Ghost Stories

Before the film began an image appeared of Andy Nyman. He’s  the co writer, co director and star of Ghost Stories, and he told us that as a Leicester lad his imagination had been sparked by many extraordinary and unusual films seen at the old Phoenix Cinema. He hoped we would enjoy his movie and…

The Journeyman

Matty Burton (Paddy Considine) starts this film as a defending world champion. It may only be version of the middleweight  crown and he may have acquired it fortuitously, but he clearly has a high profile and a considerable measure of achievement behind him. He is no journeyman and this inaccuracy bugged me disproportionately throughout the…

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

When I saw a poster with the words “From the people who brought you The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”, my heart sank so I approached this film with fairly low expectations. However I’ve always been a bit of a fan of director Mike Newell and the casting looked like it had been put together with…

The Third Murder

Over recent years Hirokazu Kore-era has given us a series of films depicting fascinating slices of Japanese family life which unfold slowly, logically with a sense of inexorability. These are usually peopled by charming innocents whose interactions, in response to comparitively ordinary events, allow the audience to develop a quiet appreciation and empathy for them.…

Sweet Country

Set in the 1920s and making full use of some spectacular outback landscapes, (I suspect The Northern Territories have never looked more impressive) Warwick Thornton’s languid southern Western is a mix of two parts character study, one part social history, and one part Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. The story is based on a…

Unsane

Insatisfactory. Shot in just 10 days on an i phone, Steven Soderburg’s first foray into the world of psychological horror is the ultimate cinematic cheap thrill, but suffers from some very damaging shortcomings. The most serious of which concerned its structure. In a terrible schoolboy error Soderburgh gives away the key element of his mystery…

Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson obviously loves dogs and so do I. So I managed to find a dog friendly screening and took Smudge my 9 year old Staffie bitch along with me to help provide a second opinion for the review. She was initially enraptured and told me that IHHO it could only have been improved if…

On Body and Soul

Having never knowingly watched an Hungarian movie before – I have now seen two in a week. And jolly good they were too. This one by veteran director Ildiko Enyedi is a captivating love story between two of the most socially awkward participants imaginable. There was an enchanting fairytale quality to it and a very…