Blog | Film Reviews & Movie Trailers

Who Is Elmore Dean? short film review

Apr 12, 2019
1 min

Who Is Elmore Dean? short film review

★★★ Director: Max Rothman Writer: #MaxRothman Starring: #TimothyJCox Short Film Review by: #KirstyAsher Who Is Elmore Dean? is a short film about a man whose apartment seems to have taken on a life of its own. Elmore Dean is an esteemed songwriter, and the film opens on the day he will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Only things seem to be happening of their own accord, small at first before gradually becoming something like the merry havoc of a poltergeist.

Sauvage film review

Mar 28, 2019
2 min

Sauvage film review

★★★★ Director: Camille Vidal-Naquet Writers: #CamilleVidalNaquet Starring: #FélixMaritaud, #EricBernard, #PhilippeOhrel Film Review by: #KirstyAsher Sauvage very much lives up to its name. It not only shows the unflinchingly drastic extent to which a young gay prostitute with a drug problem will go to both feed his habit and keep himself alive, but it is also animalistic in its choice of locations and its sound editing. The area where the protagonist Léo, a kind of elfin vers

The Old Believer short film

May 24, 2018
2 min

The Old Believer short film

★★★★ Directed by: Michael Doyle Starring: Grant Bayliss, Richie Baillie, Timothy Davies, Michael Doyle, John Anders Short Film Review by: Kirsty Asher The Old Believer is a horror film that slinks darkly through the mysterious world of primeval witchcraft and religious fear, with the added element of military force. The Siberian setting and the first image of a Russian Orthodox crucifix burning hellishly in the night is a haunting establishment of primeval misdoing and evil.

Empty City short film

May 11, 2018
2 min

Empty City short film

Directed by: Károly Eiles Written by: Károly Eiles Starring: Márton Fischer Short Film Review by: Kirsty Asher Empty City, a film by Hungarian filmmaker Károly Eiles aims to ask an ambitious cinematic question: what would your life be like if you were the only person left in a big city? It’s a concept which has previously been beautifully explored in post-apocalyptic cinema, but the vibe of this short film is decidedly more upbeat. The rich colour grading brings out summery y

Heroin(e) Netflix documentary

Oct 26, 2017
2 min

Heroin(e) Netflix documentary

Directed by Elaine McMillion Netflix Film Review by Kirsty Asher Heroin(e) is a short documentary produced exclusively for Netflix as part of their Netflix Originals documentary contingent, and focuses on the post-industrial town of Huntington, West Virginia. The reason for doing so would seemingly be that this town has been devastated by the opioid epidemic that has gripped America, with one in four people addicted some form of opiate. Such alarming statistics would perhaps

Pilgrims short film

Oct 10, 2017
2 min

Pilgrims short film

Directed by Ivan Doan Starring Ivan Doan Short Film Review by Kirsty Asher Pilgrims is a brief but fascinating short based on the poem of the same name by Russian-American poet Joseph Brodsky. It’s a one-man production, narrated by, directing and starring Ivan Doan, and he effectively cultivates a series of ponderous, enigmatic images, as befits a style of non-narrative film such as this. Its monochrome colour grade and simple, static shots of a lake, in the driving snow inte

Netflix’s Marvel Films from Worst to Best

Aug 25, 2017
4 min

Netflix’s Marvel Films from Worst to Best

A Ranking of Netflix’s Marvel Films from Worst to Best. Netflix Film Review by Kirsty Asher 6. Thor: The Dark World Thor is absolutely my favourite cinematic Avenger, and 2011’s Thor might well be my favourite of Marvel’s post-Iron Man films. As a theatre-lover and former performer, I think it was bang on the money to hire Kenneth Branagh to direct the first outing, giving Shakespearean swagger to the Norse mythology - it was just what the character and the fictional world ne

Tricky Business short film

Aug 2, 2017
2 min

Tricky Business short film

Directed by Keif Gwinn Starring Christina Halvorsen, Johan Barnard, Mark Lynch Short Film Review by Kirsty Asher Tricky Business is a neat, smart short film made for the 100 Hour Film Race – a competition which challenges entrants to create a short film in a particular period of time, in this case 100 hours, with a winner being chosen at the end. It seems to capture the essence of the competition in its composition. To save time on storytelling, the director and writer tea

The Masterpiece short film

Jul 12, 2017
3 min

The Masterpiece short film

Directed by Tanmay Singh Starring Preeti Jhangiani Short Film Review by Kirsty Asher The Masterpiece is a very interesting film. It employs the concept of the fading starlet, much like a Desi version of Sunset Boulevard, except Preeti Jhangiani is very much playing a version of herself. There is such a meta quality to this film, with a hardened line of criticism towards Hindi/Bollywood cinema and its attitude towards its female stars running all the way through it. The premis

Radha short film

Jun 30, 2017
2 min

Radha short film

Directed by Nicolas Courdouan Starring Sue Walsh, Kojii Helnwein, Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, Brendan Sheehan, Gerry Wade, Stephen Maguire Short Film Review by Kirsty Asher Irish indie cinema has been enjoying great success in recent years. The past two years I have been to Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival in Bristol there have been numerous impressive short and animated submissions from Ireland dotted throughout the film festival. Radha, written and directed by Nicola

St Monica's short film

Jun 21, 2017
3 min

St Monica's short film

Directed by Gio Karlo Birondo and Neo Bryce Largo Starring Kimberly Mar Barcena, David Shem Calida, Earl Clive Dacal, Sam Kristian Villaver Short Film Review by Kirsty Asher This short film is an unexpectedly touching delivery by Filippino filmmakers Gio Karlo Birondo and Neo Bryce Largo. I say unexpectedly because with the film’s synopsis alluding to both inner demons and real demons as well as some unclear storyboarding in the duration of the film, I was under the impressio

Wonder Woman

Jun 4, 2017
3 min

Wonder Woman

★★★ Directed by Patty Jenkins Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Danny Huston Film Review by Kirsty Asher As I sat down to watch this film, I received a news notification that Donald Trump had decided to pull out of the Paris Agreement. It’s hard to settle down to a film where you can trust that a superhuman will swoop in to save the day when, in reality, any current evidence of real truth and justice in this world seems hard to find. The post-9/11 production lin

What's Up Water Cup? short film

May 23, 2017
3 min

What's Up Water Cup? short film

Directed by Daniel Bergeson Starring Chris Larson, Alex Weiland, Rodney Bergeson, Nate Hults, & Nic McGuire Short Film Review by Kirsty Asher The opening of this film greets the audience with a man cheerily humming La Dona è Mobile while preparing a lasagne for dinner. This could have been amusing if I’d been able to see the facial expression of the actor as he flamboyantly smells his food but unfortunately a high angle over-shoulder close-up means all we see is an uncooked l

Looking Back Merrifield short film

May 7, 2017
2 min

Looking Back Merrifield short film

Directed by Morgan Johnson Starring Morgan Johnson, Rachel Porter, Michael Fisher, Cameron Young Short Film Review by Kirsty Asher Looking Back Merrifield marks the second short film directed, written by and starring Morgan Johnson. The film opens with an intrusive knock on a door, tired eyes open reluctantly to face the world. These opening shots are crisply edited with a cool, drained colour palette and this is a great foundation for the sad story Johnson has to tell. The s