Spotlight‘s sensitive subject matter would be incredibly easy to mishandle. However, director Tom McCarthy has succeeded in providing a gripping yet grounded portrayal of the child abuse scandal The Boston Globe exposed in 2002. Devoid of visual frills, the film relies on an outstanding cast to carry it over the potential pitfalls. McCarthy and co-writer Read More
Rams is the story of two stubborn brothers who must put aside their differences to protect their animals, creating an interesting dilemma for the viewer; we want to support the brothers’ decision to disobey the law but there are numerous conflicting factors warning us not to. The film follows an ageing man on his journey Read More
“Are you or have you ever been Trumbo?” ask the promotional posters for Jay Roach’s Trumbo, a delicate piece that explores the real events of the McCarthy Era at the height of the paranoia surrounding The Cold War and Russian/Communist influence upon American citizens. Bryan Cranston masterfully takes on the role of Dalton Trumbo, a Read More
The Revenant by Alejandro González Iñárritu, director of Birdman, chronicles the saga of a nineteenth century frontiersman played by Leonardo DiCaprio who struggles against the elements in his quest for revenge. The majority of the film deals with the unforgiving brutality and violence inside the world these characters inhabit, justified by its focus on survival Read More
As one of the most nominated films of the year Carol sinks only your heart, and exceeds expectations. Set in early 1950s Manhattan – a tough climate for sexual deviancy and independent women – Todd Haynes’ latest picture of homosexuality is his most refined and subtly powerful. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Read More
“Nothing endures but the land”, and nothing quite captures the overarching theme of Lewis Grassic Gibbons’ classic novel than this, its most famous quote. Sunset Song, the first novel of the trilogy “A Scots Quair”, is set in The Mearns (now Aberdeenshire) on the eve of the First World War. Widely regarded as one of Read More
How far should a teacher push their student in the name of greatness? This is one of the questions raised by 30-year-old Damien Chazelle’s jazz infused, high tempo drama Whiplash. This Sundance award winning film is Chazelle’s second feature after his low budget debut, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009). Although the two Read More
Susanne Bier’s A Second Chance (En Chance Til) begins with police officer Andreas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his partner Simon (Ulrich Thomsen) breaking into the home of a drug-addicted couple, where they find a neglected baby boy covered in his own faeces. Unable to remove the child from his parents’ custody, Andreas returns to his own wife Read More