In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. The opening passages of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit introduced us to Bilbo Baggins, a middle-aged hobbit from the Shire. Most people watching Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey have probably seen the Lord of the Rings films, and so […]

If Oliver Stone’s visceral Natural Born Killers is the notorious story of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ on acid, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers is most aptly described as the same story, but one brought to the fore by lukewarm cups of tea and sunday visits to National Trust heritage sights. A quintessentially British take on ultra-violence and one of […]

This article might seem a little pointless, as I have not yet met a single person who has a bad thing to say about the Hobbit film. The Lord of the Rings franchise was, quite simply, mind-blowing and there is no reason to doubt that Peter Jackson can’t pull this […]

Speechless. Michael Haneke’s new, Palme d’Or winning Amour is meticulously crafted to leave its audiences speechless. Haneke’s films have always been alienating, challenging and revolutionary in terms of cinema. The characters of Funny Games (1997) broke the fourth wall to teach its audience a brutal lesson about voyeurism and on-screen violence. In Hidden (2005), Haneke returned the favour by […]

Given his last two efforts, The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) and A Prophet (2009), it is something of a surprise that director Jacques Audiard did not venture off once again into the dark criminal underworlds of which he has been deservedly praised for portraying. Rust and Bone, on paper (and in its enticing theatrical […]

 Before we begin this article, I must emphasise my personal stance on Twilight. I am an outsider to the franchise. I have flicked through the first book and was dragged to the cinema to see Twilight: Eclipse with some friends, but otherwise I am detached from the series. It doesn’t […]

Through limpid red eyes, the vampiric Bella appears to be somewhat hungry – and not solely for the necks of the neighbourhood. In this fifth and final instalment of Meyer’s sequel, Kristen Stewart’s thirst surpasses that of human blood, to critical kudos. While Twihard assailants will no doubt fail to […]