Oscars 2020 and Parasite

Often it's the Academy Awards that cool my passion for movies around this time of year, but 2019/20 has been a little different. After the train wreck that was The Rise of Skywalker in December, I struggled to stay enthusiastic for any film-related news or releases (partly because I'd already seen great films like The …

TIFF 2018 highlights, part 2

Barry Jenkins is probably one of the nicest guys at this festival, if not the entire industry. He has a relaxed manner and a good sense of humour – when asked about what it was like for him making a new film as an Oscar winner following Moonlight (2016), the first thing he did was …

A few days at DIFF.

Last week I made a quick visit to Dublin for one of the more exciting events in the calendar year. Dublin International Film Festival to be exact. I saw six interesting films while I was there - all of which were foreign releases I caught up on from last year, and each from different countries …

Best Films of 2016.

Here it is: my provisional list of 2016's best films. "But we're already a couple of months into 2017" - a fact of which I am aware, but I don't feel it entirely necessary to stick to end-of-year timelines for something like this. As you'll see, I have my reasons for not rushing it. While …

I, Daniel Blake.

That a film like I, Daniel Blake won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in a year when radical politics has risen to challenge the establishment is significant. There are those who would try to disregard its bleak vision of a man beaten down by an illogical, unfair and even inhumane system as being 'unrealistic', but …

Tale of Tales.

Technically Tale of Tales is over a year old - it was first screened in competition for the Palme d'Or at Cannes last May. But this Italian-French-British co-production only recently arrived on UK shores, and it's set to be one of the most eccentric films released here this year. Tale of Tales is Italian director Matteo …

Our Little Sister (preview).

Anyone who knows me well will know I have a thing for Japan, not least Japanese movies. When a movie is released over here from that part of the world, especially if it's a piece of work from an established director, I do my best to check it out. Here's a fine example of something …

12. Hidden (2005)

"The tape runs for another hour, if you want to watch how he feels." A French domestic thriller/ drama by Austrian-German director Michael Haneke, Hidden (known as Cache everywhere except the UK and Ireland) became one of my favourite films during my university years. With themes related to class, race and even the history of French …

January Roundup.

Some months in the year are just purple patches for good movies. With the two big awards ceremonies coming up (BAFTAs tomorrow night and the Oscars two weeks following), January and February tend to be those months in the UK, where we typically get big releases such as Selma and Big Hero 6 long after …