Author: Garry Arnot
Film review: A Patch of Fog
After winning a BAFTA for his short film Boogaloo & Graham in 2014, Irish filmmaker Michael Lennox makes the jump to feature for his directorial debut A Patch of Fog. The suspenseful psychological thriller follows novelist and TV personality Sandy Duffy (Conleth Hill) who lives off of the success of a best-seller which gives the film its name. Not content with the luxurious lifestyle his book has given him, he develops a habit of shoplifting for thrills, loving the excitement of walking through the exit with stolen goods. Sandy gets off scot-free until he encounters secluded security guard Robert (Stephen Graham) who spots him dropping a pen into his pocket as he receives a phoney phone call. However, instead of prosecuting, he begins to blackmail the thief, threatening to expose the secret to ruin his reputation, and asks only for companionship in return for his silence.
DVD review: Deadpool
After the release of a staggering 36 films since the turn of the century, we’ve come to know what to expect from films based on Marvel Comics, whether it’s an origin story or ensemble, or should that be ‘assemble’, piece where characters weave in and out of each others movies. In to mix up the formula as part of the X-Men series strand is self-referential comedy ‘Deadpool’, marking the directorial debut of Tim Miller, who is jokingly labelled an ‘overpaid tool’ in the titles. Ryan Reynolds takes the leading role, eager to leave the green mask of universally panned ‘Green Lantern’ behind him. The plot centres around mercenary Wade Wilson (Reynolds) who undergoes an experimental treatment that goes horribly wrong, but leaves him with superpowers. Out to reconcile with girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and get revenge on villainous Ajax (Ed Skrein), can he undo the damage and get the girl?
Top 5 Must-See Movies of Ed Film Fest 2016
It’s festival time again and Artistic Director Mark Adams is back with an array of homegrown and international movies, all making their way to Scotland’s capital for the annual event! Usual strands of the Edinburgh International Film Festival such as Best of British, American Dreams and Night Moves return, and this year brings a special Focus on Finland section. Here are our top 5 selections from this year’s brochure…
Continue reading “Top 5 Must-See Movies of Ed Film Fest 2016”
DVD review: The Revenant
The visionary director Alejandro González Iñárritu has been an Academy favourite now for some time and after the huge success of his last film, he again presents an Oscar frontrunner in hunting drama ‘The Revenant’, loosely adapted from Michael Punke’s novel of the same name. Leonardo DiCaprio takes the leading role as frontiersman Hugh Glass, who embarks on a fur trading expedition alongside John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) and their leader Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson). When events take a drastic turn for the worse for Glass, he uses survival instincts and will power to exact revenge on those who have wronged him.
Trailer: Suburra
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Pierfrancesco Favino, Greta Scarano, Alessandro Borghi
Release date: June 2016
DVD review: 600 Miles (600 Millas)
At the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the programme is categorised into strands that celebrate and showcase different aspects of cinema, and each year a nation is focussed on which highlights the ‘international’ part of EIFF. In 2015, Mexico is the country in the limelight and Gabriel Ripstein’s debut film ‘600 Miles’, or millas in Spanish, is in the line-up, following its successful trip to the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. The crime drama unfolds within the arms trafficking underworld as friends Carson (Harrison Thomas) and Arnulfo (Kristyan Ferrer) smuggle weaponry from Arizona across the border to Arnulfo’s Mexican drug cartel family in an SUV. Unbeknownst to them, ATF agent Hank Harris (Tim Roth) is tracking them closely and when their paths inevitably cross, a vicious encounter leads to an unlikely road trip, simmering with threat and nerve-shredding tension.
Continue reading “DVD review: 600 Miles (600 Millas)”Top 5 Ryan Gosling Performances
From his breakthrough appearance in Nicholas Sparks’ weepie The Notebook to his brutal turn in ultra-violent thriller Only God Forgives, Ryan Gosling has an eclectic back-catalogue that divides audiences and keeps us guessing what he’ll do next. After his foray into directorial work on Lost River, he has turned to comedy in Oscar nominated financial satire The Big Short and detective buddy movie The Nice Guys which hits UK cinemas this month. In the run-up to its release, we count down his five best performances to date.
Trailer: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Directed by: Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone
Starring: Andy Samberg, Imogen Poots, Sarah Silverman
Release date: August 2016
DVD review: The Big Short
After the burst of the housing bubble led to a global financial crisis in 2007-2008, the last person you would expect to make a film about it would be Adam McKay, the goofball director known for his work on The Other Guys and the Anchorman movies. However, the comedy filmmaker has applied his mischievous directorial style to The Big Short, a biographical drama based on Michael Lewis’ book of the same name, based around four men who saw the collapse happening before anyone else. Boasting one of the most star-studded casts in years including Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Brad Pitt, a stocks-and-shares saga is sold as an energetic jest-fest.
Cinema Perspective 