August: Osage County

There’s a very specific kind of acting that I can’t stand. It’s over the top, it’s shouty, it’s showy, it’s very much aimed at getting awards. I refer to it as ACTING with all capital letters, when you speak about it you slip into a loud, plummy accent. ACTING darling, ACTING…

Dallas Buyers Club

I’m just about old enough to remember the emergence of the AIDS epidemic in the early 80s. Here in Britain it was accompanied by doom-laden adverts showing exploding mountains and granite gravestones with the tagline “Don’t Die of Ignorance”. It probably saved lives by terrifying people…

Saving Mr Banks

Having missed Saving Mr Banks first time round at the cinema I’m thoroughly grateful to Cineworld for their Take-Two Thursdays policy where a recent film gets a one day reshowing for those of us who have been a bit tardy in our viewing…

12 Years A Slave

I’ve not been terribly good at getting to the cinema recently, but the Oscar nominations last week have focussed my mind. I didn’t want 2014 to be yet another year where I hadn’t seen the winner of the Best Picture Academy Award in advance of the ceremony. Given that until today I had only seen two of the nine nominees…

Top Ten: Oscar 2014 Snubs

The Oscar nominations were announced earlier and everyone has an opinion on them. Including, as it turns out, me. I haven’t seen all of the films nominated and with so many strong performances and the high level of technical craft on show I wouldn’t dream of second-guessing The Academy. Having said that…