There was a period that lasted around a decade between the mid-2000s and the end of the 2010s, in which one of the most popular genres for films were those that centred on boxing – they weren’t confined to this period, but this is when they were arguably at their peak, each one seeming to…
Georgy Girl (1966)
At some point, we have all heard “Georgy Girl” by The Seekers, which stands as one of the most cherished and distinctive songs of the period fondly known as the Swinging Sixties. The lyrics “Swinging down the street so fancy-free/nobody you meet could ever see the loneliness there inside you” perfectly encapsulates the carefree lives…
7 Women and a Murder (2022)
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery – and it would appear that Alessandro Genovesi certainly wanted to honour François Ozon in the form of 7 Women and a Murder (Italian: 7 donne e un mistero), which is an almost shot-for-shot remake of Ozon’s iconic 8 Women, which is in the upper echelons…
Cry-Baby (1990)
The most revolutionary decision John Waters ever made was to go mainstream. For most filmmakers, it would be ideal to make works that are embraced by the general public, but when it comes to Waters, it almost feels like an act of defiance. He was a filmmaker that made a career through being provocative, so…
The Pale Blue Eye (2023)
One of the more notable (albeit not too worrying) trends in modern cinema is the overemphasis on grit and realism – it seems like far too many genres are being overtaken by works that appear to be driven by the adage of “less is more”, almost as if anything that goes against this principle is…
Sidney (2022)
When bestowing the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom on him in 2009, former President of the United States Barack Obama famously quipped that Sidney Poitier “didn’t make movies, he made milestones”, and this is immense praise coming from any public figure, let alone from one of the most powerful individuals of the few decades, and…
Blithe Spirit (1945)
There are few collaborations that brought on more masterful results than those between David Lean and Noël Coward, who worked together on a few films over the course of the 1940s, the esteemed playwright working as a scribe for the young filmmaker, and even serving as a co-director on his first film. We’ve previously spoken…
I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)
Hollywood loves a good biographical drama, and the more comfortable it gets with telling these stories, the more inevitable it will be that any entertainer with even the vaguest level of fame will ultimately be subjected to some form of life story being told on film – some of them are better than others, but…
And Then There Were None (1945)
Has there ever been a writer more capable of evoking the feeling of genuine mystery quite as well as Dame Agatha Christie? It seems unlikely, even if the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe seem to be stiff competition. Whether it’s the macabre sense of humour, or the fact that the…
Bleak Moments (1971)
For over half a century, Mike Leigh has defined the concept of radical cinema in both political and artistic terms. One of the most important stalwarts of the “angry young men” movement that was borne out of the rise of kitchen-sink realism, he has produced works that simmer with complexity and fury for the state…
The Postmodern Pelican 