Andy Pope discusses the representation of the skinhead sub-culture in Shane Meadows’ This Is England… Shane Meadows’ recent announcement that he is currently filming a sequel to his 2006 film This is England comes as no surprise to those of us who have watched with growing interest the amount of time British television and cinema […]

Dead Man’s Shoes, 2004. Directed by Shane Meadows. Starring Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch and Toby Kebbel. SYNOPSIS: Richard, an intense loner and former soldier, returns to his native Midlands village seeking vengeance against the small-time drug dealers who cruelly bullied his mentally disabled brother Anthony while he was away on duty. Richard’s determination to achieve […]

Psycho, 1960. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and John Gavin. SYNOPSIS: After embezzling $40,000 from her employer, Phoenix office-worker Marion Crane flees the monotony of her mundane existence with dreams of starting a new life in California with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis. As night begins to fall, an exhausted […]

The 400 Blows, 1959. Directed by François Truffaut. Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud. SYNOPSIS: The 400 Blows follows normal adolescent boy Antoine Doinel as he struggles to contend with all authority figures in his life, from schoolteachers to parents. As we are invited into this character study of Antoine it becomes increasingly clear that he is already […]

In tribute to the screenwriter and playwright Horton Foote, who died yesterday March 4th aged 92, a look at the film for which he received an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay… To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962. Directed by Robert Mulligan. Starring Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Brock Peters. SYNOPSIS: A young girl growing […]

Easy Rider, 1969. Directed by Dennis Hopper. Starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson. SYNOPSIS: Two young bikers complete a drug deal and use their earnings to finance a trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of the American Dream. This epic journey takes them deep into the heart of the United […]

Day of the Dead, 2008. Directed by Steve Miner. Starring Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon and Ving Rhames. SYNOPSIS: When the population of a small town become infected by a flu-like virus that turns them into flesh easting zombies, an elite military force is sent in to clean up the mess in a re-imagining of George […]

With Inglourious Basterds released this week, we take a look at the cinema of Nazi Germany… Prior to 1933 the German film industry enjoyed a highly influential and critically acclaimed period of creativity and originality but the rise of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party would see many key figures emigrate from the country, including […]

Diagnosis: Death, 2009. Directed by Jason Stutter. Starring Raybon Kan, Jessica Grace Smith, Suze Tye and Rhys Darby. SYNOPSIS: Locked in a medical facility over a weekend as guinea pigs for a drug trial, two cancer patients discover that the clinic may pose more harm than good. Diagnosis: Death is a low-budget horror comedy from […]

Genova, 2008. Directed by Michael Winterbottom. Starring Colin Firth, Catherine Keener, Willa Holland, and Perla Haney-Jardine. SYNOPSIS: A haunting, eerie journey to a place where souls stir and hearts go to mend themselves, Genova is the dark, brooding voyage of discovery for one family, torn apart by tragedy. Acclaimed British director Michael Winterbottom continues to […]