Author: Garry Arnot

DVD & Digital

Film review: The Birthday Cake

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An amazing ensemble cast has come together for gangster drama The Birthday Cake, the directorial debut of Jimmy Giannopoulos. The contained ‘day in the life’ plot centres around Gio (Shiloh Fernandez), the youngest footsoldier of an Italian American organised crime family who, as a tradition, continue to celebrate the birthday of their late patriarch. To mark the tenth anniversary of his passing, an extra special gathering is arranged, and Gio’s mother Sofia (Lorraine Bracco) assigns him the task of delivering the cake. He arrives to a warm reception from Angelo (Val Kilmer), Joey (John Magaro), Vito (Vincent Pastore), Ricardo (William Fichtner), and more. However, when it transpires that Leo (Emory Cohen) is missing, a chain of events is set in motion that reveal a dark secret from his past.

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DVD & Digital

Film review: Giddy Stratospheres

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We’re transported back to the indie era of one-pound pints, sweaty walls, and those coloured framed sunglasses that everyone wore to nightclubs for Giddy Stratospheres, the debut of musician, model, and actress turned filmmaker Laura Jean Marsh. As well as writing and directing the piece, Marsh plays the lead role of Lara; an art-school scenester whose party lifestyle begins to catch up with her. Reeling after a boozy night out with her best pal Daniel (Jamal Franklin), she is called away to a family funeral where she is forced to face up to her mounting problems.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Another Round

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Writer and director Thomas Vinterberg reunites with actor Mads Mikkelsen for their latest effort which studies binge drinking in Denmark. Comedy drama Another Round, also known as Druk in its native language, follows old pals who work together at the local school. Whilst out celebrating at birthday dinner, Martin (Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), Peter (Lars Ranthe), and Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) discuss psychiatrist Skårderud’s theory that maintaining a low but steady blood alcohol content helps us live more creative, fulfilling lives. Willing to give this unconventional lifestyle a try to shake up their middle-aged existence, they embark upon a social experiment.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: In the Earth

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After earning a reputation for his unique brand of violent, satirical films, writer and director Ben Wheatley went off-piste for a couple of years to make a Shakespeare-inspired family drama and a glossy, Netflix-produced romantic thriller. His directorial tangents have been met with mixed critical response but for his latest effort, he returns to his indie horror roots with a point to prove and an axe to grind.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Nobody

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Indie musician turned filmmaker Ilya Naishuller debuted as a director with Hardcore Henry in 2015, an inventive sci-fi film which riffed off of first-person videogames. His sophomore effort Nobody is more traditionally conceived in style, yet surprising in its casting, pitting seasoned comedy actor Bob Odenkirk at the centre of an action thriller. The preposterous plot centres around mild-mannered family man Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) who works at his father-in-law’s business. When his home is broken into in the middle of the night, a chain of events is set off which reignites his penchant for violence and results in a rivalry with Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksei Serebryakov), a dangerous mob boss.

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DVD & Digital

Film review: Flashback

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Back in 2014, actress Maika Monroe emerged as the ‘next big thing’ after brilliant performances in back-to-back indie hits It Follows and The Guest. Strangely, aside from the odd supporting role here and there, she has all but vanished into cinematic anonymity. We witness art imitating life to some degree in the latest feature from writer and director Christopher MacBride. Previously titled The Education of Fredrick Fitzell, the plot sees Fred (Dylan O’Brien) revisits his youth to explore the disappearance of Cindy (Monroe), whom he remembers as the coolest girl at school. With the help of old pals Sebastian (Emory Cohen) and Andre (Keir Gilchrist), he must unravel the mystery of his past.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Here Are The Young Men

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 Based upon Rob Doyle’s novel of the same name, model turned actor and filmmaker Eoin Macken writes and directs coming-of-age drama Here Are the Young Men. Set during the Celtic Tiger period of Ireland’s economic boom, the story treads the well-worn territory of a group of teenage friends having their last hurrah summer before entering the real world. Matthew (Dean Charles-Chapman) is the naïve and impressionable protagonist, led astray by Rez (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) and Kearney (Finn Cole) who have an insatiable appetite for drug-fuelled rebellion. As his relationship with Jen (Anya Taylor-Joy) begins to blossom, Matthew is forced to reckon with his increasingly reckless behaviour.

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Interviews

Creation Stories Interview: Dean Cavanagh – ‘McGee gave us carte blanche to do with it as we pleased and we certainly did!’

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Flying the flag for bands such as Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain, and Oasis, record label Creation Records was founded by the iconic music exec Alan McGee. His amazing, drug-fuelled tale has been immortalised by director Nick Moran, with a script penned by Dean Cavanagh and Irvine Welsh.

I seized the opportunity to ask screenwriter Cavanagh some questions about the making of this madcap biopic…

Creation Stories is a celebration of not only Alan McGee himself but also of Creation Records and it feels very passionate about that period of time. What do you think was so special about that beloved ‘Britpop’ era both musically and personally for you?

I was in a band during that period and spent a lot of time in London knocking about with people who were classed as ‘britpop’ artists. I knew a lot of the movers and shakers but I wasn’t really a fan of the music. I was more into underground clubbing but the paths often crossed and it was hard to ignore all the success and excess if you know what I mean.

Me and Irvine were both part of the scene but kept managing to avoid each other.  My mate Paolo Hewitt was writing a book on Oasis so I got invited to a lot of the shindigs and was privy to it all. I loved Oasis’ first album. It really made a statement and put that indie spirit back in the charts. I knew Britpop was just a lazy media term so never really took it seriously.

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