Everything is a gamble according to Justin Timberlake’s online poker whizz Richie Furst in Runner Runner – a philosophy that eludes this safely derivative, risk-averse script. Directed by The Lincoln Lawyer ’s Brad Furman, the plot centres around Furst’s descent into the corrupt world of Ivan Block (Ben Affleck), an …
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Michael Roemer’s 1964 drama is an indie-cinema milestone, bringing an incisive grasp of place, period and performance to its up-close portrait of emergent black pride. Ivan Dixon is hugely affecting as Duff, an itinerant railroad worker in Alabama who marries teacher-and-preacher’s daughter Josie (Abbey Lincoln) despite disapproval on all sides. …
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Director Fernando Trueba ( Chico & Rita ) serves up an elegant black-and-white tale of an elderly sculptor (Jean Rochefort) living in occupied France, who finds reinvigoration when he takes on young Spanish refugee (Aida Folch) to sit for him. Inspired by the relationship between real-life Franco-Catalan artist Maillol and …
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Your Brother’s Blood book review . Ever since poor Duane Jones accidentally caught a bullet at the end of Night Of The Living Dead , the zombie story has felt like the natural home for mixing up social commentary with action. So it goes with David Towsey’s debut novel (the …
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As I’ve said before it’s always difficult to review a book like this. You get the same approach in every book of this type; casting, costume choices, locations and so on. It’s not a bad thing, God knows I’ve been reading these things avidly since I could shave, but it …
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Twenty years on from its original release, nothing feels remotely extinct about Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster take on Michael Crichton’s bestselling novel. Not the Oscar-winning FX that brought the dinosaurs back to life. Not John Williams’ timeless score. Not even Richard Attenborough’s hokey-but-wholesome turn as John Hammond, the eccentric billionaire who …
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Director Mikael Marcimain makes an auspicious debut with this chilly drama based on a real-life prostitution-ring scandal that nearly brought down Sweden’s government. An indomitable madam with a high-class clientele, Dagmar (Pernilla August) lures in girls’-home escapees Iris (Sofia Karemyr) and Sonja (Josefin Asplund) with easy money and glam perks …
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Don’t judge Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (opens in new tab) by its overly dramatic opening moments, which awkwardly depict a tragedy on a lake that leaves a young boy motherless and imbued with a healthy fear of water. Gauge its effectiveness instead by the memorable hours of adventure …
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When Total Film saw Neill Blomkamp’s dystopian mindfuck District 9 (2009), we were blown away. A “stunning debut,” we called the epic fantasy that wrangled hot-button issues of racism, subjugation and segregation, “heralding the arrival of an exciting new action-cinema voice”. Neo-realist, gritty, innovative and boasting a gut-punch of an …
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Continuum 2.12 “Second Last” TV REVIEW Episode 2.12 Writers: Shelley Eriksen, Jonathan Lloyd Walker Director: Amanda Tapping THE ONE WHERE Gardiner’s body is found and Kiera is blamed for his death. She goes on the run from the cops and Carlos goes renegade to join her (who needs a police …
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