Film
Venice Review: The Announcement (Anons)
There’s a lot to be said for the maxim that the truth is often stranger than fiction. Given the unbelievable events taking place in American politics at the moment, it’s fair to say that no author would claim ownership of that book. Sadly, the US is not alone. Madness seems to have infected politicians in …
Incoming: Lucky
Lucky follows the spiritual journey of Harry Dean Stanton’s character ‘Lucky’, a cantankerous, self-reliant 90 year old atheist, and the quirky characters that inhabit the Arizona town where he lives. Having out-lived and out-smoked all of his contemporaries, the fiercely independent Lucky finds himself at the precipice of life, thrust into a journey of self-exploration, …
Blu-ray Review: Salvador
One word you would never use to describe Oliver Stone is ordinary. He’s made a reputation for his wild, crazy and testosterone-driven antics, both behind the camera and in real life. Never too far from controversy, his films are often abrasive, angry and purposefully confrontational. The Vietnam War veteran first came to prominence for writing …
Incoming: The Rider
South Dakota rodeo star Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) awakens from a severe head injury, after a horse stamped on his skull. The doctors tell him he must give up the sport – one that is his passion but also his lifeline – for fear it may kill him. While his sister Lily is mentally disabled …
Blu-Ray Review: Last Year in Marienbad
Very occasionally, a film will come along which defies expectations and logic. A film which plays with the very texture of film and storytelling to create something which is simultaneously ambiguous, perplexing and profound. Between 1959 and 1963 Alain Resnais made three films which all dealt with fragmented memories and clouded history. Whilst both Hiroshima …
Film Review: Down to Earth
We live in a connected age, where at the touch of a button we can communicate with our fellow humans all across the world. Globalisation has led to a whole new arena of opportunity, with our work, leisure, fitness and social lives intrinsically linked to the internet and digital technologies. However, whilst more and more …
Incoming: The Predator
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their …
Incoming: American Animals
The extraordinary and thrilling true story of four friends (Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, and Jared Abrahamson) living an ordinary existence who brazenly attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in US history. But not everything is as it seems, and as the daring theft unfolds through each of their perspectives, …
Incoming: Puzzle
Agnes, taken for granted as a suburban mother, discovers a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles which unexpectedly draws her into a new world – where her life unfolds in ways she could never have imagined. Puzzle is out in cinemas from 7 September.
Blu-ray Review: Witness for the Prosecution
Whilst Charles Laughton is now probably best-known for the only film he directed, Night of the Hunter, he was a versatile an indominable stage and screen actor. He made over fifty films across five decades and is probably best known for his performances in The Private Life of Henry VIII, Hobson’s Choice, Mutiny on the …