Frank

It takes a lot of balls to take one of the acting’s fastest rising stars and put him under a mask for an entire film. Yet that’s exactly what Lenny Abrahamson has done with Michael Fassbender in his latest feature film Frank. Written by Jon Ronson the film is based on Chris Sievey and his comic alter-ego Frank Sidebottom, who’s band Ronson spent time playing keyboard in. Although in reality the only concrete link between the two characters is the giant mask that covers Fassbender’s face for the duration of the movie. The character itself takes not just from Sievey, but troubled musical souls like Daniel Johnston and Captain Beefheart.

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22/05/2014 0

Bad Neighbours

Bad Neighbours (or just plan old Neighbours in the US of A) is the latest film to star Seth Rogen, a man who in the last few years has risen to the top of the Hollywood food chain. However, this is Rogen with a difference. Rather than the slacker stoner, he is now the married, working man with a kid stoner. It’s a change that… Well to be perfectly honest it makes very little difference to the character he plays, except every now and then he looks a bit guilty before he grabs the drugs.

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13/05/2014 0

Blue Ruin

Funded by Kickstarter Blue Ruin is the perfect example of how crowd funding can get projects off the ground that otherwise might never see the light of day. Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, who’s only previous full length directorial credit was 2007 Murder Party, a horror comedy that I can’t even pretend I’ve seen.

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11/05/2014 2

Calvary

How do you survive in modern day, small town Ireland, as a good priest. That’s the rather simple question at the centre of Calvary. In a world where the Catholic church has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, we follow the last week of Father James Lavelle, (Brendon Gleeson) who in the opening scene of the film is told in the confessional booth that he is going to be murdered next Sunday. He knows who has made the threat, but we and the rest of the characters in the film don’t, as even in these circumstances he honours the rules of the confessional booth. As director John Michael McDonagh has said, it’s a who will do it, rather that a who done it.

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20/04/2014 0

The Double

The Double is director Richard Ayoade’s (The IT Crowd) second film in the directorial seat, following on from 2010’s Submarine. It is based off a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska. It’s a movie that suggests that Ayoade is not willing to stick to his comedic comfort zone as it differs widely from The It Crowd’s own brand of surreal humour.

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14/04/2014 0

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

More info on this cool poster here: http://www.slashfilm.com/mondo-captain-america-2/ Credit: Rich Kelly

Captain America is an old school superhero. Everything from his look to his name is just a bit uncool to those of us not filled to the brim with American patriotism. Therefore, it’s no real surprise that when people look back on the first phase of Marvel movies, Captain America: The First Avenger is the one they have the least love for, meaning that Captain America: The Winter Soldier may not fill audiences with the same excitement as a new Iron Man or Thor movie. However, the First Avenger is an important part of Marvel lore and Winter Soldier is out to establish why.

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05/04/2014 0

Muppets: Most Wanted

The Muppets (2011) was one of the big surprises of the last few years, as it took everyone’s favourite puppets and made over one hundred and sixty five million dollars at the box office, alongside scooping as Oscar for best song. Therefore, it’s hardly any surprise to see a sequel hit the screens with Jason Segel and Amy Adams dropping out for Ricky Gervais and James Bobin keeping his spot in the directorial chair.

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03/04/2014 0

Under The Skin

Let’s just put this out there straight away, Under The Skin is weird. There is no two ways about it, it’s just fact. It’s part sci-fi, part horror and part psychological fuck up. Directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Scarlett Johansson it’s been a bit of a personal project for the two of them to get this movie, based off of Michel Faber’s novel of the same name, onto the big screen in recent years. Filmed in Glasgow it’s hardly the big box office smashes we have come to expect from Johansson and this is one of the most interesting films she’s done.

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01/04/2014 0

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson returns to our screens with his latest effort The Grand Budapest Hotel, which he both wrote and directed, although based it off the works of Stefan Zweig. It’s being described by many as the most Wes Anderson, Wes Anderson movie yet and if you go and see it you might quickly understand why.

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20/03/2014 0

As The Palaces Burn

Lamb of God are one of the biggest bands on the planet that most of the planet hasn’t heard of. They’ve sold nearly two million albums in their home country, the USA, been nominated for Grammy’s and their last album shot to number 3 in the US Billboard charts and made the top twenty in the UK. Yet this isn’t a music review, but rather a look at their recent documentary, As the Palaces Burn, which was directed by Don Argott.

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08/03/2014 0