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New Order (2020) BFI LFF Review
New Order (2020) Director: Michel Franco Writer: Michel Franco Starring: Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Mónica Del Carmen, Darío Yazbek New Order opens with a blurry montage of disturbing images; people in various stages of distress, outbursts of violence and piles of dead bodies littering city streets. It’s a vicious assault on the senses and…
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The Exorcist (1973) Retrospective Review
The Exorcist (1973) Director: William Friedkin Screenwriter: William Peter Blatty Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Lee J. Cobb, William O’Malley, Kitty Winn Nearly five decades on, The Exorcist continues to be one of the most talked about horror movies of all time; even to the point that its many surrounding…
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Young Frankenstein (1974) Review
Young Frankenstein (1974) Director: Mel Brooks Screenwriters: Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder Starring: Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachmann, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Gene Hackman While there have been a fair share of horror spoofs over the years, it is a somewhat mixed bag in terms of genuine laugh out loud takes that stand separate from what…
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Nomadland (2020) BFI LFF Review
Nomadland (2020) Director: Chloé Zhao Screenwriter: Chloé Zhao Starring: Frances McDormand In 1957, author and Beat Generation legend Jack Kerouac released “On The Road”, a novel that would come to be regarded as one of the most essential pieces of American literature ever written. The book is a loose fictionalisation of Kerouac’s time spent travelling…
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Never Gonna Snow Again (2020) BFI LFF Review
Never Gonna Snow Again (2020) Directors: Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert Screenwriters: Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert Starring: Alec Utgoff, Maja Ostaszewska, Agata Kulesza, Weronika Rosati, Katarzyna Figura, Lukasz Simlat, Andrzej Chyra Imagine a superhero film that takes aim at the upper middle classes and borrows moments from the work of legendary Soviet-era filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and…
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Possessor (2020) BFI LFF Review
Possessor (2020) Director: Brandon Cronenberg Screenwriter: Brandon Cronenberg Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Bean, Tuppence Middleton Without mercy or restraint, and with pure, unfiltered access, Brandon Cronenberg burrows deep into the foundations of the human psyche. His sophomore feature, Possessor, is a mind-bending Inception meets Freaky Friday mash-up, filled to the…
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Limbo (2020) BFI LFF Review
Limbo (2020) Director: Ben Sharrock Screenwriter: Ben Sharrock Starring: Amir El-Masry, Kwabena Ansah, Ola Orebiyi, Vikash Bai, Grace Chilton, Kenneth Collard Scotland through the eyes of a Syrian refugee is a bizarre and surrealist dreamscape, more fitting of an episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’ than a place to call home. At least, this is how…
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Fractured (2018) Review
Fractured (2018) Director: Jamie Patterson Screenwriters: Jamie Patterson, Christian Hearn Starring: April Pearson, Karl Davies, Louise Lytton, Jordan Metcalfe A perfect treat for Halloween if you’re a fan of independent cinema, Jamie Patterson’s Fractured (2018) encapsulates the spookiness and effectiveness of the British independent horror genre. Patterson (Tucked; Caught) takes key horror conventions and twists them…
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David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020) BFI LFF Review
David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020) Director: Spike Lee Writer: David Byrne Starring: David Byrne ‘What if we could eliminate everything from the show except the things we care about the most? What would be left?’ asks David Byrne to his packed audience, barefoot upon Broadway’s Hudson Theatre Stage. ‘It’s just us, and you’ he answers…
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Rose: A Love Story (2020) Review
Rose: A Love Story (2020) Director: Jennifer Sheridan Screenwriter: Matt Stokoe Starring: Sophie Rundle, Matt Stokoe, Olive Gray Crippled by a chronic illness, Rose (Sophie Rundle – ‘Peaky Blinders’) and husband Sam (Matt Stokoe – ‘Jamestown’) live a survivor’s lifestyle in a cabin in the woods of Northern England. Rose, being unable to leave the…