Biopics tend to follow two paths: turn the lives of complex individuals into simplified, crowd pleasing narratives (think Braveheart) or provide an honest portrayal of their subject: flaws intact. Much to its credit, Selma falls […]
Behind the Veil: Sam Taylor- Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey
The notorious bonk buster’s troublesome take on BDSM has got audiences debating the boundary between kink and domestic violence, but the real bondage is all on the director. When it was announced that artist–turned–director Sam […]
Oscar Round-Up: Best Director & Best Picture
What makes the perfect Best Picture winner at the Oscars? If recent history is anything to go by, it’s a film which has once- in -a- generation levels of originality (The Artist), gripping technical proficiency […]
The Interview – should it have been made, and is it any good?
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s The Interview finally snuck into UK cinemas last Friday, arriving to a fairly muted reception – it just scraped a place in the UK top ten in last weekend’s box […]
Theatre Preview – Open Theatre’s Metamorphosis
AN all-female production of Steven Berkoff’s adaptation of Kafka’s classic Metamorphosis opens at Leeds University’s campus theatre Stage@Leeds next week. Open Theatre’s innovative and thought-provoking new production promises to be an exciting and bold piece […]
Oscar Round-Up: Best Original and Adapted Screenplay
The award for Best Screenplay is always the least discussed of the ‘big five’ (which includes best film, actress, actor and director), but a strong script is essential to a film’s success, providing the framework […]
The big snubs of the Oscars – Everything is not Awesome
Oh dear. What was wrong with the Academy this year? Sparking discussions about the presence of minorities and women not just in awards contention but across western cinema in general, it’s fair to say that […]
The Weather Machine could blow you away – literally
‘A Tiny Light In The Fog – A Hidden Message On The Wind’ – The message on the front of the leaflet is as obscure as the play itself. Surrounded in secrecy and presented only […]
Library Fest 2015: Stamping out the Shhh…
I know what you’re thinking. Library and festival – not two words you would usually put together. For us students libraries are stressful places, dark, dusty, silent, and for some reason always cold. They’re where […]
Kingsman: The Secret Service continues Matthew Vaughn’s winning streak
Matthew Vaughn has never directed a franchise. Of his films that have spawned sequels, Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, he has been only a writer or producer, seemingly having no desire to do the same […]
A Study of Modern Japanese Sculpture
This small collection, currently housed in a single exhibition room at the Henry Moore, poses several questions about the nature of sculpture. What is the difference, these works ask, between a sculpture made to be […]
Oscar Round-Up: Best Actor/ Actress
Once again a great year in film is reduced to a rather bland set of Oscar nominees, to the surprise of absolutely no one. All ten are white, all are European or American, and any […]