Best of British: My Brother the Devil Review

My Brother the Devil is an extremely moving and powerful British film from writer/director Sally El Hosaini, starring James Floyd and Fady Elsayed, as well as someone I don't see nearly enough of in film, La Haine's Saïd Taghmaoui.

Read my full review of My Brother the Devil at Filmoria here.

Sometimes it sucks being a film critic and having to see films that you think are rubbish.  You have to write why you don't like a film, knowing full well that others may love it.  Also you know that countless people have put in huge amount of hours and hard work in bringing the film to the screen.  That sucks.

Other times it is the greatest job in the world.  You get to say why you loved a film and share a positive review which you hope will be read by many and will encourage them to see the film.  That is the case with My Brother the Devil.  I love this film but know that it will be fighting for position in multiplexes with blockbuster behemoths like Skyfall.  That is why I am very glad to be doing my bit to spread the word on this great film.

And it gives me great pleasure that one of the stars of My Brother the Devil, James Floyd is extremely active on Twitter and has come across some of my writing about the film, tweeting:

Thx 2 @Filmoria 4 giving @MBTDFilm an Amazing review! *powerful performances nearing perfection* *endlessly complex* *purely entertaining*

He also retweeted this from me straight after I saw it: #MyBrotherTheDevil is likely to be 1 of the best British films of the year. Disturbing reactions from some ppl in the screening with me tho!

It really was disturbing how some people reacted in the screening I was in.  To say more would be to ruin one of the biggest surprises in the film.  Unfortunately there are still some disgustingly immature, prejudiced people on the planet!  And I hope more of them sit through this film.

Every month I am doing a piece at Boolean Flix to help spread the word on British films that are coming to a cinema near you.  This month I took a look at My Brother the Devil, Sightseers and Great Expectations among others.  Read my best of British film for November over at Boolean Flix.  Is this poster one of the greatest ever produced?

In other news, it looks like before the end of the day, I Love That Film might break the 12,000 hits in one month mark so thanks very much to everyone who pops by!  I Love That Film loves you!

Anyone seen My Brother the Devil?  What did you think?  If you haven't seen it, check out the trailer below.

The Blair Witch Project and Top 10 Found Footage Horror

Day 6 of Filmoria's 10 Days of Halloween saw me getting all emotional about my own personal horror passion.  I'm going to come right out and say it before we go any further.  I kind of love found footage horror movies.  Not all of them but when they get it right, I really do love the techniques, the immediacy and the identification they create.

That's why I chose to write about The Blair Witch Project as another of my Halloween must-see movies.  It's the film that introduced me and many others to the found footage trend and since then I've begun a PhD thesis on found footage horror.  I try to see every example but that is becoming increasingly difficult with the sheer amount that get released every year.  Blame the success of Paranormal Activity for really bringing back the trend recently.

Anyway as much as people hate the found footage fad, I think there are some absolutely fantastic examples which is why over at Filmoria I decided to share my top 10 (plus a few more worth catching).

Back in July I defended found footage from its critics over at Boolean Flix which you can read here.

Yesterday at Filmoria I argued The Blair Witch Project is a must-see Halloween movie.

And is that isn't enough shaky-cam action and you want to find some other examples that you may or may not have heard of, then please check out my top 10 found footage horror movies over at Filmoria.

Poor Heather

In other horror-ific news, I spent the day yesterday at the Lionsgate UK horrorthon in London.  In order to promote the upcoming Silent Hill sequel, they were screening loads of their back catalogue at the Soho Screening Rooms.  I sat and watched four horror films back to back between 10am and 5pm.  Starting with Jeepers Creepers and ending with the pretty bloody awful My Bloody Valentine 3D.  In between I checked out Drag Me to Hell and The Cabin in the Woods (again) and we were treated to some frankly bizarre clips from Silent Hill: Revelation.  Spending a whole day in a darkened theatre watching horror was pretty much a perfect day for me.  The quality of the movies wasn't the best but they were all entertaining enough to stop me falling asleep!  I also got a The Cabin in the Woods keyring and Silent Hill poster so thanks to Lionsgate UK for a fun day!

Forget Christmas, Halloween is definitely this horror fans favourite time of the year!

What do you think of found footage?  I'm always curious to hear people's reactions to the sub-genre so whether you love it or hate it, please check out the articles above and let me know your thoughts!

October’s Best of British

In the first part of a new series, Pete Turner brings you details of the best new British films hitting cinemas next month…

October is always an exciting time for British cinema with the blockbuster season over, Halloween approaching and the London Film Festival bringing world cinema to the capital, as well as shining a much needed light on Britain’s talent.


Of course October 2012 also sees the return of a certain very British, very popular icon to cinema screens. You know the name. You know the number. More on him later…

But first let’s take a look at some of the other British films fighting for your hard earned pounds this month. Speaking of a certain super spy, first up is a documentary released to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of his cinematic outings. Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 charts the 50 years since Mr Bond first hit screens in Dr No in 1962. Odeon cinemas will be giving the film a limited release on October 5th and fans will no doubt be desperate to catch the nostalgic trip through one of the most successful film franchises (and longest running) ever made...

Read more on the new British films of October 2012 at Boolean Flix.