Birdman, 2014. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Andrea Riseborough and Naomi Watts. SYNOPSIS: A washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory. Birdman, Alejandro […]
29th Leeds International Film Festival Review – The Assassin (2015)
The Assassin, 2015. Directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou. Starring Qi Shu, Chen Chang and Satoshi Tsumabuki. SYNOPSIS: An assassin in 7th century China accepts a mission to kill a political leader. Arthouse martial arts is a problematic concept. On the one hand, ‘arthouse’ suggests serious, high-minded fare; on the other, ‘martial arts’ conjures up thoughts of […]
Blu-ray Review – The Sound Barrier (1952)
The Sound Barrier, 1952. Directed by David Lean. Starring Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin and Denholm Elliott. SYNOPSIS: Fictionalized story of British aerospace engineers solving the problem of supersonic flight. The Sound Barrier, directed by David Lean midway through one of greatest runs in film history, is the story of the bid to […]
29th Leeds International Film Festival Review – Black Mass (2015)
Black Mass, 2015. Directed by Scott Cooper. Starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Corey Stoll, Peter Sarsgaard and Dakota Johnson. SYNOPSIS: The true story of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, the notorious gangster who used his status as a FBI informant under John Connolly to take over South Boston. In Scott Cooper’s Black Mass, there is no protagonist. […]
29th Leeds International Film Festival Review – In The Crosswind (2014)
In The Crosswind, 2014. Directed by Martti Helde. Starring Ingrid Isotamm, Mirt Preegel, Laura Peterson, Tarmo Song and Einar Hillep. SYNOPSIS: In 1941, an Estonian woman and her young daughter struggle to find their way home after being deported to Siberia by the Soviet occupiers, in this dreamlike saga of survival inspired by a true […]
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review – The Look of Silence (2014)
The Look of Silence, 2014. Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer. SYNOPSIS: A family that survives the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers. After two films on the same subject, it’s difficult to tell whether director Joshua Oppenheimer is more repulsed by the perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide or fascinated […]
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review – Cartel Land (2015)
Cartel Land, 2015. Directed by Matthew Heineman. SYNOPSIS: With unprecedented access, CARTEL LAND is a riveting, on-the-ground look at the journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy – the murderous Mexican drug cartels. Though Matthew Heineman’s Cartel Land is ostensibly about two vigilante groups battling drug cartels either side of the US-Mexico border, […]
Movie Review – Wild (2014)
Wild, 2014. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffman and Kevin Rankin. SYNOPSIS: A chronicle of one woman’s 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent catastrophe. Few mainstream American films play around with memory as well as Wild. Jean-Marc Vallee’s adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, about […]
Leeds International Film Festival 2014 Review – Love is Strange (2014)
Love is Strange, 2014. Directed by Ira Sachs. Starring John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows and Charlie Tahan. SYNOPSIS: After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing — a situation that […]
Leeds International Film Festival 2014 Review – M (1931)
M, 1931. Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke and Gustaf Gründgens. SYNOPSIS: When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt. Within Fritz Lang’s first film made in sound, 1931’s M, there’s fascinating evidence of the period’s – and, of course, the […]
