Film review: A Star is Born

Posted on September 30, 2018 by

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 Bradley Cooper makes the transition from actor to filmmaker with his directorial debut A Star is Born, the latest incarnation of a musical romance fable that has spanned generations of cinema. As well as directing and producing, Cooper also stars as Jackson Maine, a heavy-drinking rock musician. After stumbling into a drag bar after one of his many sell-out shows, he meets aspiring singer Ally (Lady Gaga) and the pair bond over song writing and their desire to have their voices heard. The chance encounter marks the beginning of Ally’s rise to fame and Jackson’s downward spiral.

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Trailer: Captain Marvel

Posted on September 18, 2018 by

Directed by: Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck

Starring: Brie Larson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law

Release: March 2019

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DVD review: The Festival

Posted on August 19, 2018 by
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 The Inbetweeners co-creator Iain Morris brings a summer staple to the big screen with mud-caked comedy The Festival, his first directorial work without collaborator Damon Beesley by his side. At his university graduation, hapless Nick (Joe Thomas) is dumped by girlfriend Caitlin (Hannah Tointon) before embarrassing himself in front of his peers. To drag him out of a self-loathing slump, his best friend Shane (Hammed Animashaun) takes him to a music festival, in the hope that it will be the ideal antidote to his brutal break-up.

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DVD review: Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Posted on July 29, 2018 by
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 In recent years, the cinematic landscape has become increasingly packed with remakes and reboots, but Tom Cruise’s signature franchise has really stood the test of time. Along with writer-director Christopher McQuarrie with whom he frequently collaborates, the pair present the sixth instalment of the showstopping spy thriller series. Mission: Impossible – Fallout sees IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team attempting to track down stolen plutonium cores. Matters are made more complicated when they are joined by moustachioed CIA assassin August Walker (Henry Cavill) who is assigned with keeping tabs on their controversial methods.

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DVD review: First Reformed

Posted on July 17, 2018 by
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 Paul Schrader made a name for himself as a film writer in the 70s when he penned the screenplay for Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed masterpiece Taxi Driver. Since then, his work has divided audiences and he is very much regarded as a hit-or-miss director. His latest piece is psychological thriller First Reformed, which stars Ethan Hawke as troubled pastor Ernst Toller who serves at a historical church in upstate New York. When expectant mum Mary (Amanda Seyfried) asks him to counsel her environmentalist boyfriend, he begins to question his faith and subsequently suffers an existential crisis.

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Trailer: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted on July 17, 2018 by

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Starring: Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Joseph Mazzello

Release: October 2018

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Film review: Dumped (Larguées)

Posted on July 16, 2018 by
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French writer-director Eloïse Lang explores the relationship between a mother and her daughters in comedy-drama Dumped (Larguées). Rose (Camille Cottin) is a wacky party animal who enjoys a care-free life of drinking and dancing until the small hours. Her sister Alice (Camille Chamoux) is quite the opposite; happily married with two young children. When their mother Françoise (Miou-Miou) is dumped by their father for a younger woman, they hatch a plan to cheer her up, whisking her off to Réunion island for what is intended to be a weekend of sun, sea, sand and serenity.

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