Tag Archives: Film

Writer and Director:  Keith Behrman Reviewer:  Richard Maguire There’s no shortage of coming-out films, but they are still necessary, especially when there’s a revival of right-wing thinking across the world. However, Giant Little Ones, a Canadian film showing at BFI Flare, London’s LGBTQ+ film festival, is not a straightforward coming-out film. It could be argued that it’s not a coming-out ...

 Writer and Director: Doug Spearman Reviewer:  Richard Maguire Just before his film was shown at BFI Flare, London’s LGBTQ+ film festival, Doug Spearman confessed that he was surprised that the programmers had labelled it as a comedy. He thought he’d made a love story. But, ultimately, From Zero to I Love You is a combination of both these genres. In short, ...

Writer and Director:  Vincente Alves do Ó Reviewer:  Richard Maguire Portuguese film Sunburn really split the critics at its press screening this week at the BFI Flare Festival, London’s biggest LGBTQ+ film festival. Some walked out while others kept glancing at their watches. After the film, those who had stayed were trying to extol Sunburn’s virtues to those who had threatened ...

Creator: Wilkie Branson   Reviewer:  Richard Maguire Dancer Wilkie Branson’s new film TOM is full of foreboding and intrigue.  Shadowy figures populate stunning landscapes and dystopian cities in this story of a man trying to find his place in the world. The film certainly looks good, and if Keanu Reeves were to make a dance movie then TOM might be the result. ...

Writer & Director: Ingmar Bergman Music: Erik Nordgren Reviewer: Rich Jevons Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället) from 1957 is written and directed by the Swedish Svengali Ingmar Bergman and tackles the eternal question of our mortality and the meaning of our lives, especially as one approaches old age. Professor Isak Borg (played by silent cinema actor-director Victor Sjöström) is a 78-year-old widower. ...

Creator: Liv O’ Donoghue (in collaboration with the cast: Clara Simpson, Kip Johnson, José Miguel Jiménez) Reviewer: David Keane As the end of the world approaches and uncertainty is all-consuming, two documentary filmmakers follow their subjects through the mire of emotions and struggles they face. The subjects, Clara and Kip, work their way through the seven stages of the apocalypse ...

Book: Jose Fernandez Music: Steve Margoshes Lyrics: Jacques Levy Director: Nick Winston Reviewer: Rebecca Cohen  “You want fame? Well fame costs. And right here is where you start paying in sweat.”  The story and sentiment behind Fame the Musical is indeed an infamous one. It has brought to life the ‘behind the scenes’ of the prestigious New York City High ...

Writer and Director: Ol Parker Songs: Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Reviewer: Stephen Bates Our wonderful Summer has just got even sunnier. It’s time to forget about high art and think about guilty pleasures, time to take another trip back musically to an era of dancing queens and disco kings, time to take in the warm sea breezes and bask ...