Like fish and chips, waiting in queues, and talking about the weather, soap operas are totally ingrained within British culture. Even if you don’t watch them religiously or even regularly, programmes like EastEnders, Coronation Street, and Emmerdale have been on UK TV guides for decades and their iconic characters have become household names. Now and again, soap stars break free from terrestrial telly and make their way to the big screen. I’ve picked out ten stand outs that are making it in the movies…
Continue reading “Top 10 British Soap Stars Making It in the Movies”Film review: The Beekeeper
Throughout his chequered career, director David Ayer has had such a penchant for violence and machismo that it’s surprising it’s taken this long for him to team up with Jason Statham. The grit-Brit anti-hero has somewhat established an action sub-genre of his own, the latest entry of which is revenge thriller The Beekeeper. Mild-mannered Mr Clay (Statham) spends his days tending to his hive but when his neighbour Mrs Parker (Phylicia Rashad) falls victim to a cruel phishing scam, he takes it upon himself to expose the corruption within the organisation that wronged her.
Continue reading “Film review: The Beekeeper”DVD review: Priscilla
Just one year after the release of Baz Luhrmann’s glitzy Elvis biopic, writer and director Sofia Coppola presents another side to the story with her latest feature, Priscilla. Based upon the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, we first meet Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) as a 14-year-old military brat living in West Germany where her stepfather is stationed in the US Navy. She’s invited to a party where she’s starstruck to meet Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) who had been drafted into the army at the peak of his fame. Before long, they start dating and go on to marry, and the film explores the overwhelming highs and lows of their fraught relationship.
Continue reading “DVD review: Priscilla”DVD review: Next Goal Wins
Since breaking through with cult indie hits such as Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, eccentric Kiwi filmmaker Taika Waititi has spent some time in the mainstream working with Disney on big budget Marvel and Star Wars pieces. His latest feature sees him return to his smaller scale roots, adapting the sports documentary of the same name. Co-written with Inbetweeners’ Iain Morris, comedy drama Next Goal Wins follows disgraced and downtrodden football coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) in his efforts to lead the notoriously awful American Samoa national team to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. With the help of his assistant Tavita (Oscar Kightley) and their star player Jaiyah (Kaimana), he tries to turn their misfortunes around.
Continue reading “DVD review: Next Goal Wins”Film review: Napoleon
Ridley Scott made his directorial debut with The Duellists back in 1977, set during the Napoleonic Wars, and now returns to that period of history nearly half a century later with his latest feature. Focusing on the small man behind the big conflicts, Napoleon sees Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role for the story of the emperor’s epic rise and fall. Written by screenwriter David Scarpa, his military exploits are woven into the turbulent tale of his marriage to Joséphine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby), providing a study of the controversial character away from the brutality of the battlefield.
Continue reading “Film review: Napoleon”Film review: Saltburn
Filmmaker Emerald Fennell has spent most of her career in front of the camera, known for her television roles in Call the Midwife and The Crown. A few years ago, Promising Young Woman was released; a bold, divisive debut that marked her as a writer and director to be reckoned with. Her follow-up feature is Saltburn, a black comedy thriller set in the mid-noughties.
Continue reading “Film review: Saltburn”Cinetopia podcast: November 2023 – Reviews of Anatomy of a Fall, Femme, and Loch Ness: They Created a Monster
DVD review: Dumb Money
In amongst news of lockdowns and vaccinations, 2021 also saw the short squeeze on shares of dwindling retailer GameStop make the headlines, leading to the ‘war on Wall Street’ between everyday stock sellers and major hedge fund managers. Based upon the best-selling book The Antisocial Network by Ben Mezrich, this inspiring true story has been adapted for the big screen by director Craig Gillespie. Comedy drama Dumb Money centres around analyst turned YouTube celebrity Keith Gill (Paul Dano) who encouraged his online audience to invest in the video game store under his internet alias Roaring Kitty. Through the personal stories of nurse Jennifer (America Ferrara), students Harmony (Talia Ryder) and Riri (Myha’la Herrold), businessman Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen) and more, the film explores the ripple effects of this controversial financial advice.
Continue reading “DVD review: Dumb Money”BlackBerry Interview: Matt Johnson – ‘Unless something breaks the diegesis of the picture, just about anything is a success’.
Everybody of a certain age remembers the craze of the BlackBerry phone, marking the beginning of the smartphone obsessed era we’re still living in today. However, not everybody will know the story behind the device. Based upon Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, independent filmmaker Matt Johnson brings the tale to the big screen in his trademark mockumentary style as a writer, director, and as an actor. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to discuss the film with him…
Continue reading “BlackBerry Interview: Matt Johnson – ‘Unless something breaks the diegesis of the picture, just about anything is a success’.”Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance Interview: Craig Fairbrass – ‘We tried to give Pat a few redeeming qualities, which is difficult to do’.
Following on from 2021’s origins prequel, the sixth instalment in this gritty British crime saga is Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance. Directed by Nick Nevern, this chapter is set in 90s Soho and sees Craig Fairbrass reprising his role as the vicious gangster Pat Tate. Ahead of its release, I jumped at the opportunity to sit down with the actor to discuss the film…
The last time we spoke (our 2022 interview), you mentioned that you enjoyed switching into ‘Pat Tate mode’ for these films. How was that process this time around and were there any big differences to the previous times you’ve played him?
He’s much more of a thinking man in this film. He’s calculating, putting two and two together, and he’s on a mission for revenge. It’s just different, and there’s a little more depth to him in this film. He’s not just running around shouting and screaming and swearing and snorting cocaine and beating people up. You know him a little bit more, but he has the physicality and the violence that goes with it.
Continue reading “Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance Interview: Craig Fairbrass – ‘We tried to give Pat a few redeeming qualities, which is difficult to do’.”
Cinema Perspective 