French writer and director Céline Sciamma has seen her talent evolve with each new feature and her third, the marvellous and superbly anchored Girlhood, is no different. Enslaved by her troubled home life and lack of prospects, sixteen year old Marieme (Karidja Touré) absorbs herself into a girl gang. As she finds her place within the clique, her outlook, attitudes and dress sense change Continue reading “Review: Girlhood (2014)”
As much as Avengers: Age Of Ultron is reported to have broken returning director Joss Whedon, it fails to break expectation. It’s keenness to please is often its biggest downfall. The ragtag team of Earth’s mightiest heroes are thrown back together when technology Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) found works against them, creating deadly AI Ultron (James Spader). Continue reading “Review: Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)”
The Duff treads a recognisable path but peppers regular doses of charm and humour along the way. Bianca (Mae Whitman) leads a fairly content high school life, until she discovers she’s the ‘duff’ (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) to her two best friends. In need of a reinvention, she enlists the help of pretty boy Wesley (Robbie Amell). Continue reading “Review: The Duff (2015)”
Cars fly and worldwide destruction ensues in Fast & Furious 7, yet the distinct – and increasing – cracks under the bonnet are hard to contest. Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and their crew are forced out of retirement and into a cat-and-mouse chase when Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeks revenge for his brother’s hospitalisation. Continue reading “Review: Fast & Furious 7 (2015)”
Part of Disney’s money-making formula to make live-action versions of its animated classics, Cinderella repeats the classic story virtually word for word, not always to its benefit. Ella (Lily James) leads a happy life in company of her mother and father. But when her parents die one after the other, Ella is left in the care of her stepmother (Cate Blanchett), a wicked woman who treats her terribly. Her luck changes for better, however, when she happens upon a stranger (Richard Madden) in the woods. Continue reading “Review: Cinderella (2015)”
Nickelodeon legend SpongeBob Squarepants adorns – and in the aftermath owns in tremendous fashion – the big screen for the second time in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water. Life is typically buoyant for the residents of Bikini Bottom, until the recipe for food favourite Krabby Patty disappears. Unaware of the pirate Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas) and his dastardly plot, Spongebob (Tom Kenny) and Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) are accused of the crime, sent out to track down the recipe while the town decends into chaos. Continue reading “Review: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water (2015)”
Will Ferrell continues to lose his comic touch with Get Hard, an unamusing and degrogatory excuse for a comedy that finds him in cahoots with Kevin Hart. Millionaire hedge fund manager James King (Ferrell) is unlawfully convicted of fraud. With a month before his ten year prison is due to start, King turns to family man Darnell (Hart), who’s after a quick buck, in a bid to prepare himself both mentally and physically. Continue reading “Review: Get Hard (2015)”
In what has already won her awards recognition, Julianne Moore stuns as a victim of early onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice, a film which struggles to match its stars formidable strength. Alice (Moore) leads a privileged life. Married with three kids and a successful career that’s reliant on her intellect, Alice’s world slowly starts to break down as she’s diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s. Continue reading “Review: Still Alice (2014)”
Hot on the heels of The Babadook, It Follows is another low-budget horror that scores big by tapping into the real, underlying fears of everyday life. Nineteen year old Jay (Maika Monroe) is preyed upon by a slow moving, constantly transforming supernatural entity after an innocent sexual encounter with pretty boy Hugh (Jake Weary) turns deadly. Continue reading “Review: It Follows (2014)”
Desiree Akhavan has delivered a candid and sharply funny indie drama in her feature debut Appropriate Behaviour, which she writes, directs and stars in. Shirin (Akhavan), an Iranian-American hipster who also happens to be bisexual, suffers an identity crisis after a break-up. Continue reading “Review: Appropriate Behaviour (2014)”
Empty Screens 