Vertigo Releasing
Film Review – The Strangers: Prey at Night
Horror is a genre which loves its franchises, but the success of a film doesn’t necessarily guarantee money will be invested in a sequel. Even when it is, the results tend to be less than pretty and often become a pale shadow of the original. Conversely, given the low budgets often involved, a bad film …
Film Review: Revenge
Whilst there has always been a male monopoly within cinema, horror film-making has particularly been skewed towards the wants of the lesser sex. If you were an actress in genre cinema, it was likely that you looked like/were a model and wore clothes sparingly, if at all. You’d likely die, but not before a disturbingly …
DVD Review: Final Portrait
Geoffrey Rush is no stranger to portraying great artists on the big screen. His breakout role came in Scott Hick’s Shine. His depiction of pianist David Helfgott was deservedly rewarded with an Oscar. His third Academy Award nomination was for his portrayal of the Marquis de Sade in Quills. Other notable historical beneficiaries of the …
Film Review: The Prince of Nothingwood
Whilst most of the world has heard of Hollywood, and to a lesser extent Bollywood, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of cinema industries around the world. Some are highly colourful, such as the Turkish copy-cat film industry, which had a small but devoted fanbase. The love of cinema is something shared by people from …
Film Review: Boy
New Zealand writer, actor, director and snappy dresser Taika Waititi has made a big impression since his feature debut a decade ago. His first film, the impressive Eagle Vs Shark, announced him as someone to keep an eye on. He’s gone on to make the brilliant What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for …
Film Review: Another Mother’s Son
In Christopher Menaul‘s period drama, Louisa [Jenny Seagrove], is a shopkeeper making the best of things on Nazi-occupied Jersey. Around her, boys in flat caps tear around the beautiful countryside on bicycles, Nazis parade in their pomp, and the stage looks set for a cosy, Sunday tea time film about plucky Brits surviving against the …
Film Review: The Diary of a Teenage Girl
In this social media age keeping a diary may be a rare occurrence, but back before the emergence of the internet and fruit-based products it served as an invaluable antidote to loneliness. In Marielle Heller’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Minnie writes and records her anxieties, worrying about her burgeoning sexuality and transition from …