British film
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review - artery-furring whimsyFriday, 20 April 2018There’s a serious film to be made about the German occupation of the Channel Islands. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is not that film. The absolute gobful of a title more than hints at artery-furring whimsy. Its provenance is... Read more... |
Journeyman review - Paddy Considine wins on pointsFriday, 30 March 2018Boxing movies are often about redemption in the ring. From Somebody Up There Likes Me to last year’s Bleed for This via Rocky, the story stays the same: boxer seeks peace though punching. In Journeyman, Paddy Considine travels along a different path... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Derek Jarman Collection, Vol One 1972-1986Friday, 30 March 2018This BFI boxset of Derek Jarman films from the first phase of his career, brilliantly curated by William Fowler, is an exemplary package: a treasure trove of extras accompanies his first six features, here presented in re-mastered form, and a... Read more... |
DVD: QueeramaTuesday, 27 March 2018Last year, the BFI commemorated the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality with the release of Queerama, part of its Gross Indecency film season. Now available on DVD, the documentary from Daisy Asquith eschews standard... Read more... |
Crowhurst review - plucky indie wins race with rivalSaturday, 24 March 2018Perhaps it’s fitting that Donald Crowhurst should once more find himself in a race. Even more aptly, it’s a race against himself. You wait half a century for a biopic about the round-the-world yachtsman who disappeared off the face of the earth, and... Read more... |
You Were Never Really Here review - a wild ride to the dark sideThursday, 08 March 2018The gripping paradox of Lynne Ramsay’s terse, brutal thriller is suggested in its title. Adapted from Jonathan Ames's novella, it’s a film distinguished by the force of its images and the compression of its narrative, and while its impact leaves you... Read more... |
Dark River review - haunted rural realismFriday, 23 February 2018Country darkness falls quickly when Alice (Ruth Wilson) goes back to the farm. She stops before entering to gratefully absorb the Yorkshire countryside’s sunny beauty. But after that, Clio Barnard’s third film deals mostly in mud, rain, silence and... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: The PartyFriday, 23 February 2018Take one of the strongest casts in British cinema and put them in a confined space; it was always going to be fun. Sally Potter’s The Party sets its sights on the duplicitous liberal elite, where venality hides behind paper-thin morals.Janet (... Read more... |
Working with Weinstein, Channel 4 review - portrait of a predatorWednesday, 21 February 2018While this well-crafted documentary chose to open with footage of the stars and glitz of the American awards ceremonies, the focus of Working with Weinstein (Channel 4) was almost entirely on Harvey Weinstein’s involvement over more than 30 years in... Read more... |
Clio Barnard: 'We need to talk about sexual abuse' - interviewTuesday, 20 February 2018Clio Barnard has quietly been building a reputation as one of Britain’s most human storytellers. Her debut feature The Arbor was a mesmerising look at the life of playwright Andrea Dunbar, blurring the line between documentary and performance. While... Read more... |
The Mercy review - Colin Firth's leaking vesselThursday, 08 February 2018Fakery is promised in the opening image of The Mercy. A smiling beauty water-skis over sunny seas, only for the camera to pull away and reveal she is part of a maritime expo in a vast exhibition hall. One of the other exhibitors is an inventor... Read more... |
DVD: DaphneFriday, 26 January 2018Daphne, the independent feature debut from director Peter Mackie Burns, was released to little fanfare last year, a fact somewhat emphasised by the other films advertised on its DVD release – Moonlight and Lady Macbeth – more lauded releases from... Read more... |