Movies

David Lean, Mike Leigh, Terry Gilliam, Stephen Frears , Terrance Davies, Ken Loach, Danny Boyle

How fares the British film industry?  

by

How indeed is the British film industry? Fire off this particular question into the vastness of cyberspace and you’d be forgiven for thinking that things have never been rosier. A great sprawl of articles tumble forth, spewing forth hugely impressive numbers, whilst also celebrating the talent of our actors and our crews. Unsurprisingly, the runaway success of franchises such as Bond, Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings also dominate most search-engine results.In a nutshell then, the British film industry is in a state of rude health and we should all congratulate ourselves by heading down to our local cinema to watch a British film, you know, to bask in that lovely glow of pride [ . . . ]

More at: How fares the British film industry? | Den of Geek

Family Flavours in Mike Leigh’s ‘Life is Sweet’ 

by
Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet
Mike Leigh’s Life Is Sweet

Children are seldom seen in the cinema of Mike Leigh. This absence is doubtless due to the strictures of the director’s character- and story-building methods, which might make the participation of child actors in Leighland rather problematic. In fact, the only notable child protagonist in Leigh’s cinema is Charlie (Charlie Difford), Poppy’s student in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), and even here the boy’s problems are merely used as a plot device to bring together the heroine and a social worker love interest. Though the issue is sometimes thematised in Leigh’s portraits of couples who are unable to conceive, the absence of children can seem a significant blind spot in films that clearly aspire to the presentation of full, detailed, realistically depicted social worlds.

Read Full Review at: Family Flavours in Mike Leigh’s ‘Life is Sweet’ | PopMatters

Goodbye Christopher Robin review – delightful take on the difficult birth of Winnie-the-Pooh

by

 

With its bittersweet interweaving of fact and fantasy, youthful innocence and adult trauma, this tale of the creation of a children’s classic could have been called Saving Mr Milne. Like Mary Poppins, Winnie-the-Pooh occupies a sacred space in our hearts and anyone wishing to co-opt some of that magic must tread very lightly indeed. Director Simon Curtis’s movie could easily have tripped (like Piglet) and burst its balloon as it evokes a dappled glade of happiness surrounded by the monstrous spectres of two world wars. Instead, it skips nimbly between light and dark, war and peace, like a young boy finding his way through an English wood, albeit one drenched with shafts of sugary, Spielbergian light.

Read full movie review at: Goodbye Christopher Robin review – delightful take on the difficult birth of Winnie-the-Pooh | Film | The Guardian