Film

by Leslie Byron Pitt Despite critical acclaim Kubo and the Two Strings only just claimed back its relatively small $60 million budget with its box office gross. We shouldn’t always run to the bean counters to try and attain a film's sense of value, but it’s important to notice that out of the four feature films that stop motion company Laika have made, the return has been the weakest. This is despite the kind words that have been bestowed on...

By Stephen Mayne @finalreel To the uninitiated, the world Todd Solondz has set out over the course of eight features must appear a baffling one. It’s likely to be just as confusing to those who have stumbled across work stretching back nearly three decades. Wiener-Dog continues his merging of bone-dry humour and startlingly underplayed drama resulting in an anthology piece of varying success. The one constant across four stories is the wiener dog of the title, a passive observer thrown...

By Linda Marric @Linda_Marric Depiction of grief on film can sometimes prove problematic if not handled with a certain amount of lucidity and nuance. As portrayed in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, guilt can be a cataclysmic force capable of destroying anything standing in its way if not confronted head on. So what makes a film about grief more memorable than an other? To answer this question and more, here is a list of some of the most critically...

To celebrate the release of Pedro Almodovar's latest film Julieta we're giving away two cometition packs comprising a dvd of Julieta and the film poster! Starring EMMA SUÁREZ as Adult Julieta and ADRIANA UGARTE as Young Julieta, JULIETA is written and directed by Spanish auteur PEDRO ALMODÓVAR and is based on the short stories Chance, Soon and Silence by Alice Munro. JULIETA will be released in the UK on Blu-ray™ and DVD through Twentieth Century Fox and Pathé on 9 January 2017....

By Linda Marric @linda_marric In light of the praise bestowed upon director Damien Chazelle and his cast at this year’s Golden Globes, some might feel that other more “worthy” productions might have been more deserving of the accolades. This is precisely why one should come out in defence of La La Land and its enchanting, unabashed tribute to the old MGM musicals. Starring two of the most loved and respected actor of the moment, La La Land is a disarmingly...

By Linda Marric @linda_marric Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea is a beautifully crafted powerful story which centres around themes of loss, frayed human relations, and more importantly the persistence of grief and how people deal with loss in different ways. Lonergan is well versed on things of this nature, given his critically acclaimed debut featureYou Can Count On Me which dealt with similar subjects. Casey Affleck is Lee, a withdrawn hard-working Boston handyman whose world...

First there was an opportunity......then there was a betrayal. Twenty years have gone by. Much has changed but just as much remains the same. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to the only place he can ever call home. They are waiting for him: Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), and Begbie (Robert Carlyle). Other old friends are waiting too: sorrow, loss, joy, vengeance, hatred, friendship, love, longing, fear, regret, diamorphine, self-destruction and mortal danger, they are all lined...

By Wyndham Hacket Pain Hugo A love letter to film from one of its great masters, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo is both a visual and storytelling delight. Looking back at the life of cinematic innovator Georges Méliès, there is a rich sense and appreciation for cinema’s history. It is amazing to see a filmmaker so in command of his craft and tools, and few films display the elements that make cinema so special as clearly as this one. The Red Balloon...

By Anna Power I met Liam Neeson at a hotel in knightsbridge to discuss the release of his upcoming films Martin Scorsese’s Silence and J.A.Bayona’s A Monster Calls both out on New Year's Day. I asked him: Both A Monster Calls and Silence are in their own way about human suffering. What are your thoughts on faith and how it sustains us in suffering? Liam: It’s an extraordinary subject. At the moment I’m very fascinated with science and the inroads...