The Angels Share

Paul Brannigan, William Ruane, John Henshaw, - Dir: Ken Loach

I've long been a fan of left-wing political English director Ken Loach, whose work ranges from astute portraits of working class lives (Ladybird Ladybird, Raining Stones) to examinations of historical struggle (The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Land and Freedom) and, more recently, a brand of bitter sweet comedy that roots its humour in sharply-drawn characters (Searching For Eric). His latest is in the latter vein and is a real treat.
Our hero is Robbie, a young Scot with a newborn baby who vows to give his son a better life than he has had. Which is not an easy ask since Robbie has just escaped a prison sentence and is serving a community service order. He meets Rhino, Albert and Mo who, like him, find getting work difficult because of criminal records. Then the four discover high-end whisky and come up with an unlikely plan to solve their problems, leading to an ingenious highland heist.
It's a wonderful, life-affirming film, very funny yet at the same time never glossing over the bleak situation the characters emerge from and the moral complexities of the justice system. And the cast are uniformly great.
You'll finish this film with a smile on your face – don't miss it.

The original movie holds a place in many a warped psyche as one of the most preposterously bad films ever made. So, naturally, we now have a remake of Red Dawn. General absurdity is still present in abundance as a group of college kids (and Chris Hemsworth's off-duty marine) wake to find their home of Spokane – and the rest of the US - has been invaded by North Korea. With the American military apparently caught on the hop at the sudden arrival of nasty commie paratroopers and any dissenters herded into makeshift prisons, it's up to our brave teens to gather weapons and fight back. 'North Korea? That doesn't make any sense.” says one character early on. Astonishingly, the premise only begins to plumb the depths of stupidity that follow.

I have never played the 'groundbreaking video franchise” and found the first film equal parts unmemorable and unintelligible, so I'm probably not the target market for Silent Hill: Revelation. Central to the story are Heather (Adelaide Clemens) and her father (an oddly American-accented Sean Bean). They're on the run; she has nightmares suggesting she has read too much Clive Barker. Seems the evil forces that stole away mummy in part one are now after Heather. When hallucinogenic weirdness increases and dad disappears it's off to the titular ghost town to confront an imaginatively-designed coterie of demonic nasties. Pros? Inventive visuals and cool cameos (Martin Donovan, Malcolm McDowell, Carrie-Anne Moss, Deborah Kara Unger). Cons? It's basically rubbish.

Dexter Fletcher – probably still best known as an actor from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (though he has 85 screen credits) makes his debut as director with the very impressive Wild Bill. Charlie Creed-Miles plays the titular parolee, out after eight years and surprised to find his 11 and 15 year old sons abandoned by their mother and fending for themselves. What follows is a tough but very human exploration of a damaged man rediscovering family while coping with the many hangovers from his old life, as younger son, Jimmy, gets involved with Bill's old mates from his drug dealing days. Really good in just about every way.

Miss Bala is a gritty trawl through corruption and everyday crime in the Mexican border town Baja. It follows the experiences of Laura, a young country girl who enters a beauty contest but, before she can even get properly registered, witnesses a nightclub murder by a drug gang who subsequently kidnap and force her to help them. Keeping the tone largely naturalistic and the focus on Laura's ordeal makes the viewer a behind-the-scenes witness to Mexico's drug wars and it's a tense and unsettling experience, thought the finale is possibly a step too far.