JoJo Rabbit works nearly all of the time, which for a comedy about the friendship between a small boy in the Hitler Youth and a Jewish girl, and with a buffoonish Hitler as an imaginary father figure, is pretty good going. Writer-director Taika Waititi runs a tight ship when it comes to tonal changes, the switches… JoJo Rabbit (London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Little Monsters (London Film Festival 2019) 3 stars
Little Monsters is a great advert for teacher excellence, if not much of a recruiting tool – as multi-talented kindergarten teacher Miss Caroline has to save her class of small charges as they face down an attempted zombie apocalypse. I say attempted; it does feel a little half-hearted, as the world’s slowest undead hordes stagger round… Little Monsters (London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Nest – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Short Film 4.5 stars
There’s a big bird with pink feathers that wants to be friends with a little bird and its friends. It chases the little bird to make the little bird like him but the little bird gets scared. Then the big bird makes a lovely nest on the ground and the little bird and its friends… Nest – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Good Heart – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Short Film 4.5 stars
At the start I didn’t understand what was happening but then I realised. The pictures look like they’ve been drawn with crayons. It’s from Russia but it doesn’t matter because the family in it just grunt. There is a family of Stone Age people and when the boy goes to collect apples he comes back… Good Heart – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Jerich0 – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Short Film 5 stars
This is my favourite of all the short films I’ve watched this week. It’s about a robot lizard and it’s only one minute long. When I heard “Jericho” I thought that sounds like a lovely name and I think the lizard might be called Jericho. It starts off not much sad. The robot lizard crawls… Jerich0 – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Read More
The Penguin Who Couldn’t Swim – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Short Film 4 stars
This film is five and a half minutes long. There’s a penguin who can’t swim because he has a short wing. Nobody speaks but that doesn’t matter. There isn’t much detail in their faces. Sometimes you can only see their eyes but you can still tell how they are feeling. He watches his friends swimming… The Penguin Who Couldn’t Swim – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Peanut Butter Falcon (London Film Festival 2019) 5 stars
The Peanut Butter Falcon infuses its message of autonomy and risk-taking with a sense of magic – as Zak, a young man with Down Syndrome who escapes his dreary, constricting care home for freedom and adventure, drifts on a raft through the stultifyingly hot river-ways of the American South with new friend Tyler and old friend… Peanut Butter Falcon (London Film Festival 2019) Read More
“Sometimes, Always, Never” director Carl Hunter on mods, muzjiks and his Merseyside movie
“Scrabble as a motif, order can be created, things can be put right. But you’ve just got to know the rules and be willing to play.” Carl Hunter, director of Sometimes, Always, Never. Film director Carl Hunter used to play in Liverpool band The Farm, part of the soundtrack to my 90s youth – and he was in a… “Sometimes, Always, Never” director Carl Hunter on mods, muzjiks and his Merseyside movie Read More
London Film Festival (LFF) – What’s It Like As Press?
UPDATE 2019: they’re trialling a new token system to reduce queue times at some of the press screenings once the festival starts. Keep an eye on the Press section of the LFF website, and their emails, for more info. Increasingly, freelance and new critics are using fundraising platforms to help pay for the costs of attending film festivals. But some of… London Film Festival (LFF) – What’s It Like As Press? Read More
London Film Festival Round-Up 2018
I saw some films! I met Jessica Hynes! I saw more films! I interview people! I met Jessica Hynes! And I spent a fortune on rail travelcards to meet Jessica Hynes! The 2018 BFI London Film Festival (LFF) ran from 10-21 October, finishing with me meeting Jessica Hynes, I mean with a red carpet world… London Film Festival Round-Up 2018 Read More
Sometimes Always Never (London Film Festival) 4 stars
*** Read my interview with director Carl Hunter *** Finally, a story about the beautiful game that isn’t boring or dependent on stereotypical ideas of its players. Yes, I’m talking about Scrabble. Set near Liverpool in the North West, director Carl Hunter’s delightful film is witty and moving – and beautifully written by Frank Cottrell Boyce… Sometimes Always Never (London Film Festival) Read More
“The Guilty” Star Jakob Cedergren On The Making Of The Blindsiding Danish Thriller
The Guilty, a nervy, tense Danish thriller set solely in the claustrophobic confines of an emergency dispatcher’s office, is released in the UK on 26 October. Asger Holm is a policeman working on the emergency phones, often dealing with timewasters and fakers – until he receives a call from Iben, a woman who is being… “The Guilty” Star Jakob Cedergren On The Making Of The Blindsiding Danish Thriller Read More