(Twitter: @maysamoncao) For a filmmaker, documentary filmmaking is probably the hardest medium. Try uttering the word “documentary” to an investor and he will probably shut all doors in your face, unless you are Werner Herzog. The view people have regarding this medium is that it is “teaching you something” in the most boring way possible. Lots of voice-over, steady-cams and hundreds of interviews with people you’ve hardly heard of. It…
Read MoreBerlin Syndrome
Review by Linda Marric Perhaps the first thing you notice about Berlin Syndrome is its eery familiarity and deeply disturbing claustrophobic style. Cate Shortland, Director of the brilliantly received Somersault, returns with a visually beautiful yet thematically weak offering which some might find disappointing while others will warm to regardless. Dealing with very sensitive themes relating to violence, captivity and psychological intrigue, the film was adapted by Shaun Grant…
Read MoreWonder Woman Soars At The Box Office In The UK And Ireland
It’s official, Wonder Woman is one of the best reviewed films of the year so far. Not only that, but Patty Jenkins’ ballsy female centric superhero movie is set to break more box office records. It is now officially the best grossing film made by a woman and is set to make even more money. Josh Berger, President and Managing Director of Warner Bros. Entertainment UK, Eire and Spain, said,…
Read MoreSundance London 2017: Icarus Wins Audience Favourite Award
Press release: Sundance Institute and Picturehouse announced tonight that the Sundance Film Festival: London’s inaugural Audience Favourite award went to ICARUS directed by Bryan Fogel. Festivalgoers voted in the thousands for their favourite features across the four-day event at Picturehouse Central. When Bryan Fogel sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller involving…
Read MoreSundance London 2017- Dina. Dir: Dan Sickles & Antonio Santini
It’s a credit to Dogwoof and their impressive output that they have yet to release a single film this year that could be considered below par. The latest offering from this tireless outfit is every bit as exhilarating as the rest of their releases. Presented as part of Sundance London Film Festival, Dina is a fantastic piece of filmmaking. This fascinating documentary is not only touching, funny and genuinely…
Read MoreNocturnal Animals
Adapted from Austin Wright 1993 novel Tony and Susan, Nocturnal Animals marks the return of Tom Ford in his directorial guise after a seven year absence. Ford’s second foray into directing sees him taking on an oeuvre which at times seems almost unfilmable. The film is a dense piece with a triple stranded narrative, which owes as much to Hitchcock as it does to the 1950s melodramas of Douglas Sirk. It is…
Read More10 FILMS TO START THE YEAR
2016 might have been a year of uncertainty, celebrity deaths and political upheaval but cinematically this has been one of the strongest years ever. So while people pick their 2016 top 10s, let’s take a look at some of the most anticipated film releases of 2017. Silence Martin Scorsese’s long awaited adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s book by the same name recounts the plight of Catholic persecution in seventeenth century…
Read MoreTV Review: The OA
Review by Stuart Houghton A NetFlix Original series about a mysterious girl who arrives in the lives of some small town kids, seemingly in possession of strange powers and on the run from a mad scientist? Did Stranger Things prove so popular that NetFlix is now churning out identical shows in the hope that nobody will notice? The OA, which sidled onto the on-demand service’s December schedule with almost no preceding hype,…
Read MoreThe Pass: Director John Donnelly
Review By Linda Marric Adapted by John Donnelly from his critically acclaimed play, and directed by Ben A Williams, The Pass is first and foremost a Russell Tovey vehicle. For those unfamiliar with the play, the film tells the story of a closeted football player Jason (Tovey), in an episodic narrative which spans 10 years of his life. The story takes place mostly inside and is told in…
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