Tag Archives: Historical Drama

Review in Brief: Outlaw King (2018)

Posted on December 2, 2018 by

Don’t compare OUTLAW KING to BRAVEHEART, compare it to IRONCLAD. This is brutal, dirty history, and there’s not a kilt in sight. Chris Pine is a softly spoken and dignified Robert the Bruce, Florence Pugh is a fiery counterpoint to … Continue reading →

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Review: Peterloo (2018)

Posted on November 14, 2018 by

I’m fully behind everything PETERLOO as a film stands for, and with individual liberties under threat ever more stories like this have become vital. Unfortunately I found the the manner in which Mike Leigh tells this story deeply frustrating. Lancashire, … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: Churchill (2017)

Posted on June 26, 2018 by

Trading showiness for human connection, CHURCHILL is far superior to DARKEST HOUR. The dialogue might range from poetic bluster (“My job is not to fight, not to die…I must exist”) to rather cumbersome exposition (“We’ve only a three day window … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: Their Finest (2016/17)

Posted on March 15, 2018 by

Yes, it’s probably destined to be a perennial Sunday afternoon favourite along with all the other cosy feelgood historical fare, but THEIR FINEST has a fair bit of bite to it as well. It has what SUFFRAGETTE (dignified as it … Continue reading →

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Review: Darkest Hour (2017)

Posted on February 10, 2018 by

DARKEST HOUR left me cold. Yes, Gary Oldman will probably win the Oscar for portraying Winston Churchill. Yes, he probably should. And yet, something about the presentation of the film around him left me feeling pretty empty and disconnected. May … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: The Limehouse Golem (2016/17)

Posted on January 30, 2018 by

THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM is an odd, inconsistent beast. I liked that this murder-mystery takes place in a gritty, nasty vision of Victorian London: children being sold and horrifically abused, seedy backstreet businesses, no desirable place in society unless you’re lucky … Continue reading →

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Review: Dunkirk (2017)

Posted on August 2, 2017 by

Some directors just need to get a film out of their systems. For Steven Spielberg it was SCHINDLER’S LIST, for Christopher Nolan it is surely DUNKIRK. The French coastline, May 1940. With the Allied army surrounded and with the sea … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: A United Kingdom (2016)

Posted on June 29, 2017 by

There’s not a whole lot wrong with A UNITED KINGDOM, but at the same time there’s also very little to set the world on fire. You can imagine it becoming a firm favourite for cosy Sunday afternoon viewing in years … Continue reading →

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Review: The Handmaiden (2016)

Posted on May 2, 2017 by

THE HANDMAIDEN is unmistakably a Park Chan-wook film. A polished tale of control featuring sadistic torture and plot-reevaluating twists, this is far beyond the ordinary bodice-ripper. During the Japanese occupation of Korea, a thief (Kim Tae-ri) masquerades as a handmaiden … Continue reading →

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Review: Silence (2016)

Posted on January 17, 2017 by

The release of a new Martin Scorsese film is still something to mark on your calendar, but perhaps the undoubtedly ambitious guilt trek SILENCE was too personal for his own good. Two Portuguese Jesuits travel to Japan to investigate reports … Continue reading →

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