Film

By Sam Inglis @24fpsuk  David Cronenberg used to have a lot of nicknames; Dave Deprave, the Baron of Blood, the King of Venereal Horror. These have been used less and less as his work has, especially in the last two decades, become more outwardly cerebral, but even in his goriest work Cronenberg was always a thoughtful filmmaker, and that's certainly something you can see in Rabid. As the film opens Rose (Marilyn Chambers) and her boyfriend Hart (Frank Moore) are...

By Corrina Antrobus @corrinacorrina Love Is Strange does well to name itself as a statement over a question as this film makes no attempt to answer the rhetoric of what love actually is, instead choosing to subtly peer at its many shades. Ira Sachs directs the long-term, newly-wed couple Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) who find themselves in a pickle when their recent marriage means George is sacked. George was a music teacher in a Catholic school and...

By Emma Silverthorn @HouseOf_Gazelle  Not to proverbial on smaller animators but at a time when there’s so many brilliant feature animations, a la Frozen, The Lego Movie, nearly everything Studio Ghibli’s made, the flaws of this one appear extra ugly. Fairytale: Story of The Seven Dwarfs is probably fine for very small children but that’s all. I love a new spin on an old fairy tale, which is what directors Boris Aljinovic and Harald Siepermann attempt but mostly fail to...

By Clarisse Loughrey @Clarisselou The cultural consensus has been slowly letting the bar drop on rom-coms for years now. In some strange parallel to Two Night Stand’s own recently dumped lead, whose all-consuming sexual frustration leads her to pursue the very first dude who doesn’t reply to her online dating messages with “sup girl?”, the very existence of a rom-com which doesn’t come across as outwardly offensive to our core ideals somehow feels like a cinematic triumph. That is to...

By Sam Inglis @24fpsUK When we think of sci-fi in cinema we tend to think of spectacle; expensive tentpole movies that throw us into unfamilliar, often futuristic, worlds. There's a place for that, but recently the American independent scene has been turning its attentions to small scale science fiction, often to great effect. Coherence is set at a dinner party where eight friends are getting together for the first time in a while. A comet is passing over during the...

By Stephen Mayne @finalreel  thefinalreel.co.uk The premise at the heart of Snow in Paradise, director Andrew Hulme’s debut film, is an intriguing one. Based loosely on the life of Martin Askew who broke out of crime by converting to Islam (he also co-writes and stars as Uncle Jimmy here), the film follows Dave (Frederick Schmidt), a petty criminal in London who turns to Islam after his actions create irreversible consequences. Hulme, having racked up a good two decades of experience...

By Anna Power @TLE_Film Editor @KittPower “I have more in common with a dog than I do with you” Caine (Channing Tatum or should it be Canine?) The blunder bus has arrived. There were EU food mountains less criminally wasteful than the Wachowski’s latest film, a lavish effrontery to the sci-fi genre and filmmaking in general. Epic both in length and the endurance it takes to sit through it, it’s a crushing disappointment from The Matrix team. Visually magnificent, the...

By Matt Keay @Mattadamkeay Ten years ago, Colin Firth would’ve been an excellent candidate for the role of James Bond. Previously, he had set hearts a-fluttering in Love Actually, and as Darcys both in the hugely successful Bridget Jones films, and in Pride And Prejudice. He’d also proven his acting chops in films such as The English Patient and And When Did You Last See Your Father?, as well as honed his comedy skills in Mamma Mia! and St. Trinians....

By Miles Jackson David Fincher’s latest, an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel, switches genres about three times during its runtime between riveting mystery thriller, sociopolitical satire and psychosexual black comedy, occasionally juggling all three of these at once. Much like its subject matter - marriage - the film is a complicated, messy affair, hurling between vastly different viewpoints, allegiances swapping every minute. At times, it’s raucous, at others, it’s soul-crushing. The film flitters between two different perspectives - Ben...