Film

“Dunkirk was a great defeat, and a great miracle.” For those who thought Christopher Nolan’s shattering summer spectacle could have benefitted from greater historical context need look no further than Leslie Norman’s epic wartime classic from 1958, which is now being re-released on DVD & Blu-Ray with a gorgeous 2k restoration. A dramatisation of the dramatic events that led to Operation Dynamo, in which the British Army succeeded in rescuing over 300-thousand men from the shores of France, Norman tells...

“I thought that it would be a challenge, but a very exciting challenge.” The first draft of celebrated animator Michaël Dudok de Wit’s script for his debut feature, The Red Turtle, did contain some dialogue; “between 15 and 20 lines, which I had written totally believing they were necessary at key moments to explain the motivations of the protagonists, and also to create more empathy with the characters,” he tells me over the phone. Indeed, it was the Japanese producers...

Filmmakers have always enjoyed bringing us unlikely love stories. Whether it is Annie Hall, Harold and Maude, Her, or even Beauty and the Beast there are plenty of films that have shown how love can blossom in the most challenging of environments and circumstances. With On Body and Soul, the latest feature from Ildikó Enyedi, we see a re-imagination of this old formulae. Set in a Budapest abattoir, On Body and Soul follows Endre (Géza Morcsányi) the financial director and...

By Michael McNulty The steady plucking of an electric guitar explodes into the title theme, “Django, have you always been alone,” croons Luis Bacalov as a man in a heavy coat and black Stetson walks away from the screen dragging a heavy, muddied coffin along the ground and so opens Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 Spaghetti Western classic, Django. It goes without saying that if there was no Django there would be no Django Unchained. Quentin Tarantino spoke openly about the influence...

By James Mackney Guillermo del Toro is a creative and visionary director that is known for making emotional and character driven films. He is able to create worlds of daring depth and draw the audience in with fiendish plots. Del Toro made his name by making emotional horror films and has since branched out with more Hollywood romps such as “Pacific Rim” and “Hellboy”; he is a director whose work should be savoured. Pan’s Labyrinth “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a brilliant...

Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Sylvia Hoeks and Ana de Armas all in attendance at the Corinthia Hotel, London as the much anticipated Blade Runner 2049 is about to be released. Ryan Gosling at the photo call for Blade Runner 2049. Court Room, Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, Westminster, London 21 September 2017 Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling at the photo call for Blade Runner 2049. Court Room, Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, Westminster, London 21 September 2017 Harrison Ford at the photo...

Bristol-based animal campaigning charity, Viva!, have launched their biggest ever fundraising campaign - ‘Bring Hope to Millions’. Their goal is to raise £100k and place first ever pro-vegan cinema ads in front of over two million UK cinema–goers. Viva! are Europe’s largest vegan campaigning charity and have been promoting a plant-based lifestyle for over 20 years and have launched countless hard-hitting campaigns including bus adverts targeting the dairy industry,  a recent nationwide demonstration targeting Tesco for obtaining meat from ‘Hogwood Horror Farm’ and created a media frenzy on foie-gras. Their patrons...

By Michael McNulty There is little doubt that Maysaloun Hamoud’s film, In Between, is an important and ambitious debut feature. A feminist film, centring on a trio of Palestinian-Israeli women as they struggle to find a balance between the liberal lives they aspire to and the traditional culture that surrounds them. Selma (Sana Jammelieh) and Leila (Mouna Hawa) live in an apartment together in the Jaffa district of Tel-Aviv. Selma is an aspiring DJ who works a series of pick...

On July 5th 1980, Björn Borg, the “Ice Man” of Sweden and the world’s highest ranked tennis player at the time, walked out onto the Centre Court of Wimbledon, hoping to win his fifth consecutive title at the All England Club. An edgy excitement arose from the crowd, yet somehow the Swede remained calm & collected as he strode onto the grass, his mind focused solely on the task at hand. The only obstacle standing is his way was John...