Film

By Linda Marric @linda_marric Spike Lee's adaptation of of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes manages to avoid the usual pitfalls of play to screen adaptations. Chi-Raq is a play on words coined by Chicagoans, based on a statistic showing that more Americans have died from gun violence in the last decade than soldiers in the Iraq war. In Chi-Raq Lee cleverly addresses not only black-on-black gun violence, but also delves into the misogyny of gang culture; it is a...

By Michael McNulty The Western has been one of Americas most durable and popular genres with origins that precede cinema. They are often easily identifiable, concerning themselves with heroic storylines, beautiful landscapes and Stetson sporting cowboys. However, over time the genre has transcended these elements, blanketing itself in different genres and finding new and exciting forms. Here are 5 Westerns that aren’t Westerns, that actually are Westerns. Taxi Driver Enter Travis Bickle (Rober De Niro), Martin Scorsese’s antihero from Taxi...

By Linda Marric @Linda_Marric Miles Teller puts in a robust performance in Bleed For This as Vinny Pazienza, a working class boxing hero from Rhode Island, who against all odds manages to overcome personal tragedy to make it all the way to the top. Written and directed by Ben Younger, the film tells the real-life story behind the headlines of the man nicknamed “the Pazmanian Devil,” for his less than orthodox behaviour in and out of the ring. The film...

By Wyndham Hackett Pain It would all too easy to think of The Wailing as the South Korean version of The Exorcist. There is a lot the two films share in common: an uneasy tone, a worried family, a young child possessed by the devil. Yet The Waling is much darker, more unsettling, and stranger than the 1973 classic which shocked audiences with its depictions of the horrors and evil that could beset American suburbia. Set in a small rural...

Just as I was finalising our Kickstarter Campaign for BURN, my team’s short film about a genderqueer woman struggling with her bisexual partner and her Trinidadian father, Sita Balani published “Is it time to say goodbye to the non-binary in gender?” in Open Democracy. After reading it, to say that I did not have reservations about making BURN, although we use the term genderqueer, would be a lie. Balani’s well researched and well argued article made me question my right...

  We're celebrating the release of the excellent teen high school comedy The Edge Of Seventeen staring the luminous Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine. She's the teenager on the edge, navigating her way through the complexities and social anxieties of high school, romance and family drama. It's on general release on November 30th. To Win: Just tweet and follow us at @TLE_Film for a chance to win an Edge Of Seventeen pack including: A branded hoodie, two wristbands, a LED flashlight...

By Linda Marric @Linda_Marric Thirteen years after the original, we finally have a sequel for Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa.   Directed by Mark Waters, Bad Santa 2 is every bit as mean and nasty as the original. Billie Bob Thornton reprises his role as Willie, the lazy, drunk, sex obsessed petty criminal, who we now find in a suicidal state, living a wretched existence with very little prospect. Willie is called upon by his old partner in crime Marcus (Tony...

By Wyndham Hacket Pain “At that time your show was the most important show in the world,” Nas proclaims of The Strech Armstrong and Bobbito Show, which transmitted weekly between 1 am to 5 am on the college radio station WKCR. Interest in the programme reached such heights in the 1990's that there was a black market of bootlegged radio records that went across the USA and the broadcast was even referenced in the Wu-Tang Clan’s iconic song C.R.E.A.M. The...

By Linda Marric  @Linda_Marric Fresh from a very public falling out with the producers of his last project, Dying Of The Light, which he says was taken away from him, Veteran filmmaker Paul Schrader’s is back with an astonishingly bonkers new production which will confuse even some of his most fervent fans. Dog Eat Dog is an ugly nihilist piece showcasing all that is wrong with the world and featuring a group of unpleasant characters with little or no redeeming...