be a period in history, a theme, or sometimes a place. In terms of location, the most famous example is probably Woody Allen’s continuing love affair with New York. However, Guy Maddin has gone one step further in his new …
Film Review: Annihilation
The debate around Netflix and theatrical runs is one which isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Whilst the lack of a cinema release can deprive an audience of seeing a film in the manner intended by a director, it also allows their work to reach the widest possible audience. One area where this works …
Film Review: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Looking in from the outside, it would be easy to dismiss Hedy Lamarr as just one of many Hollywood starlets who had their brief spell in the sun before disappearing into obscurity. Considered by many to be the most beautiful woman ever to grace the big screen, it is true that the Austrian actress had …
Film Review: The Divine Order
The 8th March marks International Women’s Day, and whilst there are myriad issues which affect women every day, it’s fair to say we’ve come a long way. However, that’s not to say countries across Europe progressed at the same pace. Northern European countries led the way but other nations followed in dribs and drabs. In …
Film Review: Pyewacket
Witchcraft and the occult have proved a powerful attraction to thousands of dissatisfied, lonely and disenfranchised teens for generations. Whilst Wiccans and practitioners of witchcraft have been stigmatised, demonised and persecuted for centuries. A Pyewacket is a witch’s familiar spirit. They’ve occasionally appeared in popular culture, most notably in Richard Quine’s 1958 film Bell, Book …