United Kingdom
T2 Trainspotting, though enjoyable in its own right, ultimately relies too heavily on nostalgia for the original to be a complete success.
Don’t Hang Up is a tense and effective low-budget thriller, though it misses out on fully probing the dangers of online bullying.
Phil Drinkwater & Tim Woodall tell about how what went into making their BFI-backed psychological horror film Broadcast Signal Intrusion.
Fear Itself is a series of montages of famous horror films, though it misses out on probing just why we are fascinated by being scared.
Twenty Twenty-Four is a sci-fi that alerts its audience as to a possible world-ending scenario, though it’s not a complete success.
The Seasons in Quincy is a series of four essays that each paint a portrait of the late John Berger, an extraordinary and versatile artist.
Fantastic Beasts is a mostly satisfactory return to the world of Harry Potter, though it also suffers from confused and muddled plot-lines.
The New Man is a fascinating insight into modern fatherhood, male identity, cultural expectation and the torturous path of late parenthood.
Mindhorn, the debut feature film from theatre director Sean Foley, has one hell of a concept that has been created as a Frankenstein’s monster, taking bits and pieces from other British cult comedies from the last two decades.
A United Kingdom has plenty of flaws, but more than makes up for them with a heart and an affection that is utterly intoxicating.
Imagine waking up from a coma and finding out that one of the nominees in the 2016 presidential election was a thin skinned egomaniac, with a penchant for airing his racist, misogynist and ableist views (and a platform that allows for homophobic views to boot). Imagine if you found out that he’d already set a precedent for his appalling behaviour, yet he was still inexplicably marching towards success, planning to grab the American electorate by the pussy. Having this news broken to you as your comatose body reanimates and prepares for a life in a new, quasi-dystopian future, is the only way you are likely to be shocked by any of Donald Trump’s antics.
Film is one of the best artistic mediums because it’s always growing; it speaks every language, and every place in the world has their iteration as to what’s scary, twisted, weird or just downright bizarre. Different countries offer different interpretations of horror, from China where vampires hop to Korean Shaman. They don’t wave crosses, nor do they compel the power of Christ upon anyone, but just don’t fall in love with Isabelle Adjani.
I, like a lot of people, don’t like scientology. I think it’s nonsense – nonsense propagated by arrogant people in an effort to coerce the desperate into giving them power and money. When I heard Louis Theroux was making a documentary about it, I was very excited.
In 2013, Ken Loach seemed destined to enter the pantheon of filmmakers who bow out with a movie that was, at best, inconsequential to the hard hitting filmography that came before. His proposed final film was 2014’s Jimmy’s Hall, a film about the tensions between the Catholic Church, local government and the vibrant youth culture of 1930’s Ireland. For one of the most important British filmmakers of all time, bowing out with a period piece that paid more than a little narrative debt to Footloose ensured underwhelming results.
It is easy to see how The Girl With All The Gifts could have been toned down and transformed into a generic YA movie in its cinematic adaptation. In the 2014 best-selling novel, the story is told from the point of view of all five central character. Here, director Colm McCarthy focuses on the titular tween character Melanie, exploring this plague-ravaged world from her point of view.