philhoad
What Josiah Saw review – a sharp, sleazy slice of southern gothic
Director Vincent Grashaw stitches together fragmented stories of grubby low-lives and festering family secrets to create an unsettling tapestry of sordid horror
Phil Hoad
03, Aug, 2022 @9:00 AM
Earth: Muted review – bees go missing in China despatch from the eco-apocalypse file
This documentary about bees going extinct in the Hanyuan valley doesn’t seem interested in the wider context but instead offers a soothing watch of farmers at work
Phil Hoad
01, Aug, 2022 @8:00 AM
Shadow Game review – teen migrants turn illegal border crossing into video game
Contrasting their own self-empowered social-media footage with their vulnerability and the enormity of their struggle gives this documentary a heartbreaking high-concept jolt
Phil Hoad
30, Jul, 2022 @11:01 AM
How the Predator franchise is breaking new ground for Native Americans on screen
Prey, the latest film in the Hollywood series, breaks new ground in its authentic portrayal of Indigenous Americans, thanks to its Comanche producer and Sioux lead
Phil Hoad
29, Jul, 2022 @9:00 AM
Give Them Wings review – paean to Darlington FC and the power of compassion
This disarmingly sincere autobiopic tackles a northern lad’s struggles with disability with an unselfpitying eye, evoking the goodwill of vintage of British studio-era films
Phil Hoad
25, Jul, 2022 @8:00 AM
‘You cannot imagine how crazy the system is’: Jafar Panahi’s film-maker son on Iranian censorship
Speaking before his director father’s latest arrest, Panah discusses the hypocrisy of the regime, the impact of his family’s resistance – and his own award-winning debut feature
Phil Hoad
21, Jul, 2022 @3:00 PM
Conscientious Protectors: A Story of Rebellion Against Extinction review – XR and the art of protest
Leigh Bloomfield’s doc on Extinction Rebellion’s 2019 blockade of central London is full of useful details about effective activism
Phil Hoad
20, Jul, 2022 @8:00 AM
That Was a Serious Party review – lords and ladies of misrule in posh festival film
Documentary about Secret Garden Party only begins to get the spirit of the shindig when it degenerates into a collaged melee
Phil Hoad
19, Jul, 2022 @10:00 AM
‘Fire is the perfect villain’ – how the Notre Dame blaze became an explosive film
Name of the Rose director Jean-Jacques Annaud has turned the Paris fire into a thrilling drama. He talks about the desperate race to rescue the crown of thorns – as molten lead fell like satanic rain
Phil Hoad
12, Jul, 2022 @5:00 AM
We Are Russia review – portrait of the brave young activists aiming to oust Putin
Alexandra Dalsbaek’s immersive documentary focuses on two engaging twentysomething protesters making a stand against authoritarianism
Phil Hoad
11, Jul, 2022 @8:00 AM
Corrective Measures review – Bruce Willis flexes his mind control in superpowered prison drama
Splicing X-Men and Suicide Squad shouldn’t really work, but director Sean Patrick O’Reilly adds a subtle layer of social commentary to the comic-book schlock in a distinctive debut
Phil Hoad
05, Jul, 2022 @11:00 AM
Ode to the Spring review – Chinese exploration of pandemic ground zero in Wuhan
Telling five Covid-related stories, this platitudinous urban-interconnection drama offers lectures on virtue and self-sacrifice and feels like state propaganda
Phil Hoad
04, Jul, 2022 @10:00 AM
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