God's Own Country By Francis Lee

Reviewed By Linda Marric

Fresh from wowing the crowds at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival and going on to win the award for best British Film in the process, Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country finally sees its nationwide release this week. This deeply touching and thoroughly charming first feature has garnered the greatest amount of good will from critics and film fans alike, making it one of the most awaited British films of the year. Set amongst a Yorkshire Dales farming community, and recounting a love story between a Romanian worker and the owner of a sheep farm, the film is predictably being referred to by some as the British Brokeback Mountain, but in reality God's Own Country has a lot more in common with Barry Jenkins’ surprise 2016 hit, Moonlight than with Ang Lee’s deeply flawed 2005 movie.

Detroit By Katherine Bigelow

Reviewed By Linda Marric

Chartering the events that took place during the Detroit race riots of 1967, Kathryn Bigelow’s harrowing new film Detroit maybe a hard watch for most, but is nevertheless as essential today as Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning was almost 30 years ago. Written by Mark Boal and staring some of the most impressive young actors working in Hollywood right now, the film carries with it a strong message which nobody can afford to ignore, especially in the current circumstances America finds itself under the Trump administration and the recent Charlottesville debacle which has reignited the hateful rhetoric of white supremacy and allowed the far right to flourish.

Metamorphoses by Christophe Honoré

Reviewed by Andy Zachariason

Christophe Honoré’s elliptical metamorphoses opens with a sensual gaze upon nature as classical music guides us between a deep green forest and into seaweed swaying below the water. There’s a curious rhythm to the imagery as if it’s looking for some answer. Context to this is given by an Ovid poem. You might think you’re watching a Koyaanisqatsi riff or an homage to Kurosawa’s Dreams, but the film quickly reveals itself to be a series of chapters and connected vignettes about human’s inner nature; in particular, their sexuality.

Logan Lucky By Steven Soderbergh

Reviewed By Linda Marric

It wasn't so long ago that Steven Soderbergh was talking of retirement and the need to move on to something new.  Luckily for us, the director is back with a film which is set to be one of his most well received to date. Yes Logan Lucky is yet another heist movie, and yes the jokes are a little on the predictable side, but make no mistake, this brilliantly well crafted and impeccably acted production was worth waiting four years for. Staring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and an unrecognisable Daniel Craig, the film is everything any Soderbergh fan could have wished for and more. In fact, with its quirky characters of bumbling country folk and reckless misfits, Logan Lucky would certainly feel more at home alongside any Coen Brothers production than the average Soderbergh narrative.

Why Haven't You Seen...? The Black Panther (1977)

What's it all about?

Closely based on the facts of the case, The Black Panther is a documentary style reconstruction of Donald Neilson's (Donald Sumpter) escalating criminal career, from robbery to murder to the kidnapping of Lesley Whittle (Debbie Farrington).

Why haven't you seen it?

For many years you couldn't. It was, predictably, controversial in the press (including those parts of it that had endangered Lesley Whittle with irresponsible reporting during the real events). Sue Lawley took director Ian Merrick to task on TV, having not seen the film herself. Shortly after this the film was banned, again without being viewed, by several local councils. This meant that the film had only minimal and brief distribution. There were video releases, both pre-cert and 18 rated, but these seem to have been small scale and, never re-released on video between 1981 and 2012, The Black Panther effectively vanished for more than 30 years.

Why Haven't You Seen...? Stop The Pounding Heart (2013)

Post by Sam Inglis

What's it all about?

The third of Italian director Roberto Minervini's America trilogy focuses on Sara, the 14 year old daughter of a large, deeply religious, goat farming family in rural Texas. We see her everyday life, helping with the family and the farm, but also a little spark between her and Colby, the bull riding son of a neighbouring family, which may be part of what is challenging her faith.

Why haven't you seen it?

Stop The Pounding Heart was never going to be a big mainstream title. It played well at festivals, but without stars or a big name director to act as a hook, wide distribution for a film this small and quiet was always going to be an uphill struggle. Unless you caught it at a festival, this was always likely to be a film that fell through the cracks.

A Ghost Story By David Lowry

Reviewed By Linda Marric

Once in a while a film comes along which affects you in more ways than you could have ever imagined. Heralded by some as one the best movies to come out of Sundance this year, David Lowry’s A Ghost Story is an incredibly well executed exercise is subtly and an engenoius masterclass in clever filmmaking. Centring around ideas of loss, legacy and the need for human connection, the film is sure to leave its audiences stunned and in awe of its simple yet highly effective premise. Written by Lowry himself and staring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, A Ghost Story never resorts to predictable tropes nor does it go out of its way to alienate its audiences with an overly complicated narrative arc. Lowry’s ability to normalise allegory and symbolism is a testament to his sublime writing credentials.