Supernova – Review Louise Burrell June 25, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in October 2020 as part of our London Film Festival coverage. Director Harry Macqueen’s second feature explores the well-trodden theme of terminal illness through the...
The Secret Garden – Review Fatima Sheriff October 25, 2020 Reviews Based on the novel from 1910, this remake shifts the famous story to 1947. Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx) is rescued from an India torn apart by Partition and travels to her uncle (Colin Firth) in the crumbling...
1917 – Review Tori Brazier January 12, 2020 Reviews 1917’s spirit is about showing strength in the face of adversity – but how that message is delivered removes any triteness. The film puts a personal face, in two young lance corporals, to warfare. 1917...
The Emotional Cinematography of A Single Man Josefine Algieri October 23, 2018 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Tom Ford’s directorial debut A Single Man (2009) is based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novella of the same name, but has its own unique style. Drawing both from personal experience and his professional...
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again – Review Tom Bond July 20, 2018 Reviews Whether Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again reads like a cheer or a threat depends entirely on how much you enjoyed the first film. Let’s be honest, you know exactly what you’re getting here. Nominally a Mamma...
Mamma Mia! at 10: A Fun, Feminist Legacy Ellena Zellhuber-McMillan July 17, 2018 Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia The faults of Mamma Mia! are well known; the singing is bad, the choreography is simple, and the plot is weak. Its strengths, on the other hand, are barely mentioned – strange for a film that made...
The Happy Prince – Review Joni Blyth June 16, 2018 Reviews This film was previously reviewed on 20/02/2018 as part of Berlinale 2018. “Why does one run towards ruin?” As Oscar Wilde, Rupert Everett is a self-indulgent falling star, a whimsical washout whining...
The Happy Prince – Berlinale 2018 Review Joni Blyth February 20, 2018 Reviews “Why does one run towards ruin?” As Oscar Wilde, Rupert Everett is a self-indulgent falling star, a whimsical washout whining and wining his way towards the grave. Befitting its star there is mirth among...
The Mercy – Review Louise Burrell February 9, 2018 Reviews Director James Marsh follows up 2014’s The Theory of Everything with The Mercy, another distinctly British drama. Starring Rachel Weisz and Colin Firth, this is, at first glance, an extraordinarily twee...
A Beginner’s Guide to… Colin Firth Carmen Paddock September 19, 2017 A Beginner's Guide To..., Analysis, Features It is hard to name a more quintessentially British actor than Colin Firth. Playing almost exclusively (extremely) English characters and featuring heavily in historical pieces, the actor epitomises the class...
Bridget Jones’s Baby – Review David Brake September 19, 2016 Reviews It is a truth universally acknowledged that a bad sequel can ruin a good film. Not so Bridget Jones’s Baby. For doubters wondering if this sequel is another 2016 cash-cow, rest assured; you can put on your...
Genius – Berlinale 2016 Review Eddie Falvey February 17, 2016 Reviews Regardless of its subject matter, calling a film Genius is, naturally, a risky move; that said, while the film fails to live up to its namesake, it's a starry, solid account of a literary icon and the man who...
Kingsman: The Secret Service – Review Bertie Archer January 20, 2015 Reviews 1 Comment Putting the pugnacious into Pygmalion, Kingsman arrives to save the day. Egerton is terrific throughout his “My Fair Lad” transformation from street kid to superspy through a lethal training programme....
COMPETITION – Win Before I Go To Sleep On DVD David Brake January 7, 2015 Competitions Thanks to the wonderful folk at StudioCanal and DDA PR, we've got THREE copies of Rowan Joffe's terrific Before I Go to Sleep up for grabs! Here's the film's synopsis: Christine (Nicole Kidman, The...
Top 10 Biopics of the Last Decade Daniel Orton October 4, 2014 Analysis, Features, Top 10 Last month we took a look at the somewhat odd, but not unwelcome, increase in films based on factual events. 221 such films have been released since 2000; 200 were released in the century before that. That...