Film-Forward

U. K.

A Field in England

Directed by Ben Wheatley Produced by Anna Higgs Written by Amy Jump Released by Drafthouse Films UK. 91 min. Not rated With Reece Shearsmith, Michael Smiley, Julian Barrett, Ryan Pope, Peter Ferdinando & Richard Glover Ben Wheatley, the award-winning director of Down Terrace, a domestic gangster movie; the crime/horror hybrid Kill List; and the serial-killer […]

Philomena

Directed by Stephen Frears Produced by Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan & Tracey Seaward Written by Coogan & Jeff Pope, based on Martin Sixsmith’s book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee Released by the Weinstein Company UK/USA/France. 98 min. Rated PG-13 With Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Mare Winningham, Barbara Jefford, Ruth McCabe & […]

Wasteland

Written & Directed by Rowan Athale Produced by Ed Barratt, Mark Foligno, Gareth Pritchard Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories UK. 106 min. Not rated With Luke Treadaway, Timothy Spall, Matthew Lewis, Iwan Rheon, Vanessa Kirby, Neil Maskell & Gerard Kearns British director Rowan Athale’s feature debut opens in the gloomy confines of a police station, where battered […]

Broken

Directed by Rufus Norris Written by Mark O’Rowe, based on the novel by Daniel Clay Produced by Dixie Linder, Tally Garner, Nick Marston & Bill Kenwright Released by Film Movement UK. 90 min. Not rated With Tim Roth, Eloise Laurence, Cillian Murphy, Zana Marjanovic, Robert Emms, Faye Daveney, Rosalie Kosky-Hensman, Martha Bryant, Bill Milner & […]

More Cannes Winners

Perhaps the two main stories that emerged from this year’s Cannes Film Festival were the jewelry heists (who knew Brian De Palma’s Femme Fatale was so prescient?) and the praise and immediate backlash heaped on the Palm d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Color, namely Elaine Sciolino’s piece in the New York Times in which […]

The Look of Love

Directed by Michael Winterbottom Produced by Melissa Parmenter Written by Matt Greenhalgh Released by IFC Films UK/USA. 107 min.  Not rated (definitely would be rated R) With Steve Coogan, Imogen Poots, Anna Friel, Tamsin Egerton & Chris Addison After an eclectic career that covers art house, neo-noir, docudrama, and comedy, prolific director Michael Winterbottom brings […]

Byzantium

Directed by Neil Jordan Written by Moira Buffini, based on her play A Vampire Story Produced by Stephen Woolley, Alan Moloney, Elizabeth Karlsen, William D. Johnson & Samuel Englebardt Released by IFC Films UK/USA/Ireland. 118 min. Rated R With Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, Daniel Mays & Caleb Landry Jones Eleanor […]

Berberian Sound Studio

Written & Directed by Peter Strickland Produced by Keith Griffiths, Mary Burke Released by IFC Films UK.  92 min. Not rated With Toby Jones, Cosimo Fusco, Antonio Mancino & Tonia Sotiropoulou Peter Strickland’s second feature is an inventive homage to the art of analogue sound and the power of the medium. Sometime in the 1970s, […]

Shadow Dancer

Directed by James Marsh Produced by Chris Coen, Andrew Lowe & Ed Guiney Written by Tom Bradby, based on his novel Released by Magnolia Pictures UK/Ireland/France. 100 min. Rated R With Andrea Riseborough, Clive Owen, Gillian Anderson, Aiden Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, David Wilmot, Martin McCann & Bríd Brennan Terrorism, sectarian loyalties, die-hard fanatics, civilian casualties, […]