Shailene Woodley is one of my favourite young actresses. Ever since she did that dramatic ‘crying-underwater’ scene in “The Descendents” she’s been someone to watch. And, while it was another “Hunger Games” wannabe – “Divergent” was a good story, well acted and with good visual effects. Unfortunately the series has progressively gone downhill: “Insurgent” was … Read more
The name James Bulger brings a chill to many older British people. For James was the little boy abducted from a shopping centre in 1993 by two older boys, murdered and left on a railway line. But the subject of “Black Mass” is real-life hoodlum James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp) who grew to be the … Read more
In the Coen Brothers latest “Hail Caesar!” we have exactly the same Hollywood-based mix of communist writers and Hedda Hopper-style gossip columnists as recently seem in “Trumbo”: but the films could hardly be more different. “Hail Caesar!” is the film within the film: the latest Victor Mature style ‘God and Sandals’ epic for Capitol Pictures, … Read more
Most countries have dark parts in their history, and America is no exception. Did you know for example that eugenics was actively practiced in the US during the 1920’s and 30’s? Not going as far as the gas chambers of Nazi Germany, but getting pretty close in some institutions where “imbeciles and defectives” were allegedly … Read more
We’re barely into March, and already I think we’ve found Donald Trump’s favourite film of the year. In “London Has Fallen” the British Prime Minister has died suddenly and world leaders are converging on St Paul’s Cathedral in London for the state funeral. A quiet, solemn and dignified affair. At least, that’s until international arms … Read more