independent cinema
Women Make Film: Part One review - a mesmerising journey of neglected filmThursday, 21 May 2020
Equally ambitious in scope as his 900min ode to cinema The Story of Film: An Odyssey, Mark Cousins’ latest work, Women Make Film, is a fourteen-hour exploration of the work of female film directors down the decades.Cousins’... Read more... |
The County review - Icelandic drama from the director of 'Rams'Thursday, 21 May 2020
Like Rams before it, the ice-glazed hillsides and stark ochre grasslands of northern Iceland are the backdrop for Grímur Hákonarson’s third feature The County, a rural drama that explores the murkier side of local politics.Inga (Arndís Hrönn... Read more... |
The Atom: A Love Affair review - hot fusion and cold heartsThursday, 14 May 2020
It’s fair to say that humanity’s relationship with nuclear energy over the last 50 years has had more highs and lows than a Spanish soap opera. From the Manhattan Project to Hinkley Point, it’s been a controversial technology that has promised both... Read more... |
The Whistlers review – a smart, self-aware noir concerning a crooked copThursday, 07 May 2020
Romanian filmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu has made a career crafting perceptive and cerebral examinations of his native country. From his 2006 debut 12:08 to Bucharest to The Treasure, they were cerebral films that powerfully... Read more... |
Military Wives review - the surprising true story of the women who rocked the chartsThursday, 05 March 2020
There’s a lot of plucky British charm to Military Wives, from Peter Cattaneo, the director who won the nation's heart with his debut film The Full Monty over two decades ago. His latest offering, starring Kristen Scott Thomas and... Read more... |
Talking About Trees review - friendships formed through filmMonday, 27 January 2020
What’s the appeal of cinema? It can transport us to fantasy lands, or open our eyes to new perspectives. But one aspect that’s less discussed is how it brings people together. Going to the cinema is a social stimulus, a shared experience that sparks... Read more... |
DVD: The CakemakerWednesday, 15 January 2020
The Cakemaker is Ofir Raul Graizer’s debut feature, and the film must somehow reflect the parabola of the Israeli-born director's life: it’s set between Berlin and Jerusalem, the two cities apparently closest to him, and one of its main... Read more... |
The Runaways review - a road trip worth takingThursday, 09 January 2020
Oh how British indies love a road trip. Trekking across the rugged landscape, meeting a colourful cast of characters, realising it’s not the destination but the journey. It takes something special to stand out from the pack. The Runaways, debut... Read more... |
Long Day's Journey into Night review - Chinese art-house stunnerSaturday, 28 December 2019
Marketed as a couples-friendly romance, Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey into Night made a massive $37 million on its opening day in China but was subsequently denounced by irate viewers who felt they’d been conned into watching a neo-noir pastiche that... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: BuddiesTuesday, 24 December 2019
The acclaim of being the first to represent the mid-1980s AIDS pandemic in cultural form was a plaudit that none of those concerned would ever have wished for. With New York as its epicentre, and almost nothing known about the disease that was... Read more... |
Honey Boy review - coming to terms with dadFriday, 06 December 2019
Blue periods can lead to golden streaks. Such is almost the case with Honey Boy, which Shia LaBeouf wrote during a court-ordered stay in a rehab clinic for the treatment of PTSD symptoms. Based on LaBeouf’s upbringing and childhood acting years, the... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: The Chant of Jimmie BlacksmithTuesday, 20 August 2019
Fred Schepisi’s The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) was the Australian New Wave film that most rigorously confronted the cataclysmic effect of British and Irish colonisation on the country’s Aboriginal people. It helped pave the way for such 21st... Read more... |
