Gambling addiction drama Mississippi Grind indulges nearly all the clichés of the ‘nihilistic loser seeking redemption’ movie right down to the relationship with a hooker with a heart of gold but impressive turns from leads Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn animate a slightly creaky story. Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn play two pathological gambling addicts, Curtis and Gerry, who try
Read moreThe Good Dinosaur is one of those Disney Pixar animated adventure comedies that anthropomorphises dinosaurs into quirky or heroic human archetypes. We’ve seen this in numerous animated features but the eternal fascination with dinosaurs means the concept still works wonderfully. This film attempts to justify the human-like qualities of its dinosaur characters by speculating what might have happened if the
Read moreWith its meticulously composed shots, remote Alpine hotel setting and all-pervading quirkiness, Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth immediately recalls the films of Wes Anderson. In the end, though, this meditation on ageing mortality and artistic ambition offers something more confronting than Anderson’s typical comical weirdness. Michael Caine stars as revered classical composer and conductor Fred Ballinger who, for initially mysterious reasons, has
Read moreTime once again to enter the wonderfully off-kilter but seeringly insightful alternate reality of David O Russell’s films. His two previous offerings Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle were an intoxicating mix of comedy, drama and romance that provided some of the best cinema entertainment of recent years. With those films Russell established an ensemble of actors including Robert de
Read moreThis week on ‘Built For Speed’ we take a look at film featuring characters beloved for over 50 years in Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie. We also look at film depicting a tumultuous time and vital political event in British society in Suffragette. There’s many fine tunes with some classic 90’s power pop from the likes of Matthew Sweet
Read moreThis Friday ‘Built For Speed’ kicks off 2016 with a selection of favourite tracks from across the decades. There’ll be classics from The Replacements, Bob Dylan, The Kills, Dinosaur Jr and many others. We also pay tribute to two great rockers who left us this week: Stevie Wright and Lemmy. On the movie front we look at two new films
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