Film
IFFR Review: Riders of Justice
“If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire…the A-Team”. Or at least ‘a team’. This ‘gang’ formula is an almost sure-fire cinematic gold in many ways. Take the Mission Impossible franchise, for example. If Ethan Hunt was all alone, it simply wouldn’t …
Sundance Review: Judas and the Black Messiah
Following the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, the FBI turned its full attention to The Black Panther Party. Whilst Director J. Edgar Hoover described them as ‘the greatest threat to the internal security of the country’, much of their activities were focussed on community social programs. However, as the end of …
Sundance Review: The World to Come
Whilst the popularity of Westerns may have been on the wane for a long time, filmmakers still seem fascinated by this period of American history. The excitement and danger of exploration. The pioneering lifestyle. Traditionally, this has been an almost all male province, with women often relegated to merely wives or prostitutes. However, only we’re …
Film Review: The Wanting Mare
Cinema serves many functions, but escapism is definitely high up there on the list. To bring an audience together in a darkened room and then make them forget their troubles for a couple of hours, is a precious and priceless thing. As with literature, science fiction and fantasy have proved to be perennial favourites. The …
IFFR Review: Lone Wolf
Whilst today’s Hollywood spies may skydive onto buildings, drive sportscars at precarious speeds and use a myriad of imaginative gadgets, the stories themselves are often just variations on well-worn themes. There are always the good guys, the bad guys and the unknowable players, rearranged in infinite ways. Today’s covert operators owe a debt of gratitude …
Sundance Review: Wild Indian
When Europeans arrived on the shores of North America, they were surprised to discover myriad tribes of Indigenous Peoples, but their coming usually signalled death, in one way or another. Their customs and cultures were considered basic and barbaric by Christian invaders who simply couldn’t or wouldn’t understand their ways. In subsequent generations, Native American …
Sundance Review: Try Harder!
There’s huge competition between high school students to gain admission to Ivy League colleges in the US. Year on year, the number of applications rise whilst acceptance rates often fall. Even for young people enrolled at prestigious schools, it’s incredibly difficult to get onto the course you want to study at your preferred institution. Race …
Sundance Review: Rebel Hearts
One of the main criticisms which can be levelled at any major religion is that it has failed to keep up with the times. Whether that’s in the way they operate or some of their tenets which often date back thousands of years. Despite many mini-schisms, Christianity is as guilty as any of being archaic …
Sundance Review: Bring Your Own Brigade
In 2018, the Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history. It claimed the lives of 86 people and ravaged four towns in Butte County. The town of Paradise was almost completely destroyed, levelling over 18,000 buildings and displaced 10,000 residents. Several fires hit the state at the same time, putting …
Film Review: Rams
Sam Neill is one of a rare breed of actor who seems to make everything better. He is a reassuring presence and even when he pops up on social media, usually on his farm, the Kiwi brings happiness and joy to many. He’s had a surprisingly eclectic career, from big blockbusters such as Jurassic Park …