Saturday 31 August 2013

Beyond The Walls



In Beyond The Walls, what begins as an impromptu one-night stand between Illir (Guillaume Gouix), an attractively scruffy man with little time for romance, and Paulo (Matila Malliarakis), a confused and more sensitive young man, evolves into a more long term relationship due to unexpected circumstances. But no relationships is ever immune to what life throws at you and the trials of time.

Thursday 22 August 2013

The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones



Clary (Lily Collins) is just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life of teenage sulkiness in New York City. Or so she thought, until she finds herself in the midst of a war between angels and demons, taking place in front of humanity's very eyes, but invisible to most of them. For Clary is a Shadow Hunter, blessed with supernatural powers, and whose role it is to protect humans. And she is thrown into action when her mum (herself a Shadow Hunter) is kidnapped by a demon. She must join other Shadow Hunters, finding out a few truths about herself along the way, and fulfil her destiny.

Friday 16 August 2013

2 Guns



With a promising opening scene and clear markers towards a dialogue heavy film, two star header 2 Guns' simplistic title appears to be a marketing ploy to play up the action elements of the film, of which there are many. Denzel Washington as Robert 'Bobby' Trench returns to familiar ground of being a charismatic, intelligent, government trained capable agent who may or may not have the best of intentions as in Training Day (2001) and the more inferior Safe House (2012). Mark Wahlberg is Bobby's partner Michael 'Stig' Stigman, at times the opposite but always the equal of Bobby in terms of intentions and having a particular kind of skill set. 

Sunday 11 August 2013

Pi: Blu-Ray Release



Darren Aronofsky has got to be one of the most interesting and versatile directors working at the moment. He has a unique visual style but his cinema is never style over substance, on the contrary, he is never afraid to tackle some pretty ambitious subjects. And all of his qualities were very much apparent in his first film, Pi. Fifteen years after its original release, his first film is getting a 15th year anniversary release on Blu-Ray, so now is the perfect opportunity to discover it.

Saturday 10 August 2013

FrightFest & The Chinese Takeaway: A Poem



They say the arts are therapeutic. Some events are so traumatic that they get buried deep inside the dark depths of your psyche, unable that you are to face them. But the arts can help you heal the trauma, by letting you express yourself creatively and challenge those painful memories.

As we are nearing FrightFest, it is time to face my old demon, an event that occurred at last year's edition and got branded on my brain. I have only mentioned it to a few trusted people, in hushed tones, looking in the oblivion at the Lovecraft-like, unfathomable horrors that the memories conjured. Even now, nearly 12 months later, it is too raw to be openly talking about them. I could have drawn the event, I could have sung it. Instead, I have decided to write a poem about it. And I hope I will finally heal.

Friday 9 August 2013

The Lone Ranger Review



Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp know their way around a lucrative franchise that dabbles liberally and expediently in the magical filled with bombastic action as seen with Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) and it's near in-exhausted sequels. Bruckheimer and Depp share producer duties on their latest venture The Lone Ranger, based on the original 1933 American radio series. 

Sunday 4 August 2013

The Adjuster: Nostalgia for 90's Indie Cinema



I first saw Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster one afternoon on TV in France, whose much more relaxed censorship meant it was perfectly possible to watch that kind of film in the daytime, despite a particularly graphic scene. I was 17 and the film flew right over my head, as well as grossing me out a couple of times too. I became a fan of Atom Egoyan a few years later, especially with Exotica so with the new Artificial Eye release of The Adjuster on Blu-Ray, it was high time to rediscover it. And what a shock it has proven to be on its second viewing, a rediscovery which also prompted a slight nostalgia for a certain kind of North American's indie cinema of the 90's.

Friday 2 August 2013

Silence, a film about sounds


Silence by director Pat Collins is, as the title antagonistically suggests, a film about sounds. But sounds that are far from human-made noise, so when I sat down on my seat with a bottle of water in one hand and a bag of crisps on the other, and the film hummed its blissful massage-like tones, I felt embarrassed at every bite, crick and crack. As any good Londoner (from abroad in my case) would.