Blog | Film Reviews & Movie Trailers

Hushy Bye behind the scenes

Nov 6, 2016
6 min

Hushy Bye behind the scenes

Filmmaker Feature and Interview by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Hushy Bye – The Springhead Film Company Photos by Poppaea Bicknell In a seemingly quiet house in the middle of a sleepy street in Twickenham, you wouldn't think that a horror short was being made. That’s if you forget to notice the crew dragging tons of camera equipment. Written by Mark Brennan (‘Tea For Two’) and directed by James Webber (‘Soror’, ‘The Prey’) these two indie filmmakers were working on what could be th

Red short film

Sep 24, 2016
2 min

Red short film

Directed by Branko Tomovic Starring Branko Tomovic, Francesca Fowler & Dervla Kirwin Short Film Review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm RED is a short dark and edgy thriller set in the underground world of illegal organ smuggling, the so-called red market. Niklas (Branko Tomovic – lead, writer, director), a surgeon who lives a life of solitude and is tormented by self hatred, performs regular illegal surgeries for the red market. He works together with Mia (Francesca Fowler), a yo

Late Request short film

Aug 14, 2016
2 min

Late Request short film

Directed by Phil Peel Starring Garry Mannion & Melissa de Mol Short Film Review by Amaliah Marmon-Halm Late Request is an emotive little short film written, directed and edited by Phil Peel. Whilst driving late at night and feeling quite tired, Steven is left critically injured and trapped upside-down in a wrecked car. Paramedic Nicky battles to keep him conscious, whilst they wait for extra help to set him free. As they wait and he clings to life by a thread; Steven has on

The Shallows

Aug 2, 2016
3 min

The Shallows

★★★★ Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra Written by Anthony Jaswinski Starring Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada & Sedona Legge UK Release date – 12th August 2016 Film Review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm If you didn't have a fear of sharks after all the shark-based thrillers and thriller-comedies that have come out over the last few decades, then it’s quite possible that this one will leave you never wanting to get into pretty-looking water or learn how to surf for that matter. The Shall

Kung Fu Panda 3 sneak peek

Mar 2, 2016
2 min

Kung Fu Panda 3 sneak peek

Film feature by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Back in October 2015, in a rather swanky Soho hotel, the first glimpse of the next Kung Fu Panda was shown. The “weight” was truly over. As this is the third offering in the franchise, Kung Fu Panda 3, due for release on March 11th, has the job of trying to achieve the high notes of KFP1 and not repeating the lows of KFP2. So where are we now in the story? Time for a slight recap. Kung Fu Panda burst on to our screens with such awesome e

Spotlight film review

Jan 28, 2016
2 min

Spotlight film review

★★★★★ Directed by Tom McCarthy Starring Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James & Mark Ruffalo Film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Spotlight, directed, written and produced by Tom McCarthy and co-written by John Singer, tells the amazing true story of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Spotlight” team of investigative journalists, who in 2002 shocked the city and the world by exposing the Catholic Church’s systematic cover-up of widespread

Youth film review

Jan 28, 2016
3 min

Youth film review

★★★★★ Directed by Paolo Sorrentino Starring Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Paul Dano and Rachel Weisz Film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Paolo Sorrentino’s critically acclaimed masterpiece, Youth, stars Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as Fred and Mick respectively, two old friends on vacation together in an elegant hotel at the foot of the Alps. Fred, a composer and conductor, is now retired. Mick, a film director, is still working. Both of them know that their time is quic

Mop, Bucket and Cape

Jan 14, 2016
2 min

Mop, Bucket and Cape

Directed by Jake Sleet Starring Ashley Woods, Edward Boon, Luke Hornsby-Smith, Victoria Ekanoye Short film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm With its Marvel-esque opening and Scott Pilgrim-style moments, ‘Mop, Bucket and Cape’, written and directed by Jake Sleet, gives the superhero genre a very down to earth, British twist. Meet Ted, played by Ashley Woods – he’s not your usual sort of hero in the sense that he’s the hero that cleans up after heroes. The caretaker, basically.

Mallas, MA short film review

Jan 14, 2016
2 min

Mallas, MA short film review

Directed by Sean Meehan Starring Tim Cox, Maria Natapov, Eddie Nason & Robyn Kaan Short film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm ‘Mallas, MA’, directed by Sean Meehan, who also co-wrote the short film with Daniel Berube, tells the story of two bumbling con artists looking for their next con, try to pull one over on a small yet suspicious town by posing as paranormal investigators. With their gear, which looks like it came straight out of a Ghostbusters cosplay kit and an opening

In the Heart of Sea film review

Dec 13, 2015
2 min

In the Heart of Sea film review

★★★½ Directed by Ron Howard Starring Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy & Brendan Gleeson Film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Based on the thrilling and tragic real tale of the Nantucket whaling ship the Essex, In the Heart of the Sea, directed by Ron Howard and based on the original book by Nathaniel Philbrick, follows writer Herman Melville as he tries to hunt down the last remaining survivor and the last person who knows what really happened on that unfortu

