Film Review: The Last Impresario
The cult of celebrity is a fairly new aberration. The name Michael White is unlikely to mean anything to you but at one time he was one of the most famous people in theatre/film circles in London. Director Gracie Otto stumbled across him during a Cannes Festival in the late ’90s. Her curiosity was peaked …
DVD Review: American Interior
Gruff Rhys is one of a small number of artists who combine being talented musicians with a genuinely interesting and eccentric personality. The former lead singer of Super Furry Animals has continued to make quality music both as a member of Neon Neon and as a solo act. He’s also a keen ambassador for the …
DVD Review: Brute Force
The Great Depression was a time of mass poverty and unemployment in America. Growing up in New York, and after taking part in local theatre groups and circus acts, a young Burt Lancaster decided to join the circus. He formed an acrobatic partnership with long term collaborator Nick Cravat. After joining the US Army during …
DVD Reviews: Anne and Muriel & A Gorgeous Girl Like Me
Whilst many of Truffaut’s works are well-known, others have faded from memory over the passing of time. Artificial Eye, starting with his first film 400 Blows, are releasing a whole raft of the French director’s work on Blu-ray in the UK for the first time. Anne and Muriel and A Gorgeous Kid Like Me are …
Incoming: A Most Wanted Man
When a half-Chechen, half-Russian, brutally tortured immigrant turns up in Hamburg’s Islamic community, laying claim to his father’s ill-gotten fortune, both German and US security agencies take a close interest: as the clock ticks down and the stakes rise, the race is on to establish this most wanted man’s true identity – oppressed victim or …
DVD Review: A Jester’s Tale
Karel Zeman was a Czech film maker and master animator. He’s most famous for directing pictures which mixed live-action fantasy with beautiful animation. I was lucky enough to visit a museum dedicated to his work in Prague this year. He made such magical and delightful films full of humour and great entertainment. Zeman has influenced …
DVD Review: A Birder’s Guide to Everything
Coming of age films arrive in many different shapes and sizes. The most successful ones tend to be those that don’t obviously play-up the traumas of the teenage years. Instead, they filter it into the backdrop of another story entirely. In Rob Meyer’s first feature film, A Birder’s Guide to Everything, he manages to capture …
Film Festival Preview: Celluloid Screams
Celluloid Screams, the Sheffield horror film festival, is back for another year. Taking place at the Showroom Cinema over the weekend of 24-26th October, it’s safe to say that the line-up for Celluloid Screams 2014 is the strongest yet. Here’s just a few of the highlights: Opening Gala – The Editor with Q&A Rey Ciso …
Film Review: Life of Crime
Sometimes when films don’t get wide theatrical releases it can be more to do with the prevailing winds and clustered release schedules than anything to do with the quality on show. Based on Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch, A Life of Crime is an enjoyable crime caper which has a plot that twists and turns …
Incoming: The Hundred Foot Journey
Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. When Hassan and his family, led by Papa (Om Puri), move to a quaint village in the South of France with the grand plan of opening an Indian restaurant in the picturesque countryside, they are undeterred by the fact that …