Scenes of the Day –
Interstellar Goodbye (click here to read)
“This scene is a moment of raw, small-scale human emotion before the film opens up to grandiosely explore space and time. One of loss and sacrifice that swells to emotionally striking climax.”
The Birdman Shadow
“Iñárritu’s camera then pans round to a front view of Riggin and, for a brief moment, it looks as though the Birdman’s wings are his own. Riggin’s eyes are transfixed as though he is buying into the Birdman’s ego-massaging speech.”
Hard Truths in Hell or High Water
“Modernity and capitalism can be cruel, fast-moving and indiscriminate forces. High or High Water rebels against them in cutting – both with violence and words – fashion.”
Sicario’s Tense Border Showdown
“For Villeneuve and Sheridan, this scene is masterful display of tension-building. There are many examples of this in Sicario (‘hitman’ in Spanish), a brilliantly paced film in which deceit is rampant and morals are scrambled.”
Film Reviews –
An Important Uphill Climb – Icarus
“Icarus is an important film even if the second half feels like a steep uphill climb. Worth climbing aboard for an hour and 20 minutes.”
A Bloody Night in Vegas – Sleepless
“Cinematographer Mihai Malaimara (The Master) captures a grey darkness to Vegas that, along with the bright artificial neon lights, feels lurid and menacing. But these visuals are not enough to gloss over the film’s many logic gaps. Often a desire to swerve the audience comes at the expense of character credibility and basic common sense.”
Film Features –
Director Lee Francis talks God’s Own Country
“When asked what he hoped audiences took away from the film, Lee responded: ‘For me, it would be a message of hope and of love. I am big fan of the human struggle and the human condition and how chinks of hope can come out of really depressing, difficult and problematic situations.’”
Elevator Talk: Up and Down in Film
“Elevators are an interesting part of modern life. Less so for their everyday function, but rather the situations they can produce. Mundanity, awkwardness, intimacy, isolation, claustrophobia and fear (for those of a nervous disposition) are just few feelings it can inspire. These feelings – intensified – make for great movie moments.”
Theatre Reviews –
Peeping Grace – Window
“Window is expertly directed by Dave Spencer who uses The Bread and Roses’ cramped space to good effect. It is a play of our time and for our time. A 2017 take (and a low budget one at that) on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 Rear Window although of course not in the same league.”
Mrs Orwell’s Dying Days Brought to Life – Mrs Orwell
“Cressida Bonas, a former girlfriend of Prince Harry, paints Sonia as someone who is as calculating as she is beautiful. Both Rose Ede and Robert Stocks are also excellent but the star turn is Edmund Digby Jones. His Freud is a potpourri of youthful arrogance and sexual desire.”
Talk Radio Ga Ga – Talk Radio
“A play 30 years old but very much of the moment. Catch it if you can – especially if you like your theatre raw and in your face. Bogosian would be mighty proud of Jure, the Old Red Lion Theatre and Turner’s direction.”
Flashbacks –
Late Company – The Destructive After Shocks of School Bullying
“The cast is excellent with Lucy Robinson portraying Debora perfectly – an intelligent parent consumed with grief and left with unanswered questions, one moment raging, the next shedding tears and then smiling at the memories of her beloved son.”
Searing East End Cinema – Butterfly Kisses and Insyriated
“Of course a film like Insyriated cannot truly capture the horror of what is going on in Syria. But it makes a fist of it and it does portray most vividly the destruction that war causes and how it invades like a terminal cancer homes once rich with life.”
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