FIlm Review
Film Review: To Leslie
While Donald Trump’s rise to power can be attributed to many factors, it’s undeniable that the working-class, blue-collar heartlands of the United States of America had been ignored by Washington for decades. Indeed, they’re often stigmatised and labelled as ‘hillbillies’, uneducated or bigots by the New England political elite. Hollywood is especially complicit in stereotyping, …
Film Review: Dark Glasses
Now into his 80s, Dario Argento was one of the most visionary, distinctive and inventive filmmakers working in genre cinema during the 1970s and 1980s. While his output has slowed down somewhat over the years, he’s still writing and directing. Although he’s approached his subjects from slightly different angles, the Italian maestro’s output is instantly …
Film Review: The Cordillera of Dreams
According to Wikipedia, a cordillera is ‘an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges’. Derived from a Spanish word, one of the most notable examples are the Andes Mountains. They form the longest continental range in the world and span seven different countries down the western side of South America. They’re the highest outside …
Film Review: Piggy
When you’re growing up, there are few things worse than catching the eye of the local bullies. It’s largely for this reason that most children try and fit in at school. Keep their heads down and merge into the crowd. Any differences are leapt upon and once they have you in their sights they’ll never …
Film Review: Deadstream
The evolution of technology and the internet has made it easier than ever for anyone with a few gadgets and a bit of kit to broadcast themselves to the world. It’s becoming increasingly clear that this is not necessarily a good thing. Indeed, the cult of the influencer, a person normally peddling an idea, ideology …
VIFF Review: A Piece of Sky
Relationships are hard. You can meet someone, be swept off your feet, have a whirlwind romance and then look forward to the rest of your lives together. No one gets married expecting it not to work, but divorce is common. Sometimes people simply grow apart. Change and develop in different directions. An event can act …
Film Review: The Last Out
Sport have always been seen as a way out. A way for young adults from poor backgrounds to escape a lifetime of poverty or crime. A way to earn money when there are a few other prospects. A means of escaping a relatively poor country and moving to a much more affluent one. In much …
Film Review: Far Eastern Golgotha
I think it’s almost impossible for anyone living on the outside to really understand Russia. It’s such an immensely large country, populated with disparate and incongruous peoples. Scattered miles and miles apart over vast swathes of land. Generations who grew up within a communist autocracy, now abandoned to fend for themselves. Children born into the …
Film Review: Tiger 24
When people talk about global warming and the climate crisis the focus is normally on extreme weather events, the melting of the ice caps or rising sea levels. However, our environmental vandalism has countless dangerous and potentially disastrous impacts on our way of life. While we in the West may not witness them regularly first …
Film Review: Sissy
While novels, film and TV often paint a utopian picture of childhood, in reality this is usually very far from the truth. Life is very far from the kind of idyllic playground depicted in much of classic literature. The same can be said for schooldays. Education is an experience which you either enjoy or hate, …