James Benefield spends most of his day in between ever-increasing piles of manuscripts and proofs in the depths of Oxfordshire. His cinematic idols include David Lynch, Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, Francois Ozon and Wong Kar Wai. Mary Poppins makes him cry. He reviews theatre for The Oxford Times and has in the past written for Little White Lies and Total Film. His blog, which needs far more updating, can be found at insert-text-hear.blogspot.com/
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Kevin Corrigan holds it all together with a brooding, anxious performance.
Released from an asylum, a young man struggles to rebuild his life, but he's still threatened by the high school bullies who caused his breakdown. It's time to make them pay.
Director Oliver Shmitz does a good job of balancing the immediate, visible tragedy of the characters we follow with a wider, national problem.
A 12-year-old girl struggles to protect her family as her stepfather descends into alcoholism and her mother becomes increasingly ill, in a small town full of prejudice and hostility.
There's half of a good film here, but Pawlikowski approaches his material in a way that undermines the rationale and our perception of the film's third act.
While in Paris an academic meets a woman who may be involved in a series of mysterious murders.
