Tom Jolliffe with ten essential films from Film4… Film4, under the Channel 4 banner, has championed great cinema for nearly 40 years. Whether producing independently or co-producing (often with indie studios or European production houses), there’s a stamp of quality that comes associated with the mark of Film4 (or Channel 4 films). For the most […]
Films That Leave You Speechless
Tom Jolliffe on films that leave you speechless… Spoilers ahead. Cinema can enthral, entertain, amuse, and terrify. You finish a film and you ordinarily have an idea of your feelings on it, or said film will help you wind down with a denouement before the credits roll. Sometimes though, a film finishes and you’re left […]
Brilliantly Intense: Why Stephen Graham is one of Britain’s finest
Tom Jolliffe on why Stephen Graham is one of the most electrifying actors of his generation… I recall, (probably in the same film as a lot of people), the first time I became aware of Stephen Graham. It was as Tommy in Snatch, Guy Ritchie’s cockney gangster epic mk2. Tommy was sort of slow, a […]
UPDATE: Shane Meadows debunks This Is England ’92 report
UPDATE: Following yesterday’s tweet from Thomas Turgoose stating that “This Is England ’92 confirmed”, director Shane Meadows has taken to Twitter himself to debunk the claim, with Turgoose subsequently claiming that his friends had got their hands on his phone and tweeted out the fake news. Here's an announcement for you…. Don't believe everything you […]
The Essential British Films
Tom Jolliffe on the essential British films… Article 50 is due to drop soon. Britain flies the Euro coop. With that in mind, and more importantly because any time is a good time to acknowledge it, I thought I would list my essential British films. I’ve collated a list of not only my favourites, but […]
Shane Meadows hints at a final This Is England feature film
It looks like the BAFTA-winning This Is England ’90 may not be the final chapter of Shane Meadows’ acclaimed This Is England saga after all, as the filmmaker has revealed to The Sun that he has plans to reunite the gang for one final feature special. “There is one This Is England left,” said Meadows. “I’ve […]
This Is England ’90 Episode 4 Review – ‘Winter’
Tom Beasley bids farewell to This Is England with a review of the final, feature-length episode of This Is England ’90, which looks set to be the end of the decade-old franchise… It’s finally happened. After the best part of a decade on our screens – whether big or small – Shane Meadows has finally […]
This Is England ’90 Episode 3 Review – ‘Autumn’
Tom Beasley reviews the penultimate episode of This Is England ’90, which has now fully embraced the dark heart of its creator… Misery is arguably the staple ingredient of Shane Meadows’ sprawling This Is England universe. It’s what drives these characters into the compelling drama that has allowed them to maintain such a potent presence […]
This Is England ’90 Episode 2 Review – ‘Summer’
Tom Beasley reviews the second episode of This Is England ’90, in which the hazy delirium of a party in a field mingles with the oncoming storm of a figure from the gang’s past… As entertaining as last week’s premiere episode of This Is England ’90 was, it was tough to get away from the […]
This Is England ’90 Episode 1 Review – ‘Spring’
Tom Beasley reviews the first episode of Shane Meadows’ latest, and possibly final, return to the This Is England universe… From the moment we’re tossed back into the world of This Is England ’90, it’s as if we’ve never been away. Shane Meadows’ captures the milieu of working class Britain and the lives of his […]
