Testament Of Youth (2014)
★★★★☆
A beautiful adaptation of Vera Brittain’s bestselling memoir, James Kent’s Testament Of Youth is a bitter tale of love in wartime for the 21st century.
London Film Festival
Wild (2014)
★★★★☆
With a brilliant one-hander from Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed trekking the PCT, Jean-Marc Vallée’s Wild makes for rehydrated but beautiful soul food.
Whiplash (2014)
★★★★★
Ferocious, electric and unrelenting, Simmons and Teller never miss a beat in Damien Chazelle’s phenomenal second feature Whiplash.
Foxcatcher (2014)
★★★★★
Carell, Ruffalo and Tatum are a stellar triumvirate in this unsettling and bone-chillingly creepy true story.
The Last Of The Unjust / Le Dernier Des Injustes (2013)
★★★★☆
If this is a man. Claude Lanzmann’s The Last Of The Unjust recuts unused Shoah interviews to reveal the controversial figure of Benjamin Murmelstein – Europe’s last Jewish Elder.
Electricity (2014)
★★★☆☆
Occasionally hampered by one-dimensional characters, Agyness Deyn is the scintillating spark of a film that convincingly encapsulates the defiance of life with epilepsy.
The Great Museum / Das große Museum (2014)
★★★★☆
A fascinating glimpse of the goings-on at one of the grandes dames of Europe’s museum scene, The Great Museum offers a compelling portrait of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Men, Women & Children (2014)
★★★★☆
Jason Reitman’s incisive slice of modern suburbia is a sad, humorous and painfully relevant snapshot of our subservience to social media.
Hello Carter (2013)
★★★☆☆
Down-on-his-luck Carter has recently become homeless, single and unemployed. Desperate to win back his ex-girlfriend, he goes off on an adventure throughout London to find her, picking up some odd helpers along the way.
Hockney (2014)
★★★★★
Unseen footage from David Hockney’s personal video library and revealing interviews make this the definitive biography of Britain’s most influential living artist.
Winter Sleep / Kis uykusu (2014)
★★★★★
Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep is a devastating portrait of a man who tries to do good but radiates an icy chill.
My Old Lady (2014)
★★★☆☆
Emotional revelations in store in this beautifully acted drama as an American claims his inheritance of a valuable Paris flat and finds there is a sitting tenant.
The Imitation Game (2014)
★★★★☆
Galvanising intense performances from a stellar cast, Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game is a war movie to stir the blood, but trips up over its queer hero.
The Drop (2014)
★★★☆☆
A superb performance from Tom Hardy and a cast of intriguing supporting characters saves this often rudderless New York based crime drama from the drop.