film review tagged posts

Buskin’ Blues makes UK Premiere at 2015 Manchester Film Festival

Buskin’ Blues is an oral history documentary film that follows the buskers of one town in North Carolina, Asheville.

The small mountain town has a large sub culture of street buskers and performers. This is a major element to the areas tourism and can bring great profits to those that go out and get it.

After a morning film makers discussion with the director Erin Derham, the film promised to be a great insight into a world of bus...

UK Dramatic Shorts at MANIFF 2015

Vikki Rutter reviews five UK dramatic shorts that made the official short film selection at the 2015 Manchester Film Festival

Gasping

English Premiere
Comedy
Director: Greg Hemphill

The premiere screening outside of its Native Scotland, Gasping follows a man (Frankie Boyle) who after a life of drinking and partying, is presented with an ultimatum. One that it was obvious he would fail despite every effort to succeeded.

The short did get a few chuckles but was...

Love Is Now makes UK Premiere at 2015 Manchester Film Festival

From the outset, this on the road love story from Director Jim Lounsbury (The Fragment) is so much more than that. With complex interesting characters, a well thought out script, and stunning cinematography, Love Is Now is very much an artistic journey of love.

We start with a photographer, lacking in self-belief and motivation, called Dean (Eamon Farren) trying to find his way in life working out of a picture frame shop in down to...

Two Down makes UK Premiere at 2015 Manchester Film Festival

With 71 films making their UK and world premiere at the inaugural Manchester Film Festival, it takes a special kind of film to stand out from the crowd. Tipped as one of the highlights is Two Down, a dark comedy about deception, deceit and unlikely friendships in a hitman’s final hours...

Documentary Shorts at MANIFF 2015

Vikki Rutter reviews five documentary shorts that made the official short film selection at the 2015 Manchester Film Festival.

The Last Little Show at The End of the World

UK Premiere
Director: Rhys Edwards

The Last Little Show at The End of the World follows one of the few travelling entertainers that still moves from place to place in the dark of night with his home on wheels and a trailer that becomes his set...

Meet The Hilters makes International Premiere at MANIFF 2015

From the award winning director/producer Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me) and director Matt Ogens (Confessions of a Super Hero) comes a new feature documentary Meet The Hilters, exploring how your name can define your identity and your future.

Meet The Hilters has a good mixture of individuals, from those that have a historical link to the surname Hitler to those that simply named their children to create controversy...

Jeremy Piven portrayal as onetime agent Ari Gold single-handedly saves the film

Fans of TV series Entourage have waited four years for the return of the hit comedy-drama. After a phenomenal eight-year run on the HBO Network, the loosely-biographical show, produced by Mark Wahlberg, returns to our screens, this time in film format.

For those who have never seen the TV series, Entourage is an American comedy-drama created and written by Doug Ellin...

Vera Brittain’s First World War memoir is brought to life in Testament of Youth

With the awards season in full swing, one film hoping to make its mark in the world of cinema is Testament of Youth, a WW1 drama film starring Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington and directed by James Kent.

Based on the First World War memoir written by Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth is a searing story of young love, war and remembrance...

Oscar-worthy performance from Eddie Redmayne as Professor Stephen Hawking

The age of biopic is upon us. From Mr Turner (J.M.W. Turner) and Jimi: All Is by My Side (Jimi Hendrix) to Oscar front-runners The Imitation Game (Alan Turing) and Get On Up (James Brown), the once dreary biographical formula has finally re-energized itself, capturing the hearts of film lovers and critics alike.

One film that is sure to win you over is The Theory of Everything, a new film about the life and times of Camb...

Maggie Smith stars in My Old Lady, a complex, dark and compelling film about family secrets

Dame Maggie Smith may be 79 years old but she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Between her role as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey and three new film releases including The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), the English actress is on top form at the moment. Her latest film My Old Lady is due to hit UK cinemas this week with Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline and Kirstin Scott Thomas in the starring ro...