Tag: Cinema
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Sightseers.
Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers fell between two very interesting pieces in the rest of his filmography. Kill List combined gritty British realism with terrifying retro horror whilst A Field in England echoed back to the folk horror genre and reminded me of Witchfinder General. Wheatley’s work is astutely British and combines dark comedy with the weird and surreal. Sightseers sits between each film both chronologically…
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The ABCs of Death.
I first heard about this “super-anthology” at the press event for last year’s Bradford Film Festival. The film was to be shown late at night, midway through the festival. I was a student in Leeds at the time and although I was enthusiastic to attend as much of the festival as possible, I was restricted…
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Chef.
I didn’t care whether or not Chef had a pretty conventional and predictable plot. I wasn’t desperate for it to make me howl with laughter and tug at my heart strings. I was prepared to sit through two hours of mediocre characters who I wouldn’t warm to – I’d seen the trailer after all. All I wanted…
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Edinburgh: June.
In last month’s post I discussed the three biggest events I was preparing to face; the job hunt, my dissertation and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. With June came one of those ventures – the most exciting one. June has been all about the film festival. I began the month working at home and working…
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Edinburgh Film Festival 2014: Round Up.
In the last 13 days I’ve sat in 3 different venues, in 9 different screens, and watched 30 films at Edinburgh International Film Festival. It has been a great experience, especially the experience of conducting my first industry interview, with director Jeff Baena. Most of the films have been great, some have been mediocre and…
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Coherence.
I finished off my time at Edinburgh International Film Festival with Coherence. A creepy science fiction chiller that begins at a friendly dinner party and turns into something much more unnerving, Coherence was a great way to finish what has been a remarkable festival. The film uses shaky cameras and hand-held equipment to create a similar appearance to…
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Miss Zombie.
Set against the bleak backdrop of a family home, Miss Zombie contributes a great deal to the popular zombie genre. The family home is well looked after but if you look a little closely, the floor is peeling and the patio is overgrown and dirty. The cracks are starting to show on the outside, reflecting what is…
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Still Life.
What happens after we die is beyond our knowledge and control. Yet, our behaviour in this world can determine the way in which we leave it. What and who we leave behind is forever un-knowable and it is the sadness of leaving nothing behind us that forms the centre of Uberto Pasolini’s Still Life. Most of…
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In Order of Disappearance.
Set against the exquisite whiteness of Norway, In Order of Disappearance is a blood-bath of fun and fury. The white canvas doesn’t stay white for too long. Soon enough it is splattered with the vibrant red blood of many angry men. On the same night that he is awarded and recognised for his contributions to his community,…
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The Infinite Man.
Time travel is always a problematic and ambitious subject to attempt. So often these films resort to either glossing over the unexplainable, or embrace them whole-heartedly. The Infinite Man does neither. It balances the complexities with the acceptance of its own confusion in a way that keeps the audience enthralled whilst they ponder the situation for themselves.…
Hannah McHaffie 