Tag: Violence
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Heathers: 30 Years On.
Popularity and cruelty have gone hand in hand since the dawn of the high-school movie. Every American coming-of-age romp explores high school’s twisted social hierarchy. Mean Girls, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Grease and The Breakfast Club; these movies all explore the inner politics of the playground within an age old status quo. A dog-eat-dog world, high-school has never been more…
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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…
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Wind River.
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Free Fire.
Ben Wheatley’s back catalogue is rich in style and substance, from the dark horror and humour of Sightseers to the grit and claustrophobia of Down Terrace to the suspense and ultimate chaos of Kill List to the artistic hypnosis of the triumphant A Field in England. Despite being unconvinced by High Rise, I couldn’t help but marvel at its textured layers of satirical…
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Elle.
From Starship Troopers to Showgirls, Paul Verhoeven has always been a provocative boundary pusher. He’s a Director who’s used satirical cinema to challenge his audience and has always provoked a reaction. His back-catalogue is a chaotic and versatile bag of contradictions and in many ways Elle is no different. When Michelle, the successful co-founder of…
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Train to Busan.
An explosive debut feature from Yeon Sang-Ho, Train to Busan joins the likes of A Girl Who Walks Home Alone at Night and Maggie as one of several recent and refreshing additions to the overcrowded zombie movie vault – here to rejuvenate the genre and breath new life into the un-dead. It’s the first zombie…
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Captain Fantastic.
Peter Bradshaw gave Captain Fantastic one star in the Guardian; describing its protagonist as “essentially a cross between Charles Manson and Captain von Trapp.” Although my reaction to the film completely opposes Bradshaw’s, I adore his description of Ben, the father of 6 children whom he is raising, educating and training in the wild, using…
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Green Room.
A heavy-metal band wake up in a field of maize, having fallen asleep at the wheel and having run out of gas. The band prove to be somewhat drifters, close to calling it quits as they struggle to cover the cost of petrol. Desperate for cash, the group agree to perform at a dingy venue inhabited by…
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Bone Tomahawk.
S. Craig Zahler bursts onto the scene with his directorial début, Bone Tomahawk. Set in the old West, and centring around a rescue mission, lead by a determined and loyal Sheriff, this is a world of dust, blood and ego. When two citizens are kidnapped by a mysterious and threatening tribe, a devoted husband, an…
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Deadpool.
At one point in Deadpool there is discussion and commentary over the poop emoji. For those to whom this is unfamiliar, it is just one of the many miniature images that many of us now send to each other, via our smart phones, in the place of dialogue and verbal communication. The emoji in question is…
Hannah McHaffie 