45 Years
45 YEARS: Cinema At Its Most Intimate

45 Years is unquestionably well-written and well-acted, to such a high degree that is literally impossible to argue otherwise. To say that Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay give two of the most emotionally effective performances of their long and illustrious careers is equivalent to saying that the sky is blue and the world is round; it is so plainly obvious, arguing in its favour seems like a waste of time, as the greatness is clearly there for all to see. Emotionally engaging from the opening minutes On paper, the film feels like the opposite of director Andrew Haigh’s previous film Weekend; that film was about two men who meet and fall in love over the course of (you guessed it) a weekend, after a one night stand turns into something deeper.

Zoolander 2
ZOOLANDER 2 Trailer

Let’s face it, you’ve been waiting for this one. Derek and Hansel are back and ready to blow your mind. Sadly, the trailer is just a teaser with no scenes from the movie.

American Movie
Film Inquiry Recommends: Film-Related Documentaries

Over at our official Facebook page , we are currently posting daily Film Recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! Last week’s theme is Film-Related Documentaries, films which highlight the utter chaos and hard work which goes behind all the movies we love.

PAPER TOWNS: An Impressive & Charming Adaptation

Paper Towns is an adaptation of John Green’s book of the same name. You may already have read or watched his highly successful The Fault In Our Stars, and have come back for more. Why wouldn’t you, he’s John Green?

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Podcast
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL: Narcissistic and Utterly Loathsome From Start to Finish

Although not without empathy, it is hard to argue against the statement that teenagers are some of the most self-centred people alive. I know this from being a particularly self-centred teenager, who at thirteen regularly made statements of self-loathing in order to gouge sympathy and attention from my peers. It was an attention seeking phase that I mercifully grew out of very quickly, but I can at least be forgiven for it for being young and stupid.

CUB: Nothing New Here Folks

One problem with modern society at the moment seems to be an obsession with nostalgia, which is being milked by marketing companies. This has bled into the hipster movement and has lead to the larger debate of analogue vs digital as digital technologies develop. It is now bleeding into every aspect of pop culture, and it is one which can be seen in film.

The Future of British Cinema #3: Getting British Audiences to Fall in Love With British Cinema All Over Again

In the previous two instalments of my speculative trilogy pondering the future of British cinema, I’ve explored how innovative, non-mainstream films will continue to get funded and whether or not filmmakers will change their style in order to get their films made. In this final article, the concluding chapter of this epic trilogy, I aim to explore how British films can get into British cinemas. If British films aren’t being funded due to worry about a lack of box office returns, is there any possible way for a business model that allows all British films the same wide releases as blockbusters in their home country?

ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING: What A Waste

Absolutely Anything is a comedy co-written and directed by Terry Jones, he of illustrious Monty Python fame. It stars Simon Pegg and a host of other recognisable British talent and comics. In addition to this, Jones’ fellow Pythons offer their vocal talents, as does the late, great Robin Williams.

Minions
MINIONS: Your Kids Are Going To Love It

Well, this was inevitable. After the huge success of Despicable Me 1 & 2, (both films generating a combined total of over 1.5 billion dollars at the US domestic box office) further expansion of the Despicable Me franchise was bound to happen.

Very Bad Things insane
Film Inquiry Recommends: Insane Films

Over at our official Facebook page , we are currently posting daily Film Recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! Last week’s theme is Insane Films, films which push the envelope in outrageous ways with entertaining, yet crazy results.

MISTRESS AMERICA: A Partially Successful Attempt at a Modern Screwball Comedy

Director Noah Baumbach has become synonymous with “hipster cinema”- which in his case, means character studies of self-obsessed, over-privileged big city dwellers, who he tends to love, even if audience members are more likely to find their company unwelcoming. Yet he is a far more complicated director than that; weirdly, in his most recent movies, he’s been rationing out the abrasive commentary of the hipster community (the raging members of Generation X and the fresh-faced millennials) with something approaching empathetic humanism. His previous film, While We’re Young, was the most empathetic portrayal of hipster culture we are ever likely to see in modern cinema – something even the sharp left turn into trademark Baumbach cynicism in the film’s third act couldn’t overwrite.

Profile: The Cinema of Madonna

Madonna is (was, depends on who you ask) at one point considered one of the biggest pop stars in the world, so it came as no surprise when she decided to try her hand at acting. I’m no person to criticize another person’s acting ability (particularly when I have crippling stage fright), but I’m just perplexed about how her films were critical and commercial disasters. If she was one of the biggest pop stars of her time, why didn’t her film career match that same success?

Film Inquiry Recommends: John Frankenheimer Films

Over at our official Facebook page, we are currently posting daily Film Recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! This week’s theme is John Frankenheimer films.

IRIS: Creativity Knows No Bounds

Unfortunately, in March of this year, we lost the great documentary film-maker Albert Maysles. With his brother David (who died in 1988), they made some quite important and influential documentaries such as Grey Gardens, Salesman and Gimme Shelter. Their style was using direct cinema; following a subject and shooting a ton of footage without any agenda or plotline planned and creating a documentary in post production.

MANGLEHORN: More Like Mangleyawn

Here is an interesting thought: Al Pacino is having something of a career renaissance. His last three major roles, including this year’s Manglehorn, are as far away from the go-to gangster’s early movies as can be.