August 22, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: One comment

Director: Ant Timpson

Writer: Toby Harvard

Cast: Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie, Michael Smiley, Martin Donovan

Cert: 18 (TBC)

Running time: 93mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: Norval (Wood) returns home to reunite with his estranged father. But, he soon discovers the old man (McHattie) is less than pleased to see him.

What’s the verdict: Since making his Lord of the Rings millions, Elijah Wood has explored interesting characters in some particularly off-the-wall movies. Come to Daddy is as left-of-centre as the weirdest of his previous films, from Open Windows to that Maniac remake.

He plays Norval Greenwood, a thirtysomething recovering alcoholic with hair courtesy of Gareth from The Office and a moustache nicked from John Waters...

October 16, 2016, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: Ben Wheatley

Writer: Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Michael Smiley, Sam Riley, Jack Reynor, Babou Cessay, Patrick Bergin, Noah Taylor

Cert: 15 (TBC)

Running time: 90mins

Year: 2016

What’s the story: IRA gunmen, a South African arms dealer, mediators and hired muscle all converge on an abandoned factory in 1970s Boston to swap a truckload of guns for a briefcase full of cash. Inevitably, things don’t go according to plan.

What’s the verdict: A good argument can be made for Ben Wheatley being Britain’s most versatile filmmaker. Kill List resembled Alan Clarke tackling Taxi Driver. Sightseers was Mike Leigh does The Honeymoon Killers. A Field in England resembled a Thomas de Quincey opium fantasy seared onto the bi...

September 8, 2016, Posted in  Features Comments: No comments

When writing preview features for the London Film Festival it’s difficult to resist the numbers. Those big numbers representing how many films will show over the 12 day festival, how many countries are featured, how many cinemas films are hosting films. And crucially, which numbers in the calendar you should be blocking out.

That last one’s easy – Wednesday 5^th to Sunday 16^th October.

But, there is one figure this year of paramount importance. 60.

In 2016 the BFI London Film Festival marks its 60^th anniversary. Maintaining the original brief of being a “festival of festivals” the LFF continues to bring to the UK movies which have wowed audiences at other festivals that year.

The opening film way back in 1957 was Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Throne of Blood...

October 13, 2015, Posted in  Reviews Comments: One comment

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Writer: Yorgos Lanthimos

Cast: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Michael Smiley, Angeliki Papoulia, Ashley Jensen, Oliva Colman, Jessica Barden

Cert: 15

Running time: 118mins

Year: 2015

The lowdown: The crazy little thing called love has meat in its claws in The Lobster. Colin Farrell is David, a resident of The City, where singlehood is outlawed. Recently divorced, he has 45 days to find another partner in a luxury hotel or be transformed into an animal of his choosing (the eponymous lobster). Funny and disturbing, sometimes simultaneously, think Being John Malkovich meets The Notebook with script notes by Franz Kafka.

The full verdict: The Lobster opens with an act of donkeycide. By the end of the film you’ll understand why, if

July 20, 2013, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, Michael Smiley

Cert: 15

Running time: 109mins

Year: 2013

The lowdown: The final bite of the Cornetto trilogy zings with the taste of 90s Britpop nostalgia and memories of 80s sci-fi horror movies.  Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are joined by Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine for a trip down amnesia lane.  Five one-time friends, their aim is to complete the Golden Mile 12 pub crawl in their hometown, a challenge that bested them years earlier.  But, with the locals acting distinctly odd, the “five musketeers” have more than a big head on their pints to worry about...