Wildlife, 2018. Directed by Paul Dano. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp, and Zoe Margaret Colletti. SYNOPSIS: As a forest fire rages through rural America, Joe Brinson (Ed Oxenbould) must watch his parent’s relationship start to crumble, with his father (Jake Gyllenhaal) struggling to find work, and his mother (Carey Mulligan) becoming […]
2018 BFI London Film Festival Review – Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, 2018. Directed by Morgan Neville. Featuring Joanne Rogers, François Clemmons, Yo-Yo Ma, and Joe Negri. SYNOPSIS: An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children’s television host, Fred Rogers. Though legendary children’s TV personality Fred Rogers may not be especially well-known to British audiences, his cultural reach is […]
2018 BFI London Film Festival Review – Beautiful Boy
Beautiful Boy, 2018. Directed by Felix Van Groeningen. Starring Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Ryan, and Andre Royo. SYNOPSIS: Using the best-selling father and son memoirs of David (Steve Carell) and Nic Shiff (Timothée Chalamet), Beautiful Boy charts the traumatic experiences of a family dealing with a debilitating addiction that nobody really understands. Drug culture […]
Movie Review – Utøya – July 22 (2018)
Utøya – July 22, 2018. Directed by Erik Poppe. Starring Andrea Berntzen. SYNOPSIS: A teenage girl struggles to survive and to find her younger sister during the July 2011 terrorist mass murder at a political summer camp on the Norwegian island of Utøya. Though it premieres at the LFF mere days after Paul Greengrass’ own dramatisation […]
2018 BFI London Film Festival Review – Dogman
Dogman, 2018. Directed by Matteo Garrone. Starring Marcello Fonte and Edoardo Pesce. SYNOPSIS: Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorises the entire neighbourhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance. The […]
2018 BFI London Film Festival Review – The Plan That Came from the Bottom Up
The Plan That Came from the Bottom Up, 2018. Directed by Steve Sprung. SYNOPSIS : A visual essay/documentary film about a 1970’s arms company going bust where threatened workers came up with dynamic new products, including heat pumps, wind turbines and an energy saving house. The Plan That Came from the Bottom Up is an […]
Movie Review – Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Sorry to Bother You, 2018. Directed by Boots Riley. Starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun and Armie Hammer. SYNOPSIS: In an alternate version of current-day Oakland, California, Cassius Green discovers a gift that helps him rapidly succeed in his new role as […]
2018 BFI London Film Festival Review – Wildlife
Wildlife, 2018. Directed by Paul Dano. Starring Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ed Oxenbould and Bill Camp. SYNOPSIS: A boy witnesses his parents’ marriage falling apart after his mother finds another man. Paul Dano makes a staggering debut with this emotionally charged adaptation of Richard Ford’s 1990 novel, a meticulously assembled drama about family, masculinity and female agency […]
2018 BFI London Film Festival Review – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, 2018. Directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen. Starring Tim Blake Nelson, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Waits, Harry Melling, Zoe Kazan, James Franco, Bill Heck, Grainger Hines, Chelcie Ross, and Jonjo O’Neill. SYNOPSIS: A collection of six Western-style shorts set out on the frontier, taking in stories of a […]
2018 BFI London Film Festival Review – Nancy
Nancy, 2018. Directed by Christina Choe. Starring Andrea Riseborough, J. Smith-Cameron, Ann Dowd, John Leguizamo, and Steve Buscemi. SYNOPSIS: Nancy becomes increasingly convinced she was kidnapped as a child. When she meets a couple whose daughter went missing thirty years ago, reasonable doubts give way to wilful belief. Andrea Riseborough adds yet another towering performance to […]
