Robert the Bruce Interviews

Recently as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival Craig was able to sit down with the director and cast of Robert the Bruce. The conversation included director Richard Gray as well as starts Angus MacFadyen, Zach McGowan and Anna Hutchison. The discussion covered cold weather filming, themes being explored, how ideals are interpreted along…

Robert the Bruce

Richard Gray’s Robert the Bruce tells the story of the renowned Scottish figure from an unconventional perspective. First of all we should address the Outlaw King in the room. The recent Netflix release is more along the lines of an action blockbuster with a large budget and a big name attached. Robert the Bruce uses…

End of Sentence

A father and son travel across Ireland to scatter their late wife and mother’s ashes on a remote lake in Elfar Adalsteins’ End of Sentence. Right from the very beginning this film makes it abundantly clear what the audience is in for. Anna Fogle (Andrea Irvine) visits her son Sean (Logan Lerman) in prison with…

The Captor

Robert Budreau’s The Captor -also known as Stockholm– delivers a fictionalised account of the 1973 bank heist and hostage situation that served as the origin of the well known term “Stockholm Syndrome”. Hostage situations are common fodder for movies as they’re a great excuse for a director to show their command of pace and tension…

Ode to Joy

A man who suffers from a rare form of narcolepsy that causes him to pass out whenever he feels strong happiness has his coping techniques put to the test when he falls in love in Jason Winer’s Ode to Joy. A comedy centred around the premise of someone suffering from a condition may seem somewhat…

Boyz in the Wood

The 73rd Edinburgh International Film Festival begins with Ninian Doff’s Boyz in the Wood; the comedic tale of a group of wayward teens venturing into the Highlands to complete the Duke of Edinburgh award. At its core this is a coming of age story focusing on four young boys who are ultimately fairly directionless in…

Steel Country

A sanitation worker becomes obsessed with uncovering the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of a young boy in Simon Fellows’ Steel Country. There are parts of America that have all but been forgotten about by those in power. These areas were once the centre of industry but have fallen into a state of dilapidation as…

Three Summers

People from different walks of life have their world view challenged when attending an Australian folk music festival over the course of 3 consecutive years in Ben Elton’s Three Summers. Normally I don’t bring in context when reviewing a film but in some cases it’s unavoidable and really important in terms of understanding why the film…