Tag: Cinema
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Trumbo.
Since the film industry was heinously targeted in the 1950s by Joseph McCarthy and his communist witch hunts, it seems only natural that we would make films about it. The latest in this long line of Hollywood blacklist melodramas is Trumbo, directed by Jay Roach. Best known for bringing us the Austin Powers trilogy, Roach…
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Youth.
Returning from the tremendous success of The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino now bestows upon us the gift of Youth. Vacationing in the Alps with his daughter, a retired composer is invited to conduct his work, one last time – this time, for royalty. He firmly declines. Meanwhile his best friend, an ageing movie director, works…
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Spotlight.
Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight is surely set for Academy Award success. Brilliantly simple and expertly paced, this is the cinematic interpretation of a true story. In 2001, the Boston Globe stood up to the power of the catholic church when a small team of investigative journalists looked into a number of child molestation cases carried out by…
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Room.
Adapted from the novel by Emma Donoghue, Room is a startling story told predominantly through the eyes of Jack, a five year old who knows nothing of what lies on the other side of the four walls in which him and his mother are confined. Kidnapped seven years earlier, his mother Joy has made the decision…
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Directing Lancashire.
Having grown up in Lancashire, I did what so many others did – I moved away for University. After spending three years in Leeds and another in Edinburgh I returned home to my first graduate job in the arts, back in Preston. Such is the norm that those who’ve grown up in Lancashire feel the…
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The Worst Films of 2015.
Of course, my selection of films are not actually the worst films of the year. Research, discussion and judgement prevent me from actually having to sit through the likes of Transformers 12. My list consists of many films that merely, and severely, disappointed. Some are dull, some are amateur and some annoying. I think I only truly…
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The Best Films of 2015.
This has certainly been one of the most challenging years for me, in terms of great cinema access. I moved back to Preston for my first graduate position and found myself, for the first time in four years, living in a town with no independent cinema. Stuck between a bad Odeon and a more than…
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Krampus.
The opening sequence of Krampus is delightful. An instant, visual judgement of consumerist Christmas, wrapped up in a cynical bow. Overweight Americans thunder down the aisles of supermarkets, children sob their hearts out on Santa’s lap and others, dressed up as shepherds and angels, attempt to punch the life out of one another. In a suburban…
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The Lesson.
In a small, Bulgarian classroom a student has had money stolen from her. Their teacher, Nadya, determined to identify and punish the thief, gives the culprit numerous opportunities to own up to their crime or to at least return the money. Taking this opportunity to preach a moral message, the teacher is initially defiant in…
Hannah McHaffie 