Film

Wyndham Hacket Pain @WyndhamHP At a time in the year when the cinemas are filled with action blockbusters and superhero franchises it can be easy to overlook films about the seemingly mundane and every day. There is a wonderful humility to The Midwife that has no pretensions and just aims to bring life to a seemingly unremarkable story. Set in Paris, the film follows single mother and midwife Claire (Catherine Frot) who lives a lonely existence in the city’s suburbs....

Cinema-lovers across the country will be pulling up a blanket to watch classic films under the stars this summer as Luna Cinema announces its 2017 season of open air cinema. Running until October at some of the most stunning locations in London, including Hampton Court Palace, Kew Gardens, Greenwich Park and Kenwood House, the company will show both much-loved classics and brand new blockbusters, including the six-time Oscar-winning La La Land, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hacksaw Ridge, Bridget Jones’ Baby and Arrival....

by Leslie Byron Pitt Brutal from the outset, and leaner than bison meat, Brendan Muldowney’s Pilgrimage may not hold the same relentlessness as Neil Marshall’s historic chase feature Centurion (2010), but it’s a film which holds scenes of a latent potency when it breaks free of it’s relaying of the plot. It doesn’t break the mould in any real way but is the type of fringe piece which could get a lot of traction with an audience, if it had...

Invigorated with a refreshingly ebullient zeal, the films of Edgar Wright have never been known to suppress their influences. His feature debut – A Fistful of Fingers, “the greatest western ever made… in Somerset” – was dedicated to Sergio Leone, amongst others, and delighted in imitating the gritty, sun-scorched design of the Dollars trilogy. Likewise, his highly lauded Cornetto series – Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End – took great joy in toying with the tropes...

By Linda Marric Now in its third instalment the Despicable Me franchise is well on the way to cementing its reputation as one of the most popular animation series beyond the world of Pixar and Disney. Having regaled children and their parents with two highly enjoyable features, the Minions, Gru and the kids are back with Despicable Me 3, or more precisely 3D. The production is as heavy on silly gags and is as action packed as the rest, but...

Lying eerily empty and abandoned , these photos capture the once-decadent interior of one of the last 1930s 'super cinemas' left in the UK. The formerly opulent Odeon in Bradford was the third-biggest in Britain when it opened it doors in 1930. The vast building next to the famous Alhambra theatre was crowned with two copper domes and boasted a 3,318-seat auditorium, ballroom and 200-seat restaurant. Sadly it has lain empty since it finally closed its doors in 2000. It's...

By Michael McNulty In the library of exploitation cinema there is an entire wing dedicated to Australia and sitting on one of the many shelves, undoubtedly covered in a thin coat of dust, is one of Ozploitations best offerings, Brian Trenchard-Smiths 1986 Dead End Drive-In. A Mad Max meets The Cars that Ate Paris mix, based on a Peter Carey short story and made on a budget of spare change and lint. This is a beautifully flawed film with a...

By Linda Marric Director Laura Poitras (Citizenfour, 2014) spent 6 arduous and paranoia-filled years documenting the life of one of the most controversial figures in recent times. In Risk, Academy Awards winner Poitras offers a fascinating character study of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and charters in a very detailed fashion his rise from revered freedom of information hero, to maligned villain hiding in a foreign embassy to escape a sexual offence investigation. Risk is a complex yet thoroughly accessible piece...

This weekend saw the 50th Anniversary re-release of The Graduate, Mike Nichols’ seductive black comedy that followed Dustin Hoffman’s naïvely disillusioned college graduate, Ben Braddock, as he grappled with his ardent attraction for the sultry Mrs. Robinson (a captivating Anne Bancroft), and his sentimental adoration for her daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross). Crafted from the original 35mm camera negative, this gorgeous new 4K restoration effortlessly enhances the film’s hypnotic visual vibrancy, whilst never detracting from the compellingly darker aspects of the...