Stephen Mayne 209 posts 4 comments

The Killing operates in a bare bones film noir atmosphere with the minimum of character needed to propel celluloid forward. The big score, a daring heist on the vast reserves of cash swilling around on race day is the heart of the film.

A romantic comedy in which one of the star-crossed lovers spends a large chunk of the film in a serious coma is a tough sell. Then again, The Big Sick isn’t just a romantic comedy, and it doesn’t need hoary romantic clichés to dig away at…

To avoid confusion, let’s get this out of the way early: Mr. Roosevelt is a cat, not the 26th President of the United States of America, or the 32nd (though he’s named after Teddy, not Franklin). He’s also dead, which isn’t great for him or…

A virus has broken out reducing inhibitions and turning people into emotionally unbalanced (and frequently violent) lunatics. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before right? Mayhem isn’t flat out dystopia, wisely choosing the path of…

Iconic stars don’t die, they simply fade away until we only remember their defining roles. That certainly seems to be the case for forgotten western actor Lee Hayden (Sam Elliott), largely out of work and out of contact with his family.…

Is it only during long summer months’ teenagers ever find maturity? The venerable institution of the coming-of-age drama would have it so, sending (usually) nervous boys off to become men. Hot Summer Nights promises something similar before…

The hardest thing to do when filming in Los Angeles is to make the city come to life. It’s featured so regularly in backdrops it begins to feel stale very quickly. There're no such problems in Gemini, though the life Aaron Katz breathes…

The world inhabited by Spanish émigré Luciana is not a comfortable one, though she’s crystal clear returning home is also not an option. After moving to New York to try and make something of her life, she’s left working a series of dead-end…

As President Trump likes to make abundantly clear, inner-cities are dangerous, crime-riddled places. However, the latest feature from the Nelms brothers (Eshom and Ian) suggests urban centres don’t have a monopoly on law-breaking. It’s in a…

In a breathless opening sequence, an inappropriately dressed man dashes around the streets of Berlin only to get repeatedly run over and then shot by a KGB agent, all while “Blue Monday” roars out. Atomic Blonde is not out to cause any…