While first-time documentarian Kate Shenton clearly has the best interests of her subjects at heart, this documentary into the underground world of human suspension shows plenty of piercings, torn flesh and large hooks penetrating soft tissue. A number of characters on-screen are seen passing out at various moments, and I was certainly teetering on the […] Read more »
Ben Wheatley’s latest is an incredibly bold, baffling, beautiful and quite brilliant period horror flick that follows a group of deserting civil war soldiers as they get embroiled in a psychedelic power struggle in…well…a field in England. Read more »
It has been a very long time since I have seen this, but was definitely a highlight when it first arrived back in 1995. An incredible debut from Danny Boyle, and the first film from Ewan McGregor too. I remember at the time all the buzz was about Christopher Eccleston becoming the next big thing, […] Read more »
A film that hugely rewards revisiting, particularly in the wake of the hugely successful TV series (and film) The Trip, in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon took their onscreen versions of themselves on the road for a travel/restaurant tour of Britain. Here is where it all began, however, in Michael Winterbottom’s insanely meta, post-modern […] Read more »
Continuing my journey through the works of Nicolas Winding Refn, this unlikely entry in the director’s canon was a made-for-TV movie following Agatha Christie’s beloved amateur sleuth. Geraldine McEwan stars as Miss Marple, who embarks on a coach tour around historic middle England, accompanied by her nephew (Richard E. Grant) and an assortment of supposed […] Read more »
I remember catching this on TV very late one night, as a young impressionable teen. At the time, the sight of a scantily glad Amanda Donohoe was enough to set my pulse racing, but revisited a good 20 years later there’s not much real excitement here. Despite the film’s good pedigree – directed by Ken […] Read more »
Made right off the back of Doctor Who and the Daleks‘ success, Peter Cushing reprises his role as the affable time traveller, who this time stays on Earth, albeit nearly 200 years into the future. The daleks have invaded and only the Doctor, with plucky Bernard Cribbins by his side, can save the Earth from […] Read more »
This rather quaint soft-hearted approach to the beloved timelord sees Peter Cushing portray a human version of the time travelling space adventurer, who brings along his niece, granddaughter and the clownish Roy Castle for a family-friendly adventure to the land of the Daleks. Encased in protective metal shells following an apocalyptic war, the Daleks now […] Read more »
One of my favourite films from last year stands up remarkably well to repeat viewing at home. This fetishised exploration of Italian giallo filmmaking, analogue sound recording and foley effects, as seen through the eyes of Toby Jones’ timid sound engineer is a gorgeous nightmare vision. Plot takes a back seat in favour of an […] Read more »
For his directorial debut (at the age of 75), Dustin Hoffman delivers an unashamedly lighthearted and indulgent comedy drama starring some of the UK’s finest veterans. Set in a fictional retirement home for musicians, the film charts the arrival of a new resident – in the form of Maggie Smith’s former prima donna – and […] Read more »
After the critical success of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, followed by his triumphant work on the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, director Danny Boyle makes a complete volte face for his next film. Trance is on the one hand a flashy crime caper, but also a trashy erotic thriller, filmed with plenty of style […] Read more »
Ben Wheatley's third film is also his best - a pitch black comedy about awkward thritysomethings Tina (Alice Lowe) and Chris (Steve Oram), whose camping holiday around middle England soon devolves into a murderous rampage. Read more »
I have been a big fan of director Ben Wheatley since his debut, Down Terrace, and for my money he is getting better and better with each film he makes. I understand that Kill List has a strong and loyal following, but that chilling, claustrophobic experience – as successfully rendered as it is – doesn’t […] Read more »
I had seen Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 American remake before, starring James Stewart and Doris Day, but this was my first time seeing his original British production. Leslie Banks and Edna West play the British couple abroad who are drawn into an international assassination plot when their friend is murdered and their daughter kidnapped. Peter Lorre […] Read more »
My March entry in Twitch’s Full Disclosure feature is Franc Roddam’s big screen adaptation of The Who’s classic album. Phil Daniels plays a pill-popping young Mod, who tires of his life chasing birds and bombing around on his Lambretta scooter, but doesn’t know which way to turn – especially when all roads lead to a […] Read more »
Roger Livesey gives the best performance of his career as career officer Clive Wynn-Candy in Powell & Pressburger's epic wartime satire. Read more »
Until now the only time I had seen this film was at university, where our Film Studies lecturer insisted that we included it during the opening semester programme of the newly-resurrected film club. Despite our initial protests (I don’t think any of us had heard of it) we sat through it and begrudgingly admitted that […] Read more »
The final film in the Hong Kong Film Archive’s short series honouring the cinematic collaboration between Billy Wilder and Marlene Dietrich, is this masterclass in courtroom drama and wry British wit. Based on the stage play by mystery grand dame, Agatha Christie, the film stars Charles Laughton as a world-weary barrister, recovering from a heart […] Read more »
I am in serious danger of over-hyping Bryan Singer’s Jack The Giant Slayer, for the simple reason that I thought it was going to be rubbish, and it really isn’t. Played dead straight, without a whiff of post-modern irony that seems compulsory these days, the film takes some of the core elements from the classic […] Read more »
The favourite to win Best Documentary at the Oscars later this month is a fantastic piece of investigative journalism into what became of the folk singer Rodriguez. A Mexican-born Detroit native, he was hailed as the next Bob Dylan, but his career went nowhere, resulting in him commiting suicide live on stage. Bizarrely there was […] Read more »