REVIEWS

There have been many films about teachers dealing with unruly pupils. From François Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows' to Christophe Barratier's 'The Chorus' and Michael Hoffman's 'The Emperor's Club', cinema has frequently explored the trials and tribulations of trying to keep a troublesome student in line. Few, however, have taken things quite as far as Jonatan Etzler's 'Bad Apples'. A dark comedy, it centres on kindly primary school teacher Maria Spenser, whose job would be ideal

Author Steve Mosby has been a fixture of British crime fiction since 2003, writing numerous novels and winning the ‘CWA Dagger in the Library’ award in 2012 for his efforts. Yet, despite building a reputation under his own name, it was a new identity that brought his biggest success. Rebranded as Alex North, Mosby released ‘The Whisper Man’ in 2019, an international bestseller later translated into over thirty languages. It has now made the leap to screen. Directed by James

In 1971, Stephen Frears made his directorial debut with 'Gumshoe', a well-received noir comedy that nevertheless failed to launch his feature film career. Frears spent the next decade honing his craft in television, directing episodes of 'Play for Today' and 'BBC2 Playhouse', along with several television films, including 1975's 'Three Men in a Boat'. He wouldn't return to cinemas until 1984’s 'The Hit'. It follows ex-gangster Willie Parker, who has spent the past decade li

Samara Weaving’s rise has been a bloody one. After making her name on Australian television, she gradually carved out a place for herself in genre cinema, appearing in projects like ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’, ‘The Babysitter’, and ‘Mayhem’, where she demonstrated a knack for mixing comedy with carnage. 2019’s ‘Ready or Not’ took things a step further, putting her firmly on the map as a formidable horror lead. Yet Weaving has never been content to stay in one lane, moving between com

The legendary Gary Cooper's career came in waves. After spending the 1930s and '40s as one of Hollywood's biggest stars, his fortunes dipped, before 1952’s ‘High Noon’ revived his career in spectacular fashion. Alas, the resurgence proved temporary; by the end of the decade, he was left disillusioned. In 1960, Cooper lamented "Nothing I've done lately, the past eight years or so, has been especially worthwhile... Some of the pictures I've made recently I'm genuinely ashamed o

Sonny Chiba is a legend. The action superstar began acting in the early 60s, rapidly making a name for himself as a charismatic, martial arts madman. By the 1970s, he was one of Japan's biggest stars, spearheading a wave of brutally violent action flicks, influencing generations of filmmakers, including Takashi Miike and Quentin Tarantino. From ‘The Street Fighter’ to ‘The Killing Machine,’ ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’ and ‘The Storm Riders,’ Chiba showcased his talents across martial

Some of cinema's most unforgettable performers have been those willing to put themselves in harm's way. Buster Keaton transformed gravity into comedy through astonishing physical stunts, while Jean-Paul Belmondo was cut from the same cloth, performing daring feats with a grin suggesting he enjoyed every second of it. His charismatic screen presence would inspire stars such as Chow Yun-fat, while Jackie Chan would blend Keaton's gift for visual comedy with Belmondo's physical

Few novels have cast as long a shadow over popular culture as Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus’. Published in 1818, the Gothic classic has been endlessly reinterpreted, from James Whale's immortal Universal horror films and the later Peter Cushing-led Hammer series, to Kenneth Branagh's lavish adaptation starring Robert De Niro, as well as Guillermo del Toro's long-awaited 2025 interpretation. Yet the legacy of Frankenstein extends far beyond direct a

Ruth Ware has built a career on fast-paced, twist-laden mysteries prioritising momentum over sustained thematic depth. Her novels are designed to be accessible and compulsively readable, built around propulsive plotting rather than anything more conceptually ambitious. It’s a formula that has proven commercially successful, and though they may lack profundity, her popularity suggests she knows how to keep readers turning the pages, if not necessarily thinking beyond them. B

Anders Thomas Jensen is a singular voice in cinema. Managing to balance cynicism with compassion in a way few filmmakers can, his films concern themselves with misfits, eccentrics and society's castaways- lonely souls colliding in stories that are at once absurdly funny and unexpectedly moving. In a 2007 essay on Danish cinema, film historian David Bordwell stated “as there was the Lubitsch touch and the Wilder touch, we can now speak of the Jensen touch- a twinge of pathos a

Action heroes dominated 1980s and 90s cinema marquees. Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis were at the top of their games, while Jackie Chan became an international icon. Superstars like Harrison Ford, Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson balanced action roles with major dramatic work, and even Steven Seagal was taken seriously (for a little while, anyway). Jean-Claude Van Damme was one such name in lights- the flexible Belgian dynamo who combined Willis’ charm with Chan’s acrob

Film noir has always thrived on shadow- moral, psychological and literal. Born from post-war disillusionment, it evokes rain-slicked streets and smoke-filled rooms, where cynical detectives navigate worlds already rotting from within. Though closely tied to mid-20 th -century Hollywood, noir was never confined to American cities alone. In Europe, as well as in Soviet and Eastern Bloc cinema, it surfaced in fractured, disguised forms. In the Soviet Union, where film was meant

Park Chan-wook is widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers working today. A versatile multi-talent, he has dabbled in a variety of genres, while leaving his own unmistakable authorial stamp on each. From the operatic revenge of ‘Oldboy’ and the rest of the so-called Vengeance Trilogy, to the melancholic machinations of ‘Decision to Leave’, and even the off-kilter eroticism of ‘Thirst,’ his films are united by an enduring fascination with obsession, violence and moral r

Parody is a delicate business. Done well, it dances the line between homage and mockery, sharp enough to skewer its target but light...

It’s often said that a film is made in the edit. Sometimes, though, that’s where it dies. A misstep in pacing, a scene trimmed too far, a...

Few genres are as seductive or as enduringly popular as the gangster movie. Since the earliest days of cinema- with 1906’s ‘The Black...

There are few detective shows as endearing and unique as ‘Monk’. Airing from 2002 to 2009, the series followed Adrian Monk, a brilliant...

Matthew Holness might not be a household name, but in certain circles he’s a cult hero. The actor, writer, director- and occasional...

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database over 600,000 people go missing in the United States of America every...

John Candy was a comedic powerhouse. Over the course of his all-too-short career, he starred in a treasure trove of great films. ‘Planes,...