New Movies

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer Ten minutes into Level Up, you can already feel the threads unravel from its tapestry. Anyone with a toe in the waters of pop culture can already see the similarities of Level Up with recent feature Nerve (2016). In fact, the film doesn’t feel too dissimilar from half-forgotten Shia LaBeouf vehicle Eagle Eye (2008), while the film’s overall redemptive lessons learnt lie in the same bed as David Fincher’s The Game (1997). This isn’t a...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afroilmviewer Despite featuring the ever affable Tom Hanks and adapted from a well-known and enjoyed author, A Hologram for the King (novel by Dave Eggers) received a rather muted reception when realised earlier this year. The film was only really rivalled by Sing Street in the U.K and received a limited release in the U.S. Even in his lesser noted films, the appearance of Hanks on the poster has often been enough reassurance to get at...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt When it comes to the creative process, one should admire the ambition. When reading reviews of artistic endeavours, it seems that sometimes writers appear to forget that they are critiquing the efforts of a crew that have clearly worked hard to attempt to bring together the vision of a screenwriter or director. A crew who have been brought together in order help set said vision alive. It’s easy to insult and pull apart a film....

Review by Ben Holliday/@bholliday Audiences have been forced to endure one of the worst summer blockbuster seasons in recent memory with 2016 but have no fear, Hell or High Water is here to wash the taste of bitter disappointment out of moviegoers mouths. Tossing the temptation of hyperbole aside, Hell or High Water is the best film of the year to date. At its base level the flick is an all American crime caper, following two brothers as they begin...

Review by Ben Holliday/@bholliday Lights Out is certainly one of the pleasant surprises of an otherwise dreary summer. Director David F. Sandberg makes his feature film debut after submitting a short film of the same name and premise at a film festival in 2014. Despite not winning the competition, Sandberg was contacted by many big Hollywood names hence why you’ll see James Wan’s name plastered across the marketing. Despite doubts from Wan that Sandberg could extend the short into a...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Louder than Bombs deals with an ex-actor (Gabriel Byrne) and his two sons (Devin Druid and Jesse Eisenberg) try their best to confront their fractured feelings of their lives and each other on the eve of an exhibition of their deceased wife and mother (Isabelle Huppert). This somber tale is the first English-language feature from Norwegian director Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st) And for the most part, this fragile piece does well to hold together....

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt B-Movies: When you keep them simple and sharp, you often heed the best results. The Shallows never overstays its welcome, nor does it overcomplicate its obvious silliness. It takes a Dario Argento approach towards proceedings. As much as we like to often deny our baser urges, sometimes our film cravings will drive us towards an attractive person being tormented by a killer shark. Just this writer? Ok then. The Shallows introduces us to its lead...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt I can’t remember the time I saw a film so incredibly inoffensive. Usually, as a film writer, one is often attracted to a film with an intense, diverse reaction. Dexter Fletcher’s Eddie the Eagle; the colourful true story of Eddie Edwards, the tenacious underdog whose passion and charm, managed to win enough people over and gain a chance to complete in the 1988 Winter Olympics, is only interested in warming the hearts of those who...

Review By Leslie Byron Pitt As the United Kingdom almost begrudgingly trudges towards Brexit and certain political parties seem hell bent on eating each other alive, my second viewing of High-Rise has firmly confirmed that it's one of the best films of the year. Ben Wheatley's adaptation of 70’s civilisation falling afoul to modernisation and rampant capitalism is not as cutting as J.G Ballard’s original novel, but it’s a wry cynical take of Ballard’s work. Managing to be a darkly...