Death on the Nile Following his well-received Murder on The Orient Express remake, Kenneth Branagh returns as director and lead character – the iconic detective Hercule Poirot – in another Agatha Christie film remake, Death on the Nile, which we previously saw in 1978. The film largely follows the template of the 1978 version as a ‘well to do’ group
Read moreDarkest Hour and Atonement director Joe Wright’s vibrant, occasionally awkward and sometimes moving Cyrano is an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name which was itself based on dramatist Edmond Rostand’s classic 1897 romantic tragi-comedy Cyrano de Bergerac. Through its title character, the story of Cyrano celebrates the arts of wit and rhetoric and the power of words
Read moreWhether he’s making sci fi such as Robocop and Starship Troopers, a psychological thriller like Elle, an erotic thriller like Basic Instinct or a soft porn/comedy like Showgirls, the ever-controversial Dutch director Paul Verhoeven seems to love exploring troubled, morally questionable characters and provocateurs. His latest film, the much-lauded and often confronting, Benedetta, is no different. Loosely based on real
Read moreJapanese drama Drive My Car, which is based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, has been one of the most lauded films of the year. Nominated for both the Best Picture and Best International Feature Oscars and Best Director for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, it marks the continued ascent and recognition of films from outside Hollywood and the west, particularly from
Read moreMoonfall follows in the noble tradition of Independence Day, Deep impact and Armageddon as a ludicrous ‘death from above’, global destruction sci-fi action flick in which the world can only be saved by jokey Americans. Astonishingly, this film is even more loopy than the films just mentioned. It comes from none other than Roland Emmerich who seems to have a
Read moreKenneth Branagh’s heartfelt, energetic, if familiar, Belfast is a semi-autobiographical family drama and childhood rites of passage film set amid the increasingly menacing environment of Northern Ireland during ‘the troubles’ in 1969. The film centres on nine-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill, in his feature acting debut), a likeable and precocious primary schooler living with his family in working class Belfast. His
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