Over - short film review

Nov 16, 2015
2 min

Over - short film review

Directed by Jörn Threlfall Short film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Set over 9 wide shots and detailing an unfortunate sequence of event in reverse, Over is a thrilling short film by Jörn Threlfall that will leave viewers questioning their own sense of judgement, perception and, at times, wondering whether their moral compass is in need of fine tuning. In order to avoid SPOILERS UK Film Review will be delicately avoiding many of the key plot points. The film opens up to a

Empty

Oct 19, 2015
2 min

Empty

Directed by Tom Smith Starring Kate Louise Turner, Lydia Atherton & Antonia Kleopa Short film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm A powerful drama based around the emotional and physical trauma of having an eating disorder, Empty, by director Tom Smith & Producer/scriptwriter Kate Louise Turner, follows Kiera (also played by Kate Louise Turner) on her daily struggle to fight her condition. The film opens to what seems like a normal teenage girl starting her day. Things take an e

The Nightingale and the Night: Chavela Vargas sings Lorca

Oct 4, 2015
2 min

The Nightingale and the Night: Chavela Vargas sings Lorca

Directed by Rubén Rojo Aura Documentary review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm This is the story of Mexican singer Chavela Vargas and the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Poetry and music are their meeting points. Chavela´s gut-wrenching renditions of Mexican popular classics, poetry and revolutionary ballads, combined with her unique and aching vocals, ensured she lived her own legend to the fullest. The film by Rubén Rojo Aura follows this ninety year old woman as she pushes h

Wolf at the Door

Oct 4, 2015
2 min

Wolf at the Door

Directed by Fernando Coimbra Starring Fabíula Nascimento, Milhem Cortaz, & Leandra Leal Film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Wolf at the Door follows the chilling tale of a kidnapped little girl and the torment of her parents in the events that follow. What starts off as a clear cut case of kidnap set in Rio de Janeiro soon turns into a wicked story of love, jealousy and revenge. When Sylvia (Fabíula Nascimento) finds out that her 6 year old daughter has been picked up from

Done In

Sep 23, 2015
2 min

Done In

Directed by Adam Stephen Kelly Starring Guy Henry Film review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm A short that contains so much drama and intrigue in such a small package, Done In shows an ageing man (Guy Henry), in a beautiful manor, recalling memories of his life as he is saying his goodbye to the world, all in the hope of being reunited with his dead wife. What first seems like a rather sad and sweet story swiftly becomes rather sinister and quite dark (Don’t worry, UK Film Review d

Convenience

Sep 23, 2015
2 min

Convenience

Directed by Keri Collins Starring Ray Panthaki, Vicky McClure and Adeel Akhtar Film Review by Amaliah S. Armon-Halm ★★★ “One Night. Two men. Three hostages. No clue” I really do love it when a tagline sums up a film so perfectly that it makes me feel like there’s no need to review it…but you’re getting the film review anyway. Ajay (Ray Panthaki) and Shaan (Adeel Akhtar) have found themselves in a real mess. All because Shaan wanted a quiet place to read his book and didn’t ta

The Prey

Sep 6, 2015
2 min

The Prey

Written & Directed by James Webber Starring Rebecca Van Cleave & James Alexandrou Review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Set in the frightful streets of Hounslow on Halloween, The Prey follows Mel (Rebecca Van Cleave) and Ethan (James Alexandrou) as they return from a night out at a party. As they start to fight and have a bit of a lover’s tiff over the night’s events, Mel decides to continue her journey alone. Getting a fair amount of attention along her way, it’s this attention t

Soror

Sep 5, 2015
2 min

Soror

Directed by James Webber Starring Sian Breckin, Rosie Day & James Alexandrou Review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Beautifully made short film with accents of gentle and artistic scenes, Soror (which translates to mean sister in Latin) centres around two sisters, Lisa (Sian Breckin) and Grace (Rosie Day). Lisa is an outspoken and lively woman, who fantasises of escaping to somewhere new and away from the constrictions of her home. With her boyfriend Andrew (James Alexandrou) who d

Stereotype

Sep 3, 2015
3 min

Stereotype

Directed by Jordan McGibney Starring Jordan Smith, Luke McGibney, Kyle Turlunch, & Noor Lawson Review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Set against a dark urban city background, Stereotype revolves around a young teenage boy, Leroy (Jordan Smith), who has to come to terms with the loss his brother to a knife attack. In a very violent display of racism, a gang of white racists manipulate a mentally challenged man called Judas (Luke McGibney) to stab Leroy's brother Dez (Kyle Turlunch)

Hard Time Bus

Sep 3, 2015
2 min

Hard Time Bus

Directed by Dean Charles Written by Owen Mowatt Starring Neil Reidman, Naomi Ryan & Roger Griffiths Review by Amaliah S. Marmon-Halm Written by Owen Mowatt and directed by Dean Charles, Hard Time Bus is a romantic drama following the (mainly) lows of Mark Bishop. After a rude awakening and what seems like a series of bad dreams, Mark (Neil Reidman) is brought back to reality with a bump. This causes him to make the hasty and forced decision to start making plans to marry devo