Starring: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks Director: Atom Egoyan A bus crash in a small town takes the lives of many of the community's school children, while the driver and one girl survive. A lawyer (Holm) descends on the town to try and make money off a class action suit but finds things are… Continue reading Classic Movie Of The Week: Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Starring: Barbara Loden, Michael Higgins, Dorothy Shupenes Director: Barbara Loden In a coal mining town in Pennysylvania, Wanda (Loden) wanders through life, numbing her despair with alcohol and one night stands. She sleeps on her sisters couch and drifts through temporary employment. When she meets a man in a bar, she willingly heads home with… Continue reading Classic Movie Of The Week: Wanda (1971)
In a small town in Missouri, Mildred (McDormand) takes out advertising on three billboards that ask the local police chief why there have been no arrests in the case of the rape and murder of her daughter. It’s a small act of defiance, and yet it has some big repercussions.
From the writer/director of In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, Martin McDonagh, it’s a fine return to form for a man whose films tend to have serious tones, violence and yet also humour and some heart felt moments. Taking on the subject of small town America, of incompetent police, dysfunctional family relationships and of course, the deep sadness of losing a child to violence, this film could have been a very different story in the hands of someone else. Because whilst it explores the grief of Mildred, it focuses on her strength and her ability to act, her toughness and…
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Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Kelsey Asbille, Graham Greene Director: Taylor Sheridan A rookie FBI agent (Olsen) and a local animal tracker (Renner) with a tragic past team up to find out who raped and caused the death of a local woman on a reservation in Wyoming. When the body of the girl’s boyfriend is… Continue reading Wind River (2017)
Starring: Tim Holt, Joseph Cotton, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead Director: Orson Welles, Fred Fleck Adapted from the well known book by Booth Tarkington, a man Orson Welles claimed to know during his childhood, the film is often noted to have a certain parallel to the directors life. It's the story of the Amberson… Continue reading Classic Movie Of The Week: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Starring: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara Director: David Lowery C (Affleck) and M (Mara) are a young couple. When C dies unexpectedly he returns to the house as a ghost in a white sheet and watches his wife grieve and move on, while he remains and tries to figure out the afterlife. It’s an odd premise… Continue reading A Ghost Story (2017)
Starring: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania Director: Nicolas Roeg John (Sutherland) and Laura (Christie) Baxter are struggling to deal with the accidental death of their young daughter, and take up restoration work in Venice, Italy, to try to move on. Laura seems to be unable to cope very well until two older… Continue reading Classic Movie Of The Week: Don’t Look Now (1973)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Grace Director: Elliot Lester Aftermath is a heartbreaking story of terrible grief and the nature of revenge, as two lives collide. A loving father who loses his pregnant daughter and wife in a plane crash, and the air traffic controller blamed for the deaths of the 271 people… Continue reading Aftermath (2017)
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz Director: Olivier Assayas What an enigmatic little film. Kristen Stewart stars as Maureen, a young woman who works as a personal shopper and who refuses to leave Paris since her twin brother died. She believes that he'll get a message to her from the other side, as they… Continue reading Personal Shopper (2016)
I don't normally review short films on my blog, mostly because you as the reader may not be able to find these films to watch yourselves, but when April Kelley of MiniProductions (miniproductions.co.uk) got in touch and asked me, I thought, well why not? Read on for more about Bafta Longlisted drama Edith and Annie… Continue reading Short Film: April Kelley of MiniProductions with ‘Edith’ and ‘Annie Waits’.
Wildfire Movies 