FIlm Review
Film Review: Theeb
As a child I used to love adventure films. I grew up with old videos of Laurence of Arabia and The Desert Song along with Romancing The Stone, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Goonies on TV. As an adult, I’m still a sucker for the genre, whether it be great films like The …
Film Review – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
I’ll be honest. I’m biding my time until we get Tom Cruise back with a buzz cut and in Aviator shades. I’m waiting for a second big dollop of Maverick. In the meantime, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation will have to do. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back with his IMF chums to try to uncover …
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 …
Film Review: God Loves The Fighter
Trinidad, and most of the Caribbean, is often portrayed as a kind of heaven on earth full of sun, rum and sandy beaches. The other side of the country, the one the tourists never see, is largely kept away from prying Western eyes. In Damian Marcano debut feature, God Loves The Fighter, he takes us …
Film Review: Unity
Shaun Monson’s film Earthlings was an exposé into the horrendous animal rights violations taking place in the food industry around the world. It had a point (vegans = good/non-vegans = evil). Whilst it was in many senses a propaganda film it at least highlighted an issue and made a point. Unity, his new film, is …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: A Young Patriot
Until recently China has been a firmly closed door to those of us in the West. Whilst the Administration’s new openness towards business and trade has lead to it becoming one of the most powerful economies in the world, not everyone is happy about the change. Zhao Chantong is a young patriot who rails against …
Film Review: The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?
The history of filmmaking is littered with what ifs. What if Tom Selleck played Indiana Jones? What if Sylvester Stallone was cast as Hans Solo? The greatest one perhaps is: What if Nicolas Cage was Superman? The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? tracks the story of the pre-production of Tim Burton’s take on the …
Film Review: Magic Mike XXL
I have never seen stripping in real life, not from either gender, despite growing up at a time when young women seeing The Chippendales seemed to be something of an aspiration and Spearmint Rhino became commonplace in city centres, so let’s just say seeing the original Magic Mike was a bit of an eye opener. …
EIFF Review: Above and Below
Las Vegas is one of the most iconic cities in the world. For me, it represents everything that’s wrong with America. Whilst The Strip is full luxury hotels and tourists with money to gamble, we rarely see the flipside. What happens to those living in the city who fall through the cracks? Whilst the city …
EIFF Review: Welcome to Me
Kristen Wiig is destined to have a huge year. Along with The Diary of a Teenage Girl, her leading role in the brilliant Welcome To Me cements her place as one of the funniest actors working in Hollywood today. Viig is the glue which holds the film together, and her spellbinding performance ensures that a …