Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba-Clarke
I picked up Foreign Soil because it was on prominent display at Oxford St Books, an independent purveyor of carefully curated wordy things whose taste I trust implicitly. I didn’t…
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
I love everything about you, Miranda July. I love your hair, I love your Facebook presence. I love both of your films – the one everyone liked, and the one…
Vale Terry Pratchett
Words by Morgan Goodman Eight or nine years ago, I came across a worn copy of Night Watch by Terry Pratchett, in a small town library somewhere in WA. It…
Carrie and Lowell – Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty)
The softly spoken Sufjan Stevens from Michigan marks a return to his indie folk roots in Carrie and Lowell. Accompanied by plucked acoustic melodies, now more acoustic than electric, Steven’s…
Strangers to Ourselves – Modest Mouse (Epic)
Its been eight long years since Modest Mouse released an album and arguably another three since they made anything worthwhile, but while the drought is over in a physical sense,…
Jenny Death (The Powers that B pt. 2) – Death Grips (Third Worlds/Harvest)
It’s hard to separate Jenny Death from the hype it’s been receiving for the last year. 2014 saw the release of Niggas on the Moon, ostensibly the first half of…
Inside Out
Director: Pete Doctor and Ronaldo Del Carmen Starring: Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Phyllis Smith Inside Out sees the return of Up director Pete Doctor, and it’s Pixar’s most…
Gemma Bovery
Director: Anne Fontaine Starring: Gemma Arterton, Jason Flemyng, Fabrice Luchini, Niels Schneider Gemma Bovery, the latest film from Anne Fontaine, is a tragicomedy based on Posy Simmond’s graphic novel re-imagination…
Jurassic World
Director: Colin Trevorrow Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, dinosaurs! You know your franchise reboot is in trouble when its best moments are explicit references to the much, much better…
One hundred years on: Does Russia need another revolution?
Words by Brad Griffin In 1917, Imperialist Russia was swept away by two cataclysmic revolutions in February and October (March and November, depending on which calendar you’re using). The old,…