The 500 Cast - The Immigrant

The 500 Cast Episode 1: Crossing Seas and Decades Edition

If you’ve been following my blog for a while now and have been desperate to hear what I sound like, now you have the chance! Jesse Thompson, editor and writer over at The 500 Club, has started up a monthly podcast for the site. It’s his baby – he planned, edited and recorded the thing…

Child's Pose (2013)

Child’s Pose (2013)

Child’s Pose mounts a stinging attack on Romanian bourgeois corruption that avoids didacticism or familiarity by assuming an unconventional perspective. The story is found in the ripples resulting from a car accident that leaves a child dead and the driver potentially facing charges; however, it is not told from the point of view of the…

Chef (2014)

Chef (2014)

Chef is clearly a personal film for Jon Favreau. This film of food trucks, caviar eggs and molten fillings is as much a tale of artistic resilience as it is the beauty of cooking. It stars Favreau (writer and director besides) as celebrity chef Carl Casper. We watch as he crafts the perfect toasted sandwich,…

Sophie Hyde interview

Interview with 52 Tuesdays Director Sophie Hyde

About a week ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Sophie Hyde, the award-winning director of 52 Tuesdays. The film and the director are both remarkable – having had only a very busy work day to prepare for the interview, I went in with a list of half-written, largely-incoherent questions that she answered with aplomb,…

Kevin Kline and Romany Malco in Last Vegas (2013)

Review Roundup – The Past & the Last

A pair of reviews to share… The first is of the dismal Last Vegas; a bad film, but I hopefully managed to salvage an entertaining review out of its mediocrity. My write-up can be found at Cheated Hearts. Second is for The Past, the follow-up from the director of 2011’s excellent A Separation. A much…

Review Roundup – Actresses Looking for Oscars

Another couple reviews hosted on other websites, each for a film whose leading ladies are likely to be nominated for Academy Awards soon enough: August: Osage County, a film with a great cast and screenplay that never really come together to create a great film. Philomena, anchored by an excellent performance from Judi Dench but…

Frozen (2013)

You may have noticed my blog posting slackening a little after ccpopculture’s “first birthday.” Partly this is explained by the time of year, as I’ve just finished up school for the year, which meant lots of marking and reporting and limited time to blog. It’s because I’ve posted an increasing number of Extended Cut posts…