Film Preview: X + Y
Preferring to hide in the safety of his own private world, Nathan struggles to connect with people, often pushing away those who want to be closest to him, including his mother, Julie. Without the ability to understand love or affection, Nathan finds the comfort and security he needs in numbers and mathematics. Mentored by his …
Film Review: My Name Is Salt
We often take our standard of living and comfortable lifestyles for granted. Not to mention modern technology, infrastructure and all the trappings of living in a Western liberal democracy. Precisely for this very reason, I find watching films about other cultures and countries incredibly fascinating. What is everyday to someone in say rural India, can …
Film Preview: Suite Française
Set in 1940s France and based on the international best-selling work of Irène Némirovsky, Suite Française follows beautiful Lucile Angellier who awaits news from her husband, a prisoner of war whilst leading a stifled existence with her domineering mother-in-law. When Parisian refugees pour into their small town, soon followed by a regiment of German soldiers …
DVD Review: Swimming To Cambodia
The Killing Fields was a powerful and moving work of cinema which brought the horrendous actions of the Khmer Rouge to a mass audience. Writer and actor Spalding Gray played an aide to the US Ambassador in Roland Joffé’s film. He used his experiences gained from his time in Southeast Asia to create a four …
ShAFF Preview: Valley Uprising
Since the birth of humanity, man has longed for adventure and discovery. This can take many forms, but there’s a certain type of person whose eye are always looking upwards. Mountains have inspired people for centuries and their conquest, film-makers. Traditionally, it has been the huge peaks which have claimed the limelight, however there are …
DVD Review: Eastern Boys
Immigration is a huge political issue across Europe. Whilst the media like to deal in sensationalist headlines and scaremongering, it’s often left to cinema to paint a more humane and empathetic picture. Over the last few years we’ve been graced with Sin Nombre, Biutiful, The Golden Dream and the wonderful Le Harve, amongst many others. …
DVD Review: Amour Fou
We have a certain fascination with the lives of those who create profound and timeless prose and poetry. For those of us with no literary talent, the desire to understand what makes someone a great writer is a powerful one. Cinema has a similar love affair. Capote, An Angel at My Table, Shadowlands, Moliere, Quills, …
Film Preview: Appropriate Behaviour
For Shirin (Desiree Akhavan), being part of a perfect family isn’t easy. Acceptance eludes her from all sides: her family doesn’t know she’s bisexual, and her ex-girlfriend, Maxine (Rebecca Henderson), can’t understand why she doesn’t tell them. Even the six-year-old boys in her movie=making class are too ADD to focus on her for more than …
Film Review: Life of Riley
Until his passing last year, French director Alain Resnais had a celebrated career spanning seven decades. Undoubtedly, his most fertile period was in the late ’50s/early ’60s. However, he continued to make interesting and challenging films throughout. His first film, Hiroshima mon amour, along with Last Year in Marienbad and Muriel, established him as one …
Film Preview: Chappie
From the director of District 9 and Elysium comes Chappie, starring Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, with Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman. Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings – …