Film Review: Cocoon
Whilst coming-of-age films are a studio staples, most of what is produced in Hollywood just doesn’t feel authentic; regardless of how good or bad the film actually is. European cinema tends to be much better at it. Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood and Lukas Moodysson’s Show Me Love are both great modern examples of films which are …
Film Review: The Mole Agent
Life expectancy has been steadily rising since the Industrial Revolution in the ‘First World’. This has been largely thanks to improvements in standards of living, healthcare availability and scientific breakthroughs. Along with decades of (relative) peace, this has led to aging populations. Public services and elderly care have failed to keep up, whilst diseases such …
IDFA Review: White Noise
Whilst the Tea Party movement may have eventually been unsuccessful, it did have one huge and lasting impact on US society. The politics of fear, which its proponents used as a weapon, has become commonplace. The rise of Trumpism and the alt-right has resulted in a spike in white nationalism and proto-fascism. Combined with the …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Fear
Whilst immigration, and the control thereof, is an issue for almost every country, in the EU it has become a political hot potato. Although the focus is often on Greece, France or Italy, each country has their own challenges and issues. Southern Europe sees most of its migration come from Africa, but in countries like …
Film Review: A Christmas Carol
Tis the season of goodwill to all men, but it would be interesting to see what Ebenezer Scrooge made of the modern Christmas. By mid-November we’re bombarded with TV adverts, work parties and dreadful ‘Hallmark’ movies. Bah humbug indeed! Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol remains a cherished and pertinent part of the festivities. It …
IDFA Review: Nardjes A.
Protests have sprung up across North Africa since the Arab Spring in 2010. Algeria has been no exception and witnessed two years of unrest at the beginning of the decade; against rising unemployment, housing shortages and soaring inflation, amongst other things. It has been fairly calm of late. However, sparked initially by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s …
Film Review: Falling
Men of an older generation were often brought up to believe in certain things. Taught they had to be a ‘real man’. Which usually meant something along the lines of being the breadwinner, never showing emotion and bringing up your children in your own image. As society progressed and increasingly became more liberally minded in …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Beasts
Men can be animals. In fact, when something truly awful happens you can bet your life it wasn’t a woman who did it. Whilst the scourge of toxic masculinity is arguably on the wane in the West, it still holds sway across much of the globe. It’s a man’s world and many spheres are still …
IDFA Review: Garage People
Deep in rural northern Russia, in the outskirts of a mining town, live row upon row of garages. Coming in a range of colours and conditions, these well-used buildings play a vital role in the lives of their owners. They provide an escape from everyday life. A place where they can be themselves and indulge …
Blu-ray Review: Columbia Noir #1
Film noir played a large part of Hollywood filmmaking during the 1940s and 1950s. Whilst these stylish, cynical and melodramatic crime dramas were popular at the time, it was only decades later that many were critically reappraised. This is especially the case with the many ‘B’ movies released over the era. For every big Bogart …