Tag: Film Review
-
McQueen.
London bad boy turned fashion designer extraordinaire, Lee Alexander McQueen boldly conquered the world of fashion in his late twenties. His violent, dramatic designs earned him international acclaim and at the mere age of twenty-seven he found himself chief designer at Givenchy, remaining in the position for the following five years. In 2010, McQueen committed suicide…
-
Hereditary.
Following the death of her estranged mother, Toni Collette’s Annie secretly attends grievance support groups, where she describes her mother as manipulative, secretive and barely her mother by the end. Despite the distance and bad blood between them, Annie and her family quickly find the death of their matriarch starts to unravel the family dynamics…
-
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018: 5 Must See Movies.
Returning for its 25th edition, Sheffield Doc/Fest will be taking over Sheffield city centre in just 24 days. One of the largest documentary film festivals in the world, it consists of a programme of almost 200 films along with the Alternate Realities programme – exhibiting 25 virtual and interactive reality projects from across the world. With big…
-
Tully.
Three years after an astonishing feature debut – Juno – writer Diablo Cody gave us the criminally underrated Young Adult in 2011. The story of a high school princess struggling to find value at life in her early thirties after realising she may have just peaked at prom queen. The film’s blunt, cynical writing was excelled to even greater…
-
Funny Cow.
Beware. For Funny Cow is not the film you might be expecting it to be. It’s pitched itself as the story of a female comedian trying to make it on the comedy circuit in 1970s Northern England but proves far more interested in the turbulent childhood and marriage that proceeded it. Maxine Peake is Funny Cow, the otherwise…
-
120 Beats Per Minute.
Heavily influenced and informed by the life and experiences of its director, 120 Beats Per Minute is the autobiographical and unapologetic story of life at the heart of Aids activist group Act Up-Paris, in the early nineties. Following the outbreak and ongoing epidemic, the French government were particularly slow to react and support those suffering. 120 Beats Per…
-
You Were Never Really Here.
United once again with astounding composer Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead), director Lynne Ramsay returns with You Were Never Really Here, a murky tale of regret, revenge and redemption. Despite being temporarily attached to several projects, this is Ramsay’s first time in the director’s chair in six years, following up her astonishing adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel We…
-
A Fantastic Woman.
Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, A Fantastic Woman tells the story of one woman’s frustrating fight for recognition and respect in the wake of a sudden death. Leading the way is actor Daniela Vega in a tender performance as a transwoman abandoned, isolated and pushed aside. Marina is a waitress…
-
Dark River.
When I reviewed her directorial debut, The Arbor, I declared that Clio Barnard was a British director to keep your eye on. Back in 2013 her follow up The Selfish Giant further demonstrated her ambition, capability and versatility. Barnard’s third feature is a rural British drama centred around unspoken memories of trauma which continues to prove all of the…
-
I, Tonya.
Arguably the Britney Spears of competitive ice-skating, Tonya Harding was the controversial American world champion whose life and career were filled with controversy and conflict in the mid-nineties. Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya is proving an award season favourite, with both Margot Robbie and Allison Janney nominated for their performances as monstrous mother and deviant daughter. This is…
Hannah McHaffie 