Film

By Anna Power, Film Editor @TLE_Film Nothing says winter like wine, food and films, so I was delighted to hear that Mayfair’s delicious dining destination Hush has created a magical outdoor dining experience and combined all three. Classics in the Courtyard is a delightful programme of classic films screened every Saturday evening to warm the coldest hands and melt the warmest hearts; from Elf to Love Actually, Frozen to Fargo, wintry Saturday nights were meant to be spent like this....

By Stephen Mayne, @finalreel   In a world awash with adaptations of young adult dystopian fiction, The Hunger Games series still towers above its brethren. The first two outings were fresh and thrilling experiences, full of colour, action and the newly minted star power of Jennifer Lawrence. She remains the chief attraction, just as her character Katniss Everdeen seems to hold the fate of Panem in her palm, but the youthful charm is wearing off. Hampered by the commercially astute and...

By Corrina Antrobus, film reviewer @corrinacorrina Paul King’s theatrical adaptation of Michael Bond’s 1985 Paddington is not just a teddy bear’s picnic, it’s a big warm bear hug to London as a melting-pot. However you can banish any fears of saccharine soaked naffness. It obviates tokenism with its insistence on painting our capital with kaleidoscope colours and fond cultural salutes; Mum wears African prints, daughter is bilingual and the nautical nods from dad and Mrs Bird can’t be a coincidence. Director...

By Anna Power, Film Editor @TLE_film Few films depict the real horror of war like Kajaki. The True Story. So realistic is the carnage that the film moves into trailblazer territory, taking the war film genre and catapulting it into brave new terrain. It’s a visceral and shockingly authentic portrayal of a British unit’s experience of the Afghanistan war. The film’s release too is a timely one, wedged between Remembrance Sunday and the WW1 Centenary, a poignant and fitting reminder...

By Philip Benton @paolobento Edward Snowden and his revelations about the NSA’s surveillance activities were one of (if not the) stories of 2013. The first meeting in Snowden’s Hong Kong hotel room with The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald was documented by filmmaker Laura Poitras, which provides the main backdrop for the film. The title ‘Citizenfour’ comes from the username chosen by Snowden to contact Poitras when he raises his initial concerns over what he perceives as the US government spying on...

“ I take it, I take it and I flip it.” James Brown Get On Up is a moving and suitably energetic homage to the legend that was James Brown, The Godfather of Soul. Much more than a rags-to-riches tale and avoiding the usual drab pitfalls that standard syrupy colour-by-number biopics fall into, Director Tate Taylor delivers a riveting portrait of a remarkable talent and an extraordinary life. A poor boy born in the rubble, extreme poverty, domestic violence, abandonment...

By Leigh Parsons @Cinimalist What We Do in the Shadows is a new mockumentary film about a group of vampires directed by and starring Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Taika Waititi. It is also a strong contender for the funniest film of the year. From its opening fake titles “The New Zealand Documentary Board” the tone of the film is set. Three old vampires, plus an ancient one, live in a flat share in Wellington and bicker about the...

By Anna Power, Film Editor @TLE_film Christopher Nolan fans will delight at the loopy, lustrous, pyrotechnic vision that is Interstellar but will the narrative hold up by comparison?   Set in the near future, in a period of post climate-change meltdown and pre-apocalyptic collapse, we find the inhabitants of Earth (those lucky enough to still be alive), surviving, all hands turned to farming in an attempt to cultivate soil that is well on its way to desertification. Dust storms are...

By Nick Figgis A seriously inconvenient truth, but it might be time we face it. Kuhn and Anderson's thrilling documentary is a rare gem in environmental film – it poses questions and actually answers them. I watched most of Cowspiracy muttering expletives under my breath. For a meat and dairy eater, whose girlfriend has been known to ask if I “want some toast with my butter,” it's an eye opener but not in the way you might expect. Fear not,...