New Movies

Reviewed by Miranda Schiller @mirandadadada The opening film of the Berlin Film Festival, is an unambiguous celebration of film - Joel and Ethan Coen take on Old Hollywood in their newest all-star comedy, Hail Caesar. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a studio "fixer", runs from one emergency to the next in the chaotic world of the film business in the early 1950s, the later years of Hollywood's golden age. He gets the stars out of trouble, appeases irate directors, and keeps...

Review by Adam Turner/@AdamTurnerPR Happy, uplifting and easy-watching Chronic is not. In fact, It's more like being drenched by a cannon loaded with misery. However, Michel Franco's melancholic drama does help to bring to attention some of life's most agonising realities - from cancer and HIV to euthanasia, death and everything in between. Franco, best known for the disturbing After Lucia (2012), should be commended for bravely confronting such anxiety-provoking issues - many of which are seldom portrayed through the...

Pilou Asbæk & Tuva Novotny interviewed by Miranda Schiller/@mirandadadada War movies strive to obtain a sense of realism and immersion. Danish feature A War is no exception. With an exception of the leads, the cast is played by real danish soldiers who have been stationed in Afghanistan. Such a decision as not only helped provide its story a strong element of truth, but also helped establish the film with a certain amount of prestige. A War has been selected as the Danish...

Review by Ellery Nick @Ellery__Nick Brendon Gleeson plays Thomas Nickerson, last survivor of a doomed whaling voyage. He sets Ben Whishaw on his knee to recount his boyhood adventures and unburden himself of a dark secret. They occupy a spot lit space on the periphery of director Ron Howard’s story, which is set many years in the past. Whishaw is Herman Melville, a yet-to-be famous novelist who is consumed by talk of whales and sets about pumping Nickerson for the...

Reviewed by Miranda Schiller @mirandadadada Hector (Peter Mullan) is the story of an elderly homeless man's journey through Britain on his annual pilgrimage to a Christmas shelter. In classic British social realist style, it sheds light on an invisible part of society and the reality of living on the streets.   Director Jake Gavin brings a photographer's eye to his first feature film: Visually well composed and following a natural, flowing rhythm, it concentrates mainly on the daily life of...

By Leslie Pitt @Afrofilmviewer A broad and sometimes worrying documentary, Chemsex, produced by Vice depicts a destructive world of gay sex and illegal drug taking which as muddied the waters of sexual health and well-being within the gay community. Spending a comprehensive amount of time with a varied group of gay men centred in London, William Fairman and Max Gogarty’s documentary delves into the sex lives of these young men, looking at aspects of modern gay life which may provide...

By Ellery Nick @Ellery__Nick Whilst holidaying with his so embarrassing parents, hip hop loving Radical Miracle seeks the teachings of a reclusive loner to help him take down a pair of local toughs. They’ve been making moves on Rad’s dream girl Stacy Summers and fronting at his pal Teddy Fryy. Together they all find friendship, love and courage over an amusement arcade’s ping pong table. Which sounds pretty familiar. Perhaps not ping pong, or hip hop, but we know this...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt @Afrofilmviewer Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy’s documentary details the Afghan Army’s dealings with the Taliban once full security responsibility was transferred over to the Afghan government. Their military involvement was of course spurred on by the tragic events of 9/11. From one perspective, it’s easy to believe that once the western troops had withdrawn, the fighting had ceased. Out of sight, out of mind. Tell Spring Not to Come This Year informs us of...

By Leslie Byron Pitt @Afrofilmviewer An obtuse and absurdist piece that will most likely delight Dylan Thomas fans, but leave many cold. For far too often these days, British film is observed for its flouncy period pieces or grubby gangster/hooligan skulduggery. Such unfortunately narrow focus often dismisses British cinema’s strong taste for the strange, the odd and the folksy. From the creepy folk horror of the 70’s, to the contemporary offerings to Ben Wheatley (A Field in England) and Carol...