FIlm Review
Film Review: Holding the Man
The impact and decimation caused by HIV/AIDS on the gay community during the ’80s and ’90s has been largely overlooked by those on the outside. Despite the deaths of high profile figures such as Freddie Mercury there was a stigma surrounding the disease for decades. Whilst advances in medicine mean it’s now a manageable condition …
Film Review: The Trust
Nicolas Cage is a very singular actor. Whilst he’s become something of a laughing stock on the internet, largely thanks to a raft of memes and video cuts, it’s easy to forget that Nic is an Oscar winner. Indeed, he does make a lot of bad films, but has the knack of turning it a …
Film Review: Gray Matters
I love old buildings. I love history and I love beauty. I’ve never really ‘got’ modern architecture and design though. So when it comes to the subject I know very little. I’d never even heard of Eileen Gray, let alone being aware of her work. By the time I finished watching Marco Orsini’s Gray Matters, …
Film Review: The Age of Consequences
There have been many films made about the dangers of climate change. Despite all the evidences to the contrary, there are still a vocal minority who either deny it’s existence or that it’s rapid perpetuation is man-made. Whilst most environmental documentaries concentrate on the effect of our actions on the planet, director Jared P Scott …
Film Festival Review: Derby Film Festival 2016
Now in its third year, Derby Film Festival shows no signs of slowing down. Which is apt given that the theme of this year’s festival was that of ‘journey’. Indeed, the 10 days of previews, old favourites, the horrific and the fantastic simply flew by. Once again, the QUAD was an excellent host, with friendly …
Film Review: The Seventh Fire
Life in America has been nothing but consistent for Native Americans (I’m applying the self-identified term used in the film) since the Mayflower landed. From the first colonisers, through the Wild West and on to the modern day ghettos and casinos, they’re a group who’ve been constantly abused, killed and now discarded by the migrant …
Film Review: In The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Not Afraid and the Two Eyes are Not Brothers
Experimental film-makers continually straddle the divide between art and film. Indeed, on many occasions it proves impossible to find where one starts and the other begins. There’s a certain art in appreciating these films which often requires patience and great concentration. Ben Rivers is one of the most renowned exponents in this field. The likes …
Film Review: A Flickering Truth
War is always costly and the human toll is normally devastating to those countries, communities and groups involved. However, the cultural cost of conflicts is less widely reported. Terror groups, primarily daesh, al-Qaeda and Shabbab, have shown their appetite for destroying historical sites of importance and attempting to annihilate anything which doesn’t correspond to their …
Film Review: Kicking-Off
football fans are a peculiar lot and being rational doesn’t really go hand in hand with supporting a club. The anger, the humiliation, the indignity, the depression; anyone supporting one of the many inconsistently underperforming football clubs knows them well. Losses can be attributed to myriad factors, but it’s often forgetting to wear your lucky …
Film Review: The Divide
Today, society in much of the First World is more polarised than it has been at any time since the World War I. Indeed, as the introduction in The Divide points out, inequality in the US and UK is at its highest levels since 1928. The remarkable thing about all this is that most people …