Author Archives: Andrew Pulver
Close up: More blockbusters please, we’re British
Film’s favourite PM, David Cameron, stepped in to give his views on what sort of features deserve lottery funding – the big onesThe big storyWhat sort of British films do we want? Or, more specifically, what sort of British films does David Cameron w… Continue reading
UK film-makers divided on David Cameron’s support for box-office hits
The prime minister’s suggestion that lottery funding should be aimed at mainstream, money-making movies has been met with cautious optimism from the British film industryReaction continued to be divided across Britain’s film world yesterday in the wake… Continue reading
The Guardian first film award 2012: our shortlist
We reveal the 10 debut films jostling for the big prize, ranging from a thriller about aliens in London to a documentary about Danish soldiers in AfghanistanOn Friday, we announced the shortlist for the Guardian first album award; today it’s the turn o… Continue reading
Does David Cameron’s taste in films match his values? If … only
Our Smiths-loving PM has delivered another headscratcher in claiming to like Lindsay Anderson’s anti-establishment standardLike his claim to dig the music of the Smiths, David Cameron’s professed admiration for the Lindsay Anderson film If … is eithe… Continue reading
Thatcher family refused Iron Lady screening invite
Director Phyllida Lloyd has revealed that Margaret Thatcher’s family turned down an invitation to an early viewing of the biopicMargaret Thatcher’s family refused an invitation to see The Iron Lady, the biopic of the former prime minister, from the fil… Continue reading
War Horse – review
Spielberg tries to infuse his film with a fairytale quality but merely provides it with a directorial straitjacketFollowing hard on the heels of the rousing, if charmless, Adventures of Tintin, Steven Spielberg has opted for a lachrymose, buttery treat… Continue reading
Golden Globes 2012: George Clooney faces stiff competition – from himself
Clooney’s two films are pitted against each other in the nominations, but French silent film The Artist beats them bothIt will be George Clooney vs George Clooney at the 2012 Golden Globe awards, the nominations for which were announced this morning in… Continue reading
On the cutting room floor: a century of film censorship
The director of Britain’s film censorship body reveals all about the thinking underpinning its controversial decisionsWhen it was first set up in 1912, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) – or Film Censors, as it was known then – concer… Continue reading
J Edgar – review
Clint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio can’t save a dreary biopic that is as economical with the truth as J Edgar himselfClint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio have joined forces to present a sombre biopic of the American lawman who kept a vice-like grip o… Continue reading
Will Cameron’s speech on funding only be fit for the box-office kings?
David Cameron is set to call for UK lottery funding to go to films with big box-office potential. But what will that mean for small-scale, independent cinema?The plans to overhaul public funding of British cinema, which David Cameron will announce late… Continue reading »