Top 5: Animations at #LFF

Animations: they’re not just for kids. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the programme of the 60th London Film Festival, which includes some of the most progressive, fascinating hand and computer-generated films in recent years. Here are 5 of the top animated movies showing at this year’s festival – with a few child-friendly picks…

Top 5: Returning heroes at #LFF

In its 60th edition and boasting 18 different sections, the London Film Festival is the perfect platform for filmmakers to develop their voice. The festival holds a heritage and reputation that promotes those involved, and a range of categories that allows directors to express their stories on almost any topic. Many have come back several…

Top 5: Features by women at #LFF 2016

The BFI London Film Festival is almost upon us again! It seems like moments since last year’s festival preview, but another group of films are straining at the leash, desperate to be set free upon a public pining for silver-screen adventure. The long-standing injustice of the under-representation of women both in front of and behind the…

TrailerTime: Free Fire

Ready…aim…fire! The guns are out in full force this afternoon, with the joyously shooty, shouty trailer for Ben Wheatley’s new film Free Fire. Starring Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Michael Smiley, Sam Riley, Cilian Murphy, Enzo Cilenti, Sharlto Copley & several more great names, Free Fire is about an arms deal gone badly wrong, with a…

Tickled Review

Fetishes. Everyone has ’em. For a small but intensely committed number across the globe, there is excitement in watching young, hunky men being restrained & mercilessly tickled. When journalists David Farrier & Dylan Reeve discover this niche interest, they pursue the story, & are met with defensiveness, anger and homophobia. As they follow the leads,…

Indignation Review

Screenwriting is the underappreciated art of cinema. In Indignation James Schamus, the thrice Oscar-nominated writer, producer and film legend, shows himself to be a master of this craft. In what is also his first directorial venture, he provides a soft, subtle song that will grow in your mind after the credits have rolled. Indignation is an…

Sundance London: The Greasy Strangler Review

Gruesome murders. Explicit, disgusting sex. And a whole lot of grease. The Greasy Strangler takes huge dollops of bad things, and serves them up in a thrillingly original feast that tastes so, so good. You know how it is – when you’re a 40-something single man living in a static caravan with your geriatric father, serving…

Sundance London: Weiner Review

Politics, as the saying goes, is showbusiness for ugly people. Nowhere can this maxim be more clearly witnessed than in the character of Anthony Weiner, former US congressman & subject of the delightful documentary Weiner from Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg. Without passing comment on his appearance, he has the chutzpah and throbbing personality of a…

Sundance London: Life, Animated Review

With continuing advances in understanding of mental health and brain conditions, there is a widening territory for filmmakers to consider and represent the experiences of non-neurotypical people. Roger Ross Williams documentary Life, Animated is at the forefront of this new scope, with the story of Owen Suskind’s life managing autism covering just about all the emotions…

Sundance London: Goat Review

One of the ways in which the patriarchy will be brought to its knees is through analysing its toxic notions of masculinity. This is a key achievement of Goat, the frat-house drama from director Andrew Neel. And who better to carry this banner than… bubblegum pop pioneer Nick Jonas, of Jonas Brothers fame?! Mind your…

TrailerTime: Beauty And The Beast

You might have heard the tale before. Apparently it’s as old as time. But no matter, because Beauty And The Beast is shaping up to be one of the movie events of 2017. The first 90-second teaser trailer has dropped today, & while it reveals little, the film promises much. What is there to get…

10 Cloverfield Lane Review

2008’s Cloverfield was a trend-bucker, a jittery, ‘handheld’ hit known for the monster it didn’t show and the fear it did. It inspired many subsequent films across thriller and horror genres; it is surprising, then, that 8 years later 10 Cloverfield Lane is a sequel in spirit, but not in story. In truth the less revealed about…