Author Cathy Brennan

To get to the heart of what makes Brimstone a terrible film, one has to look at the tone. On the surface this 19th century-set tale is bleak, as it charts the life of the mute Liz (Dakota Fanning)....

In the run-up to the release of the latest Stephen King adaptation, It, Scott Wampler of Birth Movies Death would regularly upload a publicity still of Pennywise the Dancing Clown poking his head out of a...

All too often, critics of Sofia Coppola label her films as rich white girl problems. The "white" part is fair enough – it's not like she can't be criticised for how she handles (or rather avoids handling)...

In Frantz Franco-German relations in the wake of the Great War are explored, but at its heart Ozon has crafted an old-fashioned movie that nevertheless pulses with a modern vitality. The setup is simple...

When I read what critics have to say about John Waters’ early films, I find they always use the word “shocking.” John Waters never shocked me; he excited me. And Multiple Maniacs may be his most...

The newly released The Great Wall is the latest example of the Chinese film industry attempting to create the kind of big-budget spectacle that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood; yet another sign...

To Mel Gibson and Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge is a shot at redemption. For Garfield, it’s to be taken seriously again after the failure of the Amazing Spider-Man films. For Gibson, well, it’s a lot more...

It would have been easy for Pablo Larraín to turn his first Hollywood feature into a conventional drama, where Jackie Kennedy must overcome the death of her husband and regain her faith. An inspirational...

If you clicked on this article, hoping for a pleasant piece of hagiography on a forgotten family film from 2004, then I am sorry to say you have taken a wrong turn. What we have here is not a happy tale of...

Barack Obama is not a fan of Black Orpheus. In his memoir Dreams of My Father, the outgoing President recalls that it was his mother’s favourite film, but when she took him to see it, he "suddenly realised...

Something that was constantly heard from Donald Trump's supporters on election night was that it was a victory for people who have long been ignored by the system. Less than 24 hours later, journalist Zach...

If you were to glance at the Amazon reviews for Andrea Arnold’s 2011 adaptation of Wuthering Heights you would find a storm of one-star reviews. Most of the ire seems to come from fans of Emily Brontë’s...

While critically well-regarded, Calvary hasn’t received much attention since its release in 2014. Similar to recent Oscar-winner Spotlight, the film deals with the issue of abuse within the Catholic...

A remake of The Magnificent Seven, which itself was a reimagining of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, should be destined for mediocrity. Yet the under-appreciated Antoine Fuqua repeats his success with reimagining...

In China over 300,000 people work in the textile industry. With Bitter Money Wang Bing documents the grinding lives that these people have to endure, offering a sympathetic insight into their world. In...