Reviews in a nutshell
Writer-director Jill Soloway does for Kathryn Hahn (Revolutionary Road) what Paul Feig did for Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids, and given a very naturally funny lady a leading role – albeit, Wiig did co-write herself a part in the 2011 film. Hahn is a total triumph as bored, affluent Jewish housewife Rachel who has access to …
Exciting Iranian director Asghar Farhadi of Oscar-winning A Separation (2011) returns with French drama The Past (Le passé) that again touches on the remnants of divorce and its effects on the family. Far from being just an intense and deeply emotional experience – as most French relationship dramas tend to be, this one weaves in …
Writer-director Caradog W James tackles the age-old sci-fi fantasy of making artificial life with superior intellect in The Machine. The thriller raises the moral dilemma of playing god and the pitfalls of having such power to hand. In a sinister twist with recent events surrounding the missing Flight MH370, the film also brews political tension …
Referring to youth offenders sent to adult prisons because of their violent behaviour, Starred Up sounds like another gritty prison drama, as depressingly abundant in British cinema as the gritty gang-related flicks set on sink estates in the capital. In fact, Young Adam director David Mackenzie and debut screenwriter Jonathan Asser’s pressure cooker of incarcerated …
Writer-director Jonathan English got surprisingly lucky with the first Ironclad (2011) film, as it offered a thrilling/shocking blood thirst of video-gaming proportions, as well as an impressive cast, including Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox, Derek Jacobi, Charles Dance and the dashing James Purefoy. Still set in the harsh surroundings of 13th Century Britain, post the Great …
The opening shot to this fascinating documentary, Plot For Peace, shows an unassuming man playing a card game, accompanied by a voiceover. The setting itself feels theatrical, as though subsequent events are a new fictional-feature spin on the release of one of the world’s most iconic statesmen, Nelson Mandela, and the end of Apartheid in …
Terry Gilliam returns to his Brazil ideas in his latest film, The Zero Theorem, such as Big Brother watching/controlling, quirky romance and even quirkier surroundings that scream of escapism from the throng of daily life’s burden. All set in a future of some description – though hopefully, not one we have to look forward to, …
Director Wes Anderson’s mind is a fascinating one, managing to engage us with imaginative characters and locations that have a warm but barmy feel to them. The Grand Budapest Hotel is no exception, as theatrical and slightly obsessive as his others, but charmingly told. Ralph Fiennes has morphed into many characters over the years, and …
The mighty stag still holds a lot of comedy value, so much so Jon Turteltaub tried to do a geriatric version of The Hangover recently with Last Vegas that spawned a lukewarm response, even with a stellar cast onboard. Debut writer-director John Butler has tried to cash in on this fertile ground with his Irish …
