Written by David Ireland Directed by Gareth Nicholls ★★★★ Recently, the act of being offended has become blasé. People are offended by movie remakes, and television programmes – hell quite often a social media post about cake toppings can cause riots. The term ‘offended’ however, has a place in Ulster American which returns to the Traverse after … Continue reading Ulster American – Traverse Theatre
https://youtu.be/fdxajUFO8vI Written by Steven Knight Directed & Choreographed by Benoit Swan Pouffer ★★★★ The Festival Theatre is under new management folks, and they’re not the type you’d want to raise a complaint with. Not that you’d have any with the venue’s newest show, as Edinburgh welcomes the highly anticipated Rambert’s Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas … Continue reading Rambert: Peaky Blinders – Festival Theatre
https://youtu.be/rerflAdYWBE Written by Sonya Kelly Directed by Sara Joyce ★★★★ We’re renowned for it; queuing. We’re rather good at following orders in this country; an understanding of the unwritten doctrine of etiquette and ensuring others who perhaps don’t grasp the concept are made aware of how things are done here. There are no favours, no … Continue reading The Last Return – Traverse Theatre
https://youtu.be/b-ybs6ZvoTc Written and Directed by Matt Wilkinson ★★★★★ “What he did was not just a crime against humanity… it was a crime against Theatre”. So, the question is, what the hell did he do? In this remarkably astute one-woman monologue, performed by Emily Bruni, age is the unfortunate reminding factor – inescapable for a once … Continue reading Psychodrama – Traverse Theatre
Written & Directed by Kate Barton ★★★★ If one were to google the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting, or more grotesquely known as the Batman shootings, a name would emerge. This is not the name to remember - this is the name to dismiss, reject and strike from history. The names of the twelve victims, and … Continue reading Screen 9 – Edinburgh International Conference Centre
https://youtu.be/UIbofWPedS0 Directed by Jimmy Giannopoulos Written by Jimmy Giannopolous, Diomedes Raul Bermudez & Shiloh Fernandez USA/ 2021/ 93 mins ★★ amily is everything to the Mob. It’s the age-old rule of what not to touch – and precisely where to hurt someone the most. A gangster flick concealing an attempted family drama, director Jimmy Giannopoulo … Continue reading The Birthday Cake – Review
https://youtu.be/yj5DP6rqyN4 Directed by Eion Macken Ireland USA/ 2020/96 mins ★★ Unable to separate itself from the distinctly obvious inspirations of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting, Here Are The Young Men lowers the age of the principal cast and centres on three lads finishing school and emerging into the cruel and waiting world. The transgression of youth is a staple of cinematic … Continue reading Here Are The Young Men – Review
https://youtu.be/8G9cRhnm0sE Directed by Yudai Yamaguchi & Jun’ichi Yamamoto Japan/ 2005/ 90 mins ★★ There’s something that the cinematic triumphs share with the more peculiar films; you usually have an idea of how things are going within the first few frames. For one, it’s a compliment to setting the tone or a visual style to enrapture. For others, … Continue reading Meatball Machine – Review
https://youtu.be/6M8Pvdst_7g Written & Directed by Cristian Solimeno 2011/ UK/ 108 mins ★★★ What a premise. What a deep-seated deconstruction of abusive and toxic masculinity. What a cast of accomplished performers, and what a shame. Just shy of a decade ago, Cristian Solimeno’s The Glass Man saw a limited release. Now, towards the tail end of 2020, this psychological … Continue reading The Glass Man – Review
https://youtu.be/f5mfsyHp5v0 Written & Directed by Will Thorne UK/2020/93mins ★★★ One last job - that’s all they ever want. But when you owe someone, and we mean owe someone, well – you’ve just got to do as you’re told. Mark, a recently released hitman from South London, has only one interest following prison, his family. Specifically, his daughter … Continue reading Silent Night – Review
