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“The Haçienda was everything” -Do You Own The Dançefloor Q&A at the Curzon Soho
PRESENTER Claire Bueno opened this entertaining evening at the Curzon Soho in London with a poignant thought. We were about to watch a film, she said, about a building that despite making a profound impact on people’s lives had been demolished. A fate, she added, that awaits the Curzon Soho if Crossrail 2 gets Government…
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Picturehouse Q&A with Viceroy’s House director Gurinder Chadha
TWENTY five years ago, Gurinder Chadha became the first Asian woman to make a feature film in Britain with Bhaji on the Beach. Fourteen years ago she then directed Bend it Like Beckham, a film that launched the career of a certain Keira Knightley and was a box office success story. Unbelievably, as Chadha’s latest…
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A day at Curzon Mayfair – Fences and Moonlight (Film Review)
A day at Curzon Mayfair is normally a cause for celebration. But with two Oscar nominated films lined up the occasion felt more like a special birthday or Christmas. First up, the long awaited big-screen adaptation of August Wilson’s play Fences. It has been close to 30 years since Paramount bought the movie rights to…
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“I just burst into tears” – Q&A with Manchester By The Sea director Kenneth Lonergan
I WAS recently tempted into seeing Oscar nominated Manchester By The Sea for a second time. I do not often give such emotionally weighty – and magnificent – films a second viewing so soon after my first (yes, I’ve seen the delightful La La Land four times already). But the opportunity to participate in a…
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Subversive casting: Introducing Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers
We begin our In Focus series with a much misunderstood film about bikini-clad students on Spring Break. Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers (2012) is one of the most underappreciated films of the 21st century. Destined for cult status, the story of four bored, suburban college girls let loose on spring break defies its base expectations –…
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“GENTLY PROFOUND” – 20th CENTURY WOMEN (FILM REVIEW)
It is no wonder Mike Mills’ latest film, 20th Century Women, has been nominated for best screenplay at this month’s Oscars. The writer-director has an incredible talent for crafting highly quotable, gently profound and introspective scenes that ooze with irresistible charm. He delivers in spades. One of the most telling scenes occurs when Dorothea, played…
