New Movies

By Anna Power @Powerpops No stranger to controversy, Oliver Stone continues his exploration of personal conflict enmeshed with the political, in his latest film Snowden. Bringing fresh perspective on Edward Snowden – the man, and his whistleblowing on covert civilian data monitoring by the NSA (National Security Agency), the film casts a paranoiac shadow over labyrinthine, secretive government operations resulting in a tense, dramatisation of events. Building on Laura Poitras Oscar winning documentary Citizenfour, the film starts at the now...

By Linda Marric @linda_marric Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, Office Christmas Party sees the return of a pairing responsible for some of the highest-grossing comedies of the last few years. Fresh from starring in the rather disappointing sequel of Horrible Bosses, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman are back for more awkward gross-out moments and silly shenanigans. Also starring in the film is TJ Miller of Silicon Valley fame, and Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon. Clay (TJ Miller) manages...

By James McAllistair @jamesmca90 Back in the early 90s, The New Yorker printed a single-panel pasquinade drawn by Peter Steiner, which featured a computer-savvy canine sat a desk, chatting to another who listened from the floor below; “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog” read the accompanying caption. Wryly indicative of the anonymity afforded to all those who surfed the web, its publication also held a wider significance – symbolically denoting society’s growing fascination and developed understanding of the internet;...

By Linda Marric @Linda_Marric Moana is the latest big-budget holiday season animation from the team responsible for Disney’s continued renaissance. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, who gave us the timeless Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, this charming and engaging adventure has an empowering, life-affirming message with a subject matter that will withstand the test of time. Voiced by Hawaiian actress Auli’i Cravalho, Moana is the daughter of a Pacific Islands chieftain who goes on the quest of a...

By James McAllistair @jamesmca90 As Emma Stone’s Olive Penderghast observed in Easy A, the one thing the movies don’t tell you is “how shitty it feels to be an outcast”. The reality is that kids can be mean, and growing up is no picnic; trying to cement a position for yourself within the social standings of the schoolyard can leave you anxious, sometimes helpless… and as The Edge of Seventeen – screenwriter Kelly Fremon Craig’s admirable directorial debut – recognises, these...

By Linda Marric @linda_marric Spike Lee's adaptation of of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes manages to avoid the usual pitfalls of play to screen adaptations. Chi-Raq is a play on words coined by Chicagoans, based on a statistic showing that more Americans have died from gun violence in the last decade than soldiers in the Iraq war. In Chi-Raq Lee cleverly addresses not only black-on-black gun violence, but also delves into the misogyny of gang culture; it is a...

By Linda Marric @Linda_Marric Miles Teller puts in a robust performance in Bleed For This as Vinny Pazienza, a working class boxing hero from Rhode Island, who against all odds manages to overcome personal tragedy to make it all the way to the top. Written and directed by Ben Younger, the film tells the real-life story behind the headlines of the man nicknamed “the Pazmanian Devil,” for his less than orthodox behaviour in and out of the ring. The film...

By Wyndham Hackett Pain It would all too easy to think of The Wailing as the South Korean version of The Exorcist. There is a lot the two films share in common: an uneasy tone, a worried family, a young child possessed by the devil. Yet The Waling is much darker, more unsettling, and stranger than the 1973 classic which shocked audiences with its depictions of the horrors and evil that could beset American suburbia. Set in a small rural...

  We're celebrating the release of the excellent teen high school comedy The Edge Of Seventeen staring the luminous Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine. She's the teenager on the edge, navigating her way through the complexities and social anxieties of high school, romance and family drama. It's on general release on November 30th. To Win: Just tweet and follow us at @TLE_Film for a chance to win an Edge Of Seventeen pack including: A branded hoodie, two wristbands, a LED flashlight...