Sofia Coppola’s films are rarely plot driven, instead they focus on relationships, manners, gestures and as in The Bling Ring and The Virgin Suicides, female sub-cultures. Coppola’s remake of the 1970 Clint Eastwood film The Beguiled exemplifies these themes. Set in the deep south during the American Civil War as the confederate campaign began to collapse, the film sees wounded
Read moreIntertwining a civil rights story with the early 1960’s space race, Hidden Figures might at first glance seem like a hybrid of The Help and Apollo 13 and while it’s at times formulaic and set within a sunny 1960s milieu worthy of Ron Howard, it contains an important and uplifting story. Based on actual events, Hidden Figures traces the careers of
Read moreMidnight Special, the latest film from Mud and Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols concerns a young boy with what appears to be psychic powers. While watching this film audience members will feel like they have psychic powers due to the strange sensation they will experience of having seen much of this film before. To reveal which films Midnight Special resembles
Read moreAttractively shot atmospheric thriller The Two Faces of January owes a considerable debt to films of the past. It’s filled with Hitchcockian paranoia and Bernard Herman-esque music, it takes place in a European setting reminiscent of Agatha Christie film adaptations and like The Talented Mr Ripley, it sees a strange and ambitious young man invade the lives of attractive and
Read moreBridesmaids showed that films about women behaving badly at weddings could be critical and box office hits. Bridesmaids was funny and in your face but also genuinely moving as it explored the way the supposedly joyous occasion of a wedding elicited people’s anxieties, disappointments and self-loathing. Bachelorette tries to tap into the same world of ballsy female bonding and painful
Read moreBridesmaids showed that films about women behaving badly at weddings could be critical and box office hits. Bridesmaids was funny and in your face but also genuinely moving as it explored the way the supposedly joyous occasion of a wedding elicited people’s anxieties, disappointments and self-loathing. Bachelorette tries to tap into the same world of ballsy female bonding and painful
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