You’d be forgiven for thinking that The Duke of Burgundy – a film essentially about a lesbian couple’s experimentations with BDSM – would stray towards the exploitative. But despite the subject matter, writer/director Peter Strickland downplays the erotic aspects of the film to emphasis an abstract evocation of the anxieties inherent in a long-term relationship.…
The Huntsman: Winter’s War traffics pretty well exclusively in clichés. Oh, you can point to Frozen – Emily Blunt’s ice queen, the ‘power of love’ – or Lord of the Rings – there’s a golden circle emblazoned with Elvish runes that drives people to murder and dwarven comic relief (Nick Frost, Sheridan Smith, Rob Brydon)…
Australian documentary filmmaker Jennifer Peedom has spent much of the past decade telling stories about Mount Everest. After cutting her teeth as a high-altitude filmmaker on the TV series Everest: Beyond the Limit (2006), she began her directorial career with the documentary Miracle on Everest (2008), which chronicled Lincoln Hall’s astonishing brush with death on…
Rams’ Icelandic valley is populated by sheep and people, in roughly that order of importance. The separation between the two populaces isn’t particularly distinct, given the prevalence of shaggy white beards and thick wool-knit sweaters. Sheep are integral to the local economy and ecosystem, and especially to ageing farmer Gummi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson), who treats his…
I’m eternally thankful that the title of Jerry Rothwell’s Greenpeace documentary, How to Change the World, is an ironic one. Structured around a series of Greenpeace founder Bob Hunter’s ‘rules’ (from “Plant a Mind Bomb” to “Let the Power Go”), Rothwell is more interested in deconstructing the failures of Greenpeace than lionising its successes (though…
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is neither the hero the superhero genre deserves nor the villain it dreads. This is a film about two superheroes waging war with one another that’s similarly at war with itself, riven between competing narratives, commercial concerns and an overarching ambition that sees it striving for meaning before collapsing…
A Bigger Splash is a distinctly musical film. It’s a music film, too – with Tilda Swinton channelling her versatile Bowie charisma as a world-famous rockstar and Ralph Fiennes exhibiting some irrepressible dance moves as a record producer – but what makes the film sing is how director Luca Guadagnino effortlessly bridges its distinct tones.…
In 2002, the world was introduced to a family that made us laugh, cry and above all, appreciate our own family. My Big Fat Greek Wedding became one of the biggest, most surprising cinematic successes ever – and one of the most profitable. The sequel is packed full of nostalgic references as it reacquaints audiences with the…
Sleeping with Other People is pretty much a hangout sitcom stretched out to 100 minutes. There’s nothing wrong with that! It’s populated with a winning cast of actors/comedians who’ve found success on the small screen – Alison Brie (Community) and Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live) as the central sorta-not-really couple, surrounded by the likes of…
One of the perks – or side effects, if you consider my bank account – of my foray into cinephilia has been my introduction to the UK Blu-Ray/DVD distributors, Arrow. While perhaps less prestigious than the widely-celebrated Criterion Collection, Arrow combine a fantastic, diverse library – cult and trashy horror under Arrow Video and arthouse…
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