Robert Rodriguez returns to Grindhouse territory with this B-movie spoof sequel that mixes hilariously knowing jokes with painfully stiff storytelling. Fans of the genre will love it, but those expecting a sense of narrative momentum...
Movie Review posted on 10th October 2013
With an attention to documentary detail that makes everything viscerally realistic, this film grabs hold and never lets go, cranking the suspense to nearly unbearable levels and then tightening its grip even further. Like director...
Movie Review posted on 10th October 2013
Two big British films hit UK cinemas this week. After storming the Scottish box office last weekend and garnering rave reviews across the board, Filth arrives in the rest of the country this week. Based...
News posted in Movies / TV / Theatre on 4th October 2013
Even as this comedy strains to be goofy and transgressive, it catches us by surprise simply because it dares to explore first-time sexual experiences through female eyes. And Aubrey Plaza (Safety Not Guaranteed) brings her...
Movie Review posted on 3rd October 2013
An attempt to spice up a true story with fictional characters and events leaves this film feeling artificial. And it doesn't help that the two likeable lead actors never quite crack the surface. But this...
Movie Review posted on 3rd October 2013
Remarkably bleak for a teen movie, this drama keeps us gripped as it throws its characters into an odyssey that's seriously harrowing. Gifted filmmaker Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and a fine young cast...
Movie Review posted on 3rd October 2013
Operating on several levels, this engaging documentary holds our attention with eye-opening information and pulse-quickening action, but what makes it unmissable is its emotional kick. Filmmaker Lucy Walker (Waste Land) is terrific at getting to...
Movie Review posted on 3rd October 2013
Even if we've never been to a 12-step meeting, an intelligent script and sharp performances help us see ourselves in these characters and situations. The film may sometimes get a little preachy, but writer-turned-director Blumberg...
Movie Review posted on 3rd October 2013
As another full-on Irvine Welsh adaptation Trainspotting did in 1996, this bracingly original movie puts a new filmmaker on the map. Not only is this a loud blast of both style and substance, but it...
Movie Review posted on 3rd October 2013
Awards season is cranking up a notch as some attention-grabbing performances land in cinemas. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal are getting praise for their gritty work in the unnerving thriller Prisoners, now showing in both...
News posted in Movies / TV / Theatre on 27th September 2013
An intriguing mixture of almost mythically stylised imagery and doc-style realism makes this deeply internalised Polish drama both engaging and urgent. The characters are so earthy that they feel like real people rather than actors....
Movie Review posted on 26th September 2013
Fans of romantic fiction may enjoy this gimmicky comedy, which cleverly plays around with Jane Austen's fiction but kind of misses its own joke. The screenwriters seem to think they're combining sudsy fantasy with darker...
Movie Review posted on 26th September 2013
Clearly something went horribly wrong as this thriller was being made, because despite a solid cast, gorgeous locations and an intriguing premise, the film is an incoherent mess. Sure, it looks achingly cool, but there...
Movie Review posted on 26th September 2013
Even though this comedy has a tendency to dip into cartoonish silliness, it's anchored by a razor-sharp performance by Wiig as a woman forced to confront everything she hates about herself. The film is also...
Movie Review posted on 26th September 2013
What makes this thriller extraordinary is its willingness to make us scratch our heads and ask questions as the tense, fable-like story patiently unfolds. This creates an almost unbearably involving vibe, from the slow-burn pacing...
Movie Review posted on 26th September 2013
With a riveting performance, Cate Blanchett creates one of Woody Allen's most memorable movie characters in years. And it's also the writer-director's strongest film in recent memory, as it balances comedy and drama in an...
Movie Review posted on 26th September 2013
As the Toronto Film Festival wrapped up earlier this week, 12 Years a Slave, the new film from Steve McQueen (Shame), took home the top prize, which makes it the frontrunner for Oscar nominations. It...
News posted in Movies / TV / Theatre on 20th September 2013
While this low-key thriller is strikingly well shot and acted, it never seems like it digs very far beneath the surface. So while we're intrigued by its twisty plot, we can't quite figure out what...
Movie Review posted on 19th September 2013
There's a visceral sense of urgency in this cleverly made thriller that holds our attention even when the plot begins to feel over-constructed. It's a ripping film, made with real style and a strong emotional...
Movie Review posted on 19th September 2013
After this unusually well-made thriller builds suspense to almost unbearable levels, the filmmakers nearly throw everything away with a gear-change so contrived that we can't help but laugh. It's one of those ill-conceived final acts...
Movie Review posted on 19th September 2013
The ingredients are all here, but this mash-up of Ghost with Men in Black is a painful misfire, neither funny nor engaging on any level. Even usually fine actors like Bridges and Bacon are left...
Movie Review posted on 19th September 2013
Stephen Hawking proves to be an entertaining storyteller in this autobiographical documentary in which, with the help of two cowriters, he takes us on a trip through his life. It's a fascinating narrative, peppered with...
Movie Review posted on 19th September 2013
While this odd biopic is a real mess, it's not quite the cinematic disaster snootier critics claim it is. Essentially fan fiction, the script spins a story that has only the vaguest basis in fact,...
Movie Review posted on 19th September 2013
As the Venice Film Festival wrapped up last weekend with its surprising award winners, led by the Roman ring-road documentary Sacro GRA, the Toronto Film Festival got underway in Canada. Both festivals are launching pads...
News posted in Movies / TV / Theatre on 13th September 2013
This may look exactly like Gerard Butler's over-serious Olympus Has Fallen, but it's actually that film's smarter, sillier younger brother: the one you like even though you really shouldn't. As he did with 2012, filmmaker...
Movie Review posted on 12th September 2013
British director Andrew Douglas (2005's Amityville Horror remake) takes a clever look at youthful naivete in this strikingly inventive thriller, which is based on a true story. Its focussed perspective lets us see the events...
Movie Review posted on 12th September 2013
After his assuredly traditional The Conjuring, director James Wan bounces back with a more playful horror movie that subverts cliches rather than revelling in them. Like 2011's Chapter 1, this sequel allows Wan and screenwriter...
Movie Review posted on 12th September 2013
What could easily have been a sentimental slog is given a spark of intelligent wit by writer-director Helgeland (A Knight's Tale). This is the story of an iconic figure from American sport who had a...
Movie Review posted on 12th September 2013
After playing comical sidekicks in rom-coms like No Strings Attached and What Happens in Vegas, Lake Bell emerges as a rising-star filmmaker with the smartest, funniest comedy of the year. Winner of the screenwriting award...
Movie Review posted on 12th September 2013
Exhilarating racing action punctuates this true story, which sharply traces the rivalry between two Formula One champs. It's superbly well-shot and edited, with engaging performances from the entire cast. And with only one moment of...
Movie Review posted on 12th September 2013
On the same day that Glastonbury welcomed back Margate's adopted sons, The Libertines, Margate itself put on it's very own Leisure Festival as it...
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
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