Category Archives: Film

Film Review: Good Luck To You, Leo Grande

Sex is a dance that’s best when it’s improvised. That is seemingly the subtext to ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’. Written by comic actor Katy Brand and directed by Sophie Hyde, it’s a refreshingly honest look at age gap sex. Thankfully the candour means there are no traditional romcom tropes, nor “feeling to healing”Continue reading “Film Review: Good Luck To You, Leo Grande”

Terence Was A First Class Stamp

Terence Stamp has passed away at the age of eighty seven and we must doff our caps to this versatile English actor. He could do theatre, he could do film. He was masterful in ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’, ‘Poor Cow’ and Passolini’s ‘Theorem’. He brought gravitas to Zod in ‘Superman’ and had a lateContinue reading “Terence Was A First Class Stamp”

Overlooked Classics: Stealing Beauty

Bernardo Bertolucci may have sealed his reputation as dirty agent provocateur with the infamous butter scene in ‘Last Tango In Paris’, but ‘Stealing Beauty’, his delicate study in teenage desire, manages a more subtle, less male gazey approach, in spite of its overarching themes. Liv Tyler is luminous and beautiful as Lucy, a gauche AmericanContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Stealing Beauty”

Vintage Film Review: Welcome To The Dollhouse

Todd Solondz’s debut feature film from 1995 is still the most painfully accurate depiction of school brutality I’ve seen: the usual parental advice of ‘just ignore them and they’ll go away” never works, simply because bullying is a ritual, and relentless in its targets. So it is for the main character here and target ofContinue reading “Vintage Film Review: Welcome To The Dollhouse”

Film Review: A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg has often beautifully portrayed assholes (The Squid and the Whale, The Double, The Social Network) so it’s lovely to see him playing against type here, as well as writing and directing the film. It’s seriously impressive. He portrays uptight, neurotic but still empathic David Kaplan, a family man, who is thrown together withContinue reading “Film Review: A Real Pain”

Film Review: Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche

It ‘s tough at the top, and it’s far from easy being the offspring of a punk legend, either. That’s the overarching theme of Celeste Bell and Paul Sing’s critically acclaimed documentary about X Ray Spex singer Poly Styrene. Narrated by Bell herself, who shares a similarly sleepy, childlike drawl with her late mother, thisContinue reading “Film Review: Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche”

A M3gan Franchise?-No, Thanks

I finally succumbed to the hype surrounding M3gan last night and watched the British TV premiere on Channel 4. Really, I wish I hadn’t. On paper, it sounded perfect for this old goth: a scathing satire/ horror of Artificial Intelligence gone wrong through the actions of a cutesie doll prototype, initially designed as a kindContinue reading “A M3gan Franchise?-No, Thanks”

Not Coming Soon To A Multiplex Near You…

Ex-Bros. The latest episode in the Top Gun franchise focuses on two plucky young pilots and their narcissistic attempts at decimating the entire planet in a myriad of nefarious ways… Errr… I mean, the breakdown of a wholesome and utterly genuine friendship between Maverick and Goose. What went oh so wrong with the bros? TrulyContinue reading “Not Coming Soon To A Multiplex Near You…”

Overlooked Classics: The Devil and Daniel Johnston

This beautiful documentary by Jeff Feuerzeig focuses on the much missed cult singer songwriter and artist Daniel Johnston, a sensitive and thoughtful portrait of a troubled, gifted soul. Although the director takes a linear, somewhat conventional approach to Johnston’s life, he was absolutely unique, whether drawing comics and painting, or creating his beautiful, brittle music.Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Devil and Daniel Johnston”