When it comes to coming-of-age films, the matter of which ones become cultural touchstones is quite often down to luck. It’s a hard nut to crack, but generally speaking the most enduring tales of the pitfalls of young adulthood are those with a strong emotional core, an ensemble of fully fleshed-out, interesting characters and realistic scenarios that don’t feel feather-light or superficial…
Monthly Archives: June 2016
A Snapshot of American Independent Cinema in 2016
After taking a year off in 2015, the team behind Sundance London returned this year to give UK audiences a snapshot of what’s cooking on the American indie scene, with the lavish Picturehouse Central acting as the festival’s new hub for UK or European premieres of some of the buzziest titles to have emerged from Sundance in January. Here’s an unranked top five of our highlights of what we did manage to catch, some of which will be arriving in UK cinemas soon…
Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra, 2015)
When it comes to the cinematic canon, certain films come to mind when thinking of particular stories. For example, when it comes to tales of the mafia, you’re probably going to think of The Godfather or Goodfellas; they have left a distinct enough imprint on the notion of a mafia story that they’ve become the go-to reference points for the concept.
Now, when it comes to stories about madness brought about by venturing into the jungle, a couple of key films will generally come to mind. There’s Apocalypse Now, there’s Fitzcarraldo, and, of course, the masterpiece that is George of the Jungle. Why bring this up? Well, it’s the case that Ciro Guerra’s new film, Embrace of the Serpent, offers a delirium-inducing drive into the dark heart of nature that feels like little else we’ve seen before – a distinctive experience worthy of becoming one of those titans…
The Boss (Ben Falcone, 2016)
When it comes to comedy, one of the trickier balancing acts to pull off is when a filmmaker is clearly aiming to deal in both the zany and the sincere; going all-out wacky with the comic set-pieces, but also wanting to inject a little pathos into proceedings. This is precisely what Ben Falcone attempts, unsuccessfully, with The Boss, the second feature he has co-written and directed for wife Melissa McCarthy following 2014’s Tammy…
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