Jafar Panahi has a difficult time making films. Having earned the ire of the Iranian government, he has been imprisoned, interrogated, and embargoed. It’s always nice when we actually get to see one of his films. His last one, This ...
Read More »Under Milk Wood: Starless and bible black
To begin at the beginning… this could take some explaining. Under Milk Wood is originally a radio play by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Aside from the initial radio broadcast and the textual reproduction, it has been performed on stage, had ...
Read More »Carol: Immorality clause
1950s New York, and shop assistant Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) is beguiled by the sultry charms of Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), an affluent married woman. Carol is herself is going through a divorce with her possessive husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) ...
Read More »Bridge of Spies: Not once did he do anything remarkable
Despite the public revilement he will be held in, James B Donovan (Tom Hanks) agrees to act as the defence for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). Due to Donovan’s foresight in the trial, Abel is spared the electric chair ...
Read More »Steve Jobs: Artists lead and hacks ask for a show of hands
Danny Boyle directing. Aaron Sorkin writing. Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet in the main roles. It shocks me that this film had such cool reception in America, so much so that it put Boyle and the studio at loggerheads over ...
Read More »The Lady in the Van: A difficult woman…
Comforting Sunday afternoon viewing with a whiff of intellectualism, The Lady in the Van is a satisfying little film with a quasi-biographical bent about Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) and his bizarre squatter-come-neighbour. The… forceful Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith) rolls onto ...
Read More »Thought Bubble 2015
Leeds is host to one of my preferred geek havens of the year, the Thought Bubble comic convention. Encamped at the Royal Armouries (free entry all year round, lots of weapons and armour, good enough to recommend on its own!), ...
Read More »Measure for Measure
It’s always a pleasure to see one of the less popular Shakespeare plays. Not to besmirch any worthy productions, but we tend to get rounds of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Midsummer Night’s Dream in gluts. There are so many ...
Read More »Crimson Peak: Ghosts are not to be taken lightly
Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is a bookish American belle, the daughter of a self-made steel magnate in Buffalo, New York. Her doting friend Dr Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam) has returned from travels in Europe but at the same time the ...
Read More »Suffragette: Votes for Women!
I feel in many ways 2015 is a fortuitous year for feminist cinema. We have finally got a major release with mass appeal that has no qualms about showing its support for female liberation and equality which also stands as ...
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