Film

By Linda Marric Book adaptations can often be problematic, but when the book in question has won one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, a whole new set of issues can find themselves attached to the project. Luckily, The Sense Of An Ending manages to cleverly avoid all of those problems. Staring Jim Broadbent and directed by the brilliant Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox, 2013), the film presents its audience with one of the most memorable and thoroughly...

By Michael McNulty It’s time to leave the badlands of work and turn to the badlands of the screen. This Friday’s Forgotten Film is a classic. Badlands is Terrence Malick’s Bonnie and Clyde. It went on to influence the later films True Romance and Natural Born Killers. This is Terrence Malick first film, who before dipping his toe into filmmaking had been a Rhode Scholar recognized for translated Heidegger. He directed it at the age of 30, it kick started...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt What can we say about a film called Tomboy? We can say that this transgender switching revenge flick is as offensive as it is boring. What’s more frustrating is that it’s co-written and directed by the great Walter Hill whose stripped-down features of previous eras were brilliant examples of both social commentary and economical entertainment. From The Warriors (1979) to 48 Hours (1982) this is a filmmaker who not only has something to say but...

By Linda Marric The main issue with Pete Travis' new film City Of Tiny Lights isn’t its lack of an interesting story to tell. With a great premise and a fantastic cast, this could have easily become one of this year’s greatest British success stories. However, the film is largely let down by a huge dose of schmaltz coupled with a jarringly meandering screenplay which ultimately leaves you wondering what went wrong. Riz Ahmed, is Tommy Akhtar, a private detective...

By Linda Marric In Going In Style, director Zach Braff opts of a rather generic style of filmmaking to bring us a less than exciting heist movie featuring three of Hollywood’s most respected veteran actors. This remake of a Martin Brest’s 1979 movie of the same premise and name, sadly falls short of convincing on all accounts, and in absence of an interesting story to tell, resorts instead to cheap laughs to make up for its shortcomings Joe (Michael Cain),...

By Linda Marric Black magic rituals and all manner of creepy shenanigans take centre stage in Liam Gavin's terrifying indie horror A Dark Song. Written as well as directed by this first time Irish director, the film offers a fresh twist on the “haunted house” genre, and takes its audience through a terrifyingly visceral journey in search of the occult and of the dark arts of necromancy. Sophia (Catherine Walker), is grief stricken after the violent death of her only...

Wyndham Hacket Pain @WyndhamHP It is always interesting when figures from what appears to be the opposite side of the film industry come together. With Aftermath there is on one hand Arnold Schwarzenegger, the much ridiculed former bodybuilder, Governor of California, and action movie veteran. On the other there is Darren Aronofsky, the artsy director of Black Swan, The Wrestler, and Requiem for a Dream, who co-produces this production. Going into the screening of this film it was to be...

By Leslie Byron Pitt While Stanley Kubrick’s methodical work ethic produced a low volume of high-quality work, it’s easy to forget that the productivity of a prolific filmmaker can bear equally rewarding fruits. In the space of ten years, Chilean director Pablo Larraín has produced seven features and has only just reached the age of 40. The works of Larraín which the writer has seen, have been impactful ones, with each of them leaving a distinct mark as much as...

By Wyndham Hacket Pain Controversial and often divisive, Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed 40 films in 14 years before his death from a drug overdose aged 37 in 1982. He was so prolific during his lifetime that even today audiences and critics are still catching up with his work that in some cases have only received limited DVD releases. The current retrospective at the BFI then represents a chance to re-evaluate a director whose work is as intriguing and important as...