Flicks and Pieces

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s…a Superman Musical?

It was 1966, smack bang in the midst of the Silver Age of Comic Books, that the idea struck. With the popularity of superheroes old and new once more skyrocketing, the opportunity to capitalise on the public’s renewed interest in comics had grown too great to turn down. And what better way to do so…

Dolph Lundgren’s ‘The Punisher’: Marvel’s First Cinematic Superhero

We need to talk about The Punisher. No, not Jon Bernthal’s Netflix version. Nor Ray Stevenson’s take on the character in War Zone (2008). Not even Thomas Jane’s 2004 offering – you should be so lucky. Instead, we’re heading back even further, all the way to the late ’80s we go. Thirty years on from…

Lovers Rock Review

While Mangrove kicked off Small Axe – Steve McQueen’s five-part series of films centred on London’s West Indian community – with a powerful look at Black people’s struggle for civil justice and basic human rights, Lovers Rock shifts gear entirely. It acts as a celebration of Black music and culture, transporting us to a 1980s…

Ammonite Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

It’s in a wind-battered 1840s Lyme Regis that we meet Kate Winslet’s Mary Anning. She plies her trade as a palaeontologist, recovering fossils on the shore of the Jurassic Coast, finding solace in her craft. Yet it’s a life of repression that she lives, from her ailing mother who watches her every move, and from…

The Human Voice Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Acclaimed director Pedro Almodóvar’s latest The Human Voice – a short but sharp film adaptation of the theatre production of the same name – hinges on its central performance. Lucky for him then that he has Tilda Swinton fronting this (almost) one-woman show.

Striding Into the Wind Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Freewheeling slacker Kun (Zhou You) is the proud new owner of a smoking, broken-down mess of a Jeep, his spirit animal in vehicular form. Whilst the car is a direct representation of Kun as a person at this moment in his life, the journey that he takes in it also works well as a metaphor…

One Night in Miami Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Regina King’s feature directorial debut is brimming with confidence, in its staging, in its script and above all else, in its powerful performances.

Wolfwalkers Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Cartoon Saloon’s celebration of Irish folklore is a visual stunner, gorgeously animated and popping with colour, its characters spilling from the restraints of their outlines. But it’s handcrafted magic that the story can’t quite match up to consistently.

Supernova Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Harry Macqueen directs Supernova with a gentle hand, putting performance first in this story of love and loss in the face of illness. And right he is to put faith in his actors, Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci bringing affectionate warmth to this quietly heartbreaking film.

Kajillionaire Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

American Hustle meets Napoleon Dynamite.

Relic Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Quietly effective Aussie horror Relic’s messaging might not be the most subtle, but it at least operates with a lighter hand when it comes to its scares – rejecting cheap thrills to focus on performance and design to set out its eerie tone.

Mangrove Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Hunger to Shame, 12 Years a Slave to Widows. It’s the type of run most directors would dream of; Steve McQueen’s done it in his first four films. Clearly not one to rest on his laurels, he follows up his outstanding 2018 heist movie Widows with the Small Axe anthology, a group of five films…

Mogul Mowgli Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

Mogul Mowgli’s hard-hitting, deeply personal exploration of identity, Pakistani culture and family leaves a lasting impression long after the credits roll, thanks in no small part to its leading man, Riz Ahmed, who hits career-best form.

Honeymood Review (BFI London Film Festival 2020)

There’s said to be a form of psychosis brought on by spending time in Jerusalem – the aptly named Jerusalem Syndrome – with past visitors to the city supposedly having fallen to flights of fancy during and after their time there. Whether or not this phenomenon can account for newlywed couple Eleanor and Noam’s bizarre…