Maleficent (2014)

My first contact with Maleficent came in the form of the trailer, which I have to say was one of the most exciting and intriguing trailers I have seen for a long time. The sinister atmosphere that was conveyed combined with the new melancholy take on Once Upon A Dream by Lana Del Rey gave…

Mini Reviews #10

Pariah (2011) Director: Dee Rees Starring: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Pernell Walker A gritty and intense drama about the sexual coming of age of a black teenage girl in New York City. A brilliant central performance from Adepero Oduye as a young lesbian who struggles to keep her secret from her overbearing family whilst at…

Touchy Feely (2013)

Touchy Feely, written and directed by Lynn Shelton, premiered last January at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film, telling the story of a successful massage therapist who suddenly develops a phobia of human contact, received mixed reviews upon initial viewing and has continued to do so since in most of its limited releases. Finally…

Blue Ruin (2013)

When somebody says the words ‘revenge story’ to me, my mind immediately goes to the slick, high octane narratives of films like Old Boy, The Crow or Kill Bill. All brilliant pictures but all, give or take a few plot twists, pictures with a very set structure in terms of a calculated protagonist systematically exacting…