Jackson Ball reviews the third episode of House of Cards season 2… The third chapter of House of Cards’ second season has Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey) well and truly back in the swing of things, after the ‘inconvenience’ of episode 1. Storms are brewing in Washington over the impending amendments to entitlement laws, creating […]

Jackson Ball reviews the second episode of House of Cards season 2… After the shell-shock of the first episode, it’s back to business as usual for House of Cards as the slow-burning plot complexities return. Spoilers Ahead – You’ve Been Warned! The episode begins with Francis “Frank” Underwood (Kevin Spacey) at long last being sworn […]

Jackson Ball reviews the first episode of House of Cards season 2… The long-awaited second season of House of Cards has finally been made available by Netflix, with the website spoiling us with all 13 episodes at once. Perfect for a bit of binge-viewing on these cold winter evenings, you might think, but after watching […]

Leave to Remain, 2013. Directed by Bruce Goodison.Starring Toby Jones, Noof Ousellam, Zarrien Masieh and Yasmin Mwanza. SYNOPSIS: Leave to Remain is the unique story of three teenage asylum seekers who are trying to escape various problems in their respective homelands to find refuge in England. What sounds like quite a heavy and topical plot […]

Coherence, 2013. Directed by James Ward Byrkit.Starring Emily Foxler, Nicholas Brendon, Maury Sterling, Lorene Scafaria, Elizabeth Gracen, Hugo Armstrong, Lauren Maher and Alex Manugian. SYNOPSIS: On the night a comet is passing near Earth, a dinner party takes an odd turn. When the power goes out, eight friends discover that the only house on the […]

Weekend of a Champion, 1972. Directed by Frank Simon and Roman Polanski. SYNOPSIS:In 1971, director and Formula 1 fan Roman Polanski took his film crew to spend the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix with the then World Champion Jackie Stewart, a star who practised and competed in the most glamorous of races in the […]

The Spectacular Now, 2013. Directed by James Ponsoldt.Starring Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Kyle Chandler, Brie Larson, Masam Holden, Dayo Okeniyi, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. SYNOPSIS: The coming-of-age story of a hard-partying high school senior and how his philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical ‘nice girl’. As soon as I read this synopsis, […]

The Kick, 2011. Directed by Prachya Pinkaew.Starring Jae-hyeon Jo, Ji-Won Ye, Tae-joo Na, Petchtai Wongkamlao, JeeJa Yanin, Kyung-Suk Kim and Kwan-hun Lee. SYNOPSIS: A family of Korean Taekwondo experts become targeted by ruthless gangsters after they foil the planned criminal theft of a priceless Thai artefact. This neat fusion of slapstick comedy and intricate martial […]

Happy Endings (a.k.a. Winter Passing), 2005. Written and Directed by Adam Rapp.Starring Ed Harris, Zooey Deschanel, Will Ferrell, and Amelia Warner. SYNOPSIS: After being offered $100,000 for love letters exchanged between her famous author parents, struggling New York actress Reece Holden (Zooey Deschenal) decides to return to her home and visit her father, Don Holden […]

Machete Kills, 2013. Directed by Robert Rodriguez.Starring Danny Trejo, Alexa Vega, Mel Gibson, Carlos Estevez, Amber Heard, Vanessa Hudgens, Sofia Vergara, Jessica Alba, Lady Gaga, Michelle Rodriguez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Demián Bichir, Zoe Saldana, Edward James Olmos, William Sadler, Antonio Banderas, Tom Savini and Walton Goggins. SYNOPSIS: The U.S. government recruits Machete to battle his […]