Before Midnight

 

Linklater delivers an intimate look at love as it matures but also explores ideas of perpetual dissatisfaction and gender.

 

My review of Before Midnight published by Cinetalk.

Monsters University

 

This fresh and funny prequel to Monsters, Inc. sees Mike and Sulley on a college campus as they try to make their way through their studies to become fully fledged Scarers. 

 

My full review published by Starburst Magazine.

World War Z

World War Z comes to the big screen after a troubled production that led to reshoots, extensive rewrites and an overblown budget (reported to have reached $200 million plus), all of which unfortunately reflects on the final product.

 

Full review published by Starburst Magazine.



Network Distribution British Film Collection: Konga and Handgun

Unashamedly marketed as the ‘British King Kong’ and co-written and produced by Herman Cohen, who updated its themes to include not only man’s unquenchable thirst for power over nature but also over women, Konga was one of the very first gigantic monster movies filmed in colour (in SpectaMation and shot in London, including location shooting in Croydon).

 

Full review published by New Empress.

 

 

“There’s no way to explain rape, Larry.”

Handgun (Deep in the Heart) was originally released back in 1984, it stars Karen Young, as a bright eyed woman, living away from home for the first time and discovering all about life and the Texas lifestyle.  British Director Tony Garnett tackles the rape/revenge sub-genre and explores the American Psyche from an outsider perspective. Violent repercussion is not the answer here though with Garnett choosing to use education and clever power play as a means of revenge.

 

Handgun is also showing at BFI on 22nd June 2013

Full review published by Cinetalk.

Review: Mud

 

An exploration of masculinity and love that’s entirely sincere. Jeff Nichols’ third feature exudes epic themes and masterful cinematography with shots of the Arkansas backdrop fused with elements of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn alongside a painterly touch reminiscent of Terrence Malick. It both shines and sweats in its sparse southern setting lingering comfortably in the trepidations and excitable mood of two teenage boys’ journey of discovery.

 

Read my full review here.



Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek movie franchise with a thrilling mix of emotion, humour and adventure in a parallel universe where this crew have to find their own paths. Four years later and he is taking us into daring and action-packed darkness but also remembering to leave room for these characters to grow. Exhilarating free falling, vibrant visuals, marvel and menace, spectacular set design and spiralling starships deliver an immersive high that will leave you buzzing.  

 

My full review published in Starburst Magazine here.

Review: Stoker

Keeping with his usual dark themes, South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) makes an assured American debut with this stunning psycho thriller – a cruel, calculated coming of age story that glides elegantly through topics of sexual awakening and fractured family values. It pushes all the right buttons; paying homage to Hitchcock whilst having a distinct, chilling ambience all of its own.

Full review published on Starburst Magazine

 

Review: Spring Breakers

 

In Spring Breakers Harmony Korine captures a neon-lit universe where Britney is queen, Lil' Wayne is king and money is everything. Four college girls are led into temptation by the bright lights and promise of spring break and it’s up to them when the party stops.

 

My full review published on The Quietus.

In Search of Divine: A Retrospective

Following the European premiere of documentary I Am Divine at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, I look back over the career of the actor, drag queen, performer and singer for The Quietus.

 

Full article published here.

Review: Antiviral

 

Brandon Cronenberg (son of David) has written and directed an intense and disturbing debut film looking at society’s increasing obsession with celebrity. Getting to the sick heart of this cultural disease, Cronenberg has created a white walled world that delivers a claustrophobic film experience with a mesmerising central performance from Caleb Landry Jones.

 

Full review published in Starburst Magazine here

 

Antiviral is out in the UK on 1st February 2013

 

Review: Zero Dark Thirty

 

Zero Dark Thirty is a breathtakingly brutal and powerful account of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, charting the ten years it took to capture him. Director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) employs a race-against-time narrative focusing on the investigative team, their extreme tactics and the ramifications of a shifting political landscape during the course of their probing mission. The gaze is mainly on CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) and the gender politics surrounding her career defining assignment.

Full review on Filmoria

 

Zero Dark Thirty is out in the UK today.

Review: John Dies at the End

Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli returns with his first film since 2002's Bubba Ho-Tep, and it's a masterful manifestation of special effects, animation and humour, all mixed to make a slithering sickly platter of hellfire, damnation and demon-fuelled trippy aesthetics.

You can read my full review at Starburst Magazine http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/latest-reviews-of-movies/3651-movie-review-john-dies-at-the-end

Released in the UK on 22nd March 2013 

Review: Here Comes the Devil

Missing children, mad curses, sexual hysteria and blood curdling cries of anguish play out disturbingly well in this chilling, atmospheric horror. Here Comes the Devil is an homage to Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock and in the same vein as other influential 1970s mystery horror such as Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now with hints of Jodorowsky in appearance, setting and excessiveness. 

You can read my full review over on Starburst Magazine

Review: Santa Sangre

Psychological, spiritual and physical dismemberment is explored in this surreal, outrageous and excessive piece of cinema. A carnival full of the spirit of Dionysus plays out on screen, intoxicating the senses from the very beginning and leading the protagonist, Fenix, to a clear epiphany.  First brought to the big screen in 1989  Santa Sangre marked Alejandro Jodorowsky’s return to feature filmmaking after a long absence. 

You can read my full review over on Cinetalk

Review: Painless

Director Juan Carlos Medina’s debut feature film (co-written with one of the [REC] writers Luiso Berdejo) is a haunting, visceral allegorical horror exploring the Spanish conscience in the aftermath of the civil war. When a group of children are diagnosed with the affliction of feeling no pain (a real condition called congenital analgesia) they are snatched away from their family, forced into straitjackets, tattooed with a letter and hidden away from the rest of the world in a sanatorium where they are experimented upon.

 

You can read my full review on Starburst Magazine

Review: The Brass Teapot

Director Ramaa Mosley presents a comedy commenting on consumerism, the recession and shifting values all wrapped up in a style aiming for the magic of Spielberg or Dante’s films where fantasy plays out in an everyday American setting. 

You can read my full review at Starburst Magazine

Review: Frances Ha

Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig join forces again to great success. Gerwig not only takes on the lead role but has also co-written the well observed screenplay which explores the intimacy of female friendship and the feeling of uncertainty prevalent in a generation struggling to fulfil their potential. 

You can read my full review over on Cinetalk.

Review: Seven Psychopaths

After his much lauded and surprisingly brilliant feature debut In Bruges, writer/director Martin McDonagh delivers a clever, funny, violent satire about violence in films. It mixes elements of and references Tarantino, Peckinpah and even Malick, and has much in common with Get Shorty, Short Cuts and Bowfinger. Witty dialogue, dark moments, fast paced action, shoot outs and the framework for a bloody revenge film are set in motion and just as you're about ready to settle in for the usual proceedings McDonagh shifts gears and heads in a different direction.

Read my full review over at Starburst Magazine

Review: Looper

In this high concept sci-fi thriller the principal players are both the same character (Joe), with Joseph Gordon-Levitt taking the role of his younger self and Bruce Willis playing the older and wiser version. Writer/Director Rian Johnson takes the concept of time travel, mixes it with a film noir feel and adds a gangster style narrative that leaps and bounds in unexpected directions.

You can read my full review over at Starburst Magazine

Released on 28th September 2012

Review: Sightseers

With director Ben Wheatley’s body of work headed for cult status he’s a filmmaker whose output you cannot afford to miss, and with Sightseers he delivers yet again with a dark concept dominated by caustic characters.

You can read my full review over at Starburst Magazine 

Released in the UK on 30th November.

Showing at TIFF 11th, 13th and 16th September

http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2012/sightseers