Jessica Hynes, writer and star of Channel 4 comedy Spaced and star of W1A and The Royle Family (among many, many other shows and movies), has recently directed her first feature film, the micro budget seaside-set family drama The Fight. The movie follows frazzled mum Tina who takes up boxing when she’s forced to find ways to acknowledge… Jessica Hynes On Freedom In Filmmaking & Her “Kurosawa Scene” Read More
The Fight (London Film Festival) 3.5 stars
*** I chatted to Jessica Hynes at the London Film Festival – check it out here *** There are plenty of altercations in Jessica Hynes’ directorial debut, both internal and physical; as mum Tina fights her past and her resultant self-worth to stand up and take control, by climbing through the ropes into the boxing ring. Boxing is… The Fight (London Film Festival) Read More
Romantic drama “No Shade” gets UK cinema release
Clare Anyiam-Osigwe now becomes only the sixth Black British female director in history to have a feature film released in UK cinemas. The movie – a witty, emotional yet hard-hitting look at colourism in Black relationships – has already had successful premieres at the Cannes Film Festival, in Washington and in London, where it opened… Romantic drama “No Shade” gets UK cinema release Read More
Smallfoot 3 stars
Yeti do exist but they’re not the abominable ones. They’re huge and hairy though, living near the top of a huge mountain above the clouds in the Himalayas. Yeti society is governed by the Stones – no not those Stones, though the Yeti who start questioning the stories they’ve been told aren’t getting much satisfaction…. Smallfoot Read More
Stan & Ollie (London Film Festival) 4 stars
Unlike those comedians who are determined not to be funny in real life, Laurel and Hardy – and particularly Stan Laurel – are always on. Their act bleeds off the stage and the page, and into every day. “I’m just going to find a woman I hate and buy her a house” says Stan Laurel… Stan & Ollie (London Film Festival) Read More
They Shall Not Grow Old (London Film Festival) 5 stars
This year marks 100 years since the end of – ahem – the War To End All Wars. It’s estimated 10 million military personnel died during World War 1, which ran from 1914-1918. My grandad Bill was injured by shrapnel during the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front, and eventually they had to… They Shall Not Grow Old (London Film Festival) Read More
Hunter Killer 3.5 stars
*** Check out my submarine movies section *** One side-effect of the current political situation is that films like Hunter Killer are stuck in that 1990s post-Cold War warm glow where protagonists and presidents are decent people who just happen to have been born on different sides of an arbitrary border. While their real life equivalents are… Hunter Killer Read More
The Favourite (London Film Festival) 4.5 stars
You had to make your own fun in 18th century England, and if you were rich this might involve taking a pet duck for a walk, throwing fruit at a naked man in a long pink wig, or being the naked man in the long pink wig (who seems to be delighted with his involvement)…. The Favourite (London Film Festival) Read More
The Front Runner (London Film Festival) 4 stars
“Six points, four if it’s windy”. That’s the opinion poll boost the Democrats jokingly expect from the hair of handsome democratic would-be presidential candidate Gary Hart. It is a marvel, thick and brown, and considerably wider than his head, the odd strand tipped with silver. It shouldn’t matter but it does, and Jason Reitman’s film… The Front Runner (London Film Festival) Read More
Suspiria (2018) (London Film Festival) 3.5 stars
*** Read my review of the 1977 Suspiria *** Suspiria is a feminist film, if you use the 1970s definition that it’s a movement dedicated to the liberation of women – a dance academy, run entirely by women (the often ignored older women, to boot), with only female students, its roots going back to prehistory. Though… Suspiria (2018) (London Film Festival) Read More
Colette (London Film Festival) 3.5 stars
I am the real Claudine, the young women of Paris all cry, as Colette’s series of novels about a young French woman hit a nerve. Born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (she shortens her name later as she starts to create a new identity for herself as the author of her books), she is a woman ahead of… Colette (London Film Festival) Read More
Border (London Film Festival) 4 stars
Border is a grown-up fairytale and a love story, and while it’s certainly not for children it has that mix of light and the darkness that traditional fairy tales used to have, making them both beautiful and unnerving. Myths and legends – those stories we really want to be true – entwine with an age-old… Border (London Film Festival) Read More
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