March 2010 Archives

Nicolas Winding Refn's so-called 'Viking epic' Valhalla Rising is actually a violent mood piece centred on the mute, animalistic warrior One Eye (Mads Mikkelsen). Set in Scotland in 1000 AD, we first see One Eye as a captive of a band of Norse pagans forcing him to take part in a series of barbaric duels.

Another day, another mooted classic I'd never seen before. Yesterday, it was Rebel Without A Cause; today, it was Woody Allen's romantic comedy Manhattan.

Today's screening of Rebel Without A Cause was the first time I'd seen the film in its entirety and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The theme of youth alienation is now less groundbreaking and the teen rebellion much less controversial but that doesn't stop the film from being enormously entertaining.

A Nightmare on Elm street is the latest horror movie to get the remake treatment after the likes of Last House on the Left in 2009, and the awful Friday the 13th, also in 2009.

True Predator fans will tell you that the Predator series has become a bit of a joke. The Alien Vs Predator films have not really added anything to the series, other than a few spectacular CGI confrontations.

Fernando Meirelles spoke about his early career and his films in this year's Bradford Film Festival. He addressed a large crowd at the National Media Museum, who were keen to learn about his life as a film director.

Karl Benecke and Brogan Morris are joined by film enthusiasts Gary Young, Leon Somi and Tom Bates to discuss the results of this year's Oscars. You can listen to the discussion below.

My first viewing experience of day five of the festival was International Shorts: Programme 1, made up of six shorts by two very different directors. The first three were by director Liang Ying, but the second half invading my field of vision was made up of a series of infuriatingly experimental shorts by avant-garde director Dietmar Brehm.

Shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and his squad search the country for the WMD's that instigated the war. Coming up empty time and again, Miller begins an investigation of his own into some shady governmental dealings and why those weapons continue to elude him.

The 16th Bradford International Film Festival began on Thursday night with a premiere of Perrier's Bounty, but Friday was the first full day of the festival. Taking place primarily at the National Media Museum, but incorporating venues across Bradford, I went along to view a select number of films throughout the day. Here is my review.