My Favourite Films of 2017

It's been a pretty awful year in politics, so I find looking back at my year in film is a pleasant diversion. The following is a list of my current 2017 favourites, but before I go through them, there are a few special film-related highlights to mention: In January I hosted a Q&A with producer …

About Elly

My 2012 Cambridge Film Festival experience began on a real high this September when I saw ABOUT ELLY. I recently saw this Iranian film a second time and it made an even bigger impression. Director Asghar Farhadi is better known for his more recent film A SEPARATION, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language …

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie…

Bunuel's classic 1972 film has been re-released, and comes to the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge this week. Having recently re-watched it on DVD, I found it as strange and compelling as ever; it doesn't seem to lose its potency, if anything I find it more intriguing as I get older. Even though on the surface …

Schleinzer’s Michael – shock tactics or powerful provocation?

Michael [Markus Schleinzer, 2011]: my short review of the film published online in One Hundred Words Magazine [no longer available]:- Markus Schleinzer’s astonishingly assured debut feature is a deeply disquieting film about a paedophile who has a boy locked in his basement. It is also devastatingly brilliant. Carefully understated, its precision of framing, editing and …