Film
Grimmfest 2020 Preview
Now approaching its teens, Grimmfest has firmly cemented its place on the UK horror film festival circuit. However, as you might well expect, the (normally) Manchester-based festival looks very different in 2020. This year it’s packed-up its mask and moved online. Fear not, because you’re still going to be treated to twenty new features, a …
Blu-Ray Review: Beau Travail
During the past couple of years, a strange thing has happened to Claire Denis. The renowned director of such brilliant films as 35 Shots of Rum, Bastards and White Materials has always been popular and feted on festival circuits, but she now appears to have become the fairy godmother of European arthouse cinema. Whilst a …
Film Review: Rebuilding Paradise
In late 2018, rapid wildfires surged through Bute County in northern California, leading to an almost indescribable tragedy. The Camp Fire was the deadliest in the United States for a century and in the history of the state. The town of Paradise was almost completely decimated, with the loss of 85 civilians and displacing 50,000 …
BFI London Film Festival 2020 Preview
The BFI London Film Festival 2020 is, for obvious reasons, looking a bit different this year. The stars of the film world will not be descending on London in their droves this time round. However, whilst some festivals may have hunkered down for better times, not at the BFI. Whilst this year’s offering is online …
Film Review: Miss Juneteenth
I suspect this year was the first time most people in the UK, especially those of us who are white, had heard of Juneteenth. However, the events surrounding the Black Lives Matter protests and the idiocy of the American president made the date front page news. Juneteenth is celebrated on 19 June to commemorate the …
Film Review: The Swerve
Everyone has a limit. A limit to how much we can take before it all just becomes too much and we snap. Regardless of whether you have a long or short fuse, there’s a boiling point which once exceeded rapidly leads to a big bang. Much of this takes place internally, so someone can look …
Film Review: Tesla
As the saying goes, history is written by victors. Whilst this is definitely the case when it comes to conflict, conquest and war, it often also applies to other areas of life. This is the case with Niko Tesla. The Austrian émigré became famous in America as an inventor and pioneer during his lifetime but …
Film Review: The Tunnel
Whilst there’s an ongoing debate, which has become particularly pertinent this year, about the importance of seeing a film ‘on the big screen’, there’s a certain genre of films which undoubtedly benefits from that environment. Disaster movies are usually pretty dumb, especially ones made in Hollywood, but there’s an unlikely new player. Norway is building …
Film Review: Nocturnal
Whilst they first gained popularity in Victorian times, the heyday of the British seaside resort came during the 1950s and 1960s. Today, with the rise of foreign packaged holiday and the affordability of air travel, many of these communities are struggling to survive. This feeling of slow rot can provide fertile ground for drama to …
Film Review: White Riot
Recent events in America have been eye-opening for those watching from afar. 2020 has seen the rise of the Black Lives Matter organisation in response to the institutional racism in the US, particularly within police departments. Echoes of which have reverberated across the world. Whilst it would be simplistic to feel in some way morally …