The film that broke all domestic box office records during its Latvian run is now available on digital in the UK, with the DVD release on 24 August. The film is adapted from Aleksandrs Grins’ book Blizzard of Souls, which was banned in the USSR, based on Grins’ own war experiences in a Latvian battalion…. The Rifleman trailer: growing up at war Read More
Article: some thoughts on Summerland
Warning: this is very spoilery so if you came here via a search engine looking for my review, and haven’t seen the film yet, you can read it here. I said at the end of my review that everything is tied up very neatly. It’s not coincidence – that’s made clear – but it is… Article: some thoughts on Summerland Read More
Summerland 3.5 stars
In Kent during World War II, Alice, who has never got over a broken relationship, reluctantly takes in Frank, a young evacuee. Initially resolving to be rid of him within a week, she eventually opens her heart to him. Some of the insults and accusations aimed at women down the ages may be dependent on… Summerland Read More
British chiller-thriller The Unfamiliar gets a trailer
The horrors of war are entangled with things that go bump in the night (and during the day) in this first trailer for British indie horror The Unfamiliar. Here’s the synopsis: British Army doctor Elizabeth “Izzy” Cormack, returns from war to rekindle her relationship with her estranged family. Inexplicable events in the house are put… British chiller-thriller The Unfamiliar gets a trailer Read More
Invasion Planet Earth 2 stars
It never rains but it pours as we like to say in weather-obsessed Britain, and that’s certainly true of Invasion Planet Earth. Not literally. This isn’t Geostorm. But our planet, already on the brink of a world war, is faced with an alien invasion. Simon Cox’s feature (he directed, produced and co-wrote the screenplay) has been… Invasion Planet Earth Read More
Mickey And The Bear 4 stars
Hank, a veteran of the Iraq War, now spend his days looking for ways to dull the pain of PTSD and his painkiller addiction. His daughter Mickey, nearly 18, looks after him, their parent-child relationship turned on its head in too many ways. A coming-of-age drama about trying to escape when others are trying to… Mickey And The Bear Read More
Angel Has Fallen 4 stars
American movie presidents can only make us wistful nowadays, and in Angel Has Fallen the White House is graced by Morgan Freeman himself, as President Allan Trumbull. Yes there is a god, probably also played by Morgan Freeman. Trumbull has been promoted since London Has Fallen, Mike Banning’s last batshit outing, when taking on hundreds… Angel Has Fallen Read More
Apocalypse Now – Final Cut 5 stars
War is traditionally described as mostly boredom for its participants with short bursts of gut-wrenching, bloody terror, and this is no exception. Often into that sliver of a gap between the two states fit extremes of behaviour and personality; those people who almost seem to thrive on the chaos. Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) and… Apocalypse Now – Final Cut Read More
Dr Strangelove, back with a 4k restoration and probably Twitter’s longest ever hashtag
*** Read my 5-star Dr Strangelove review and my interview with Matt Wells, director of new short film Stanley Kubrick Considers The Bomb *** Growing up in the 80s, when I wasn’t crimping my hair and listening to Duran Duran berating me for being “about as easy as a nuclear war”*, I was worrying about surviving one…. Dr Strangelove, back with a 4k restoration and probably Twitter’s longest ever hashtag Read More
An American Piano (Short Film) Short Film 4 stars
Music, like war, is a great leveller. During World War Two, Youko (Leon Masuda), a little girl living in Japan with plans to train to be a concert pianist, sits at her grand piano playing Chopin. Across the way, an Allied prisoner of war listens and catches her eye. Based on a true story, An… An American Piano (Short Film) Read More
OutLaw King 3.5 stars
This is a traditional account of Robert Bruce’s fightback against the English as the Scottish nobleman claims his country’s crown, taking on Edward I and his son Edward, Prince Of Wales (later Edward II). There are no gimmicks, and watching it on Netflix, it did feel as if TV is a good home for it;… OutLaw King 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