lowbudget

This intriguing sci-fi thriller is a throwback to the kind of cerebral teleplays and low-budget movies that flourished in the 1960s: ripe with gloomy lighting and dystopian pessimism, but with barely enough money in the budget to pay for more than two sets. Think On the Beach from 1959, or Seconds from 1966 – but then lower your expectations because it’s not anywhere in their league. But it’s not bad, and the subject is timely.The time is a couple of decades in the future, and humanity has accepted that we’ve messed up…

Looking back, I believe I can pinpoint the exact day I loved Twitter most: May 24, 2011. I was in a small Oregon town for work, coping with loneliness and stress in a shabby motel. With a 22-ounce bottle of high-proof beer, I whiled away the evening by churning out a random assortment of tweets: an article I’d read about the hunt for wild garlic in Quebec, images of an apocalyptic Los Angeles mural, my reasons for adoring the 1985 B movie American Ninja. In a reflective moment, I also managed to craft an earnest…

This British-made puzzle of a movie revolves around Liam (Neil Bishop), a young man who wakes up with amnesia in an eerily quiet hospital ward with stitches in his face and a big bandage around his head. He suddenly has a vision of an older man (Martin Bishop) dressed like a shepherd in a nativity play telling him to wake up. When he does, it’s as if he’s shifted to a different point in time, and the injuries are much less severe. The only doctor around is Emma (Zoe Cunningham), who helpfully explains he was exposed to an…

The one film Hugh Grant Wishes He Could Erase From His Career, Check Out The Name (Photo Credit –wikimedia) Actor Hugh Grant has revealed that one film project he wishes to erase from his filmography. Grant is out flogging his appearance in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’, appearing on ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden‘ alongside costar Chris Pine, reports Deadline. Corden enticed Hugh Grant into a spirited game of “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts.” The task: name a…

A young actor walks into a shonky hotel lift, ignoring the out of order sign. This is Rose Hepburn (Sophie Skelton), and frankly she is appalled to be staying at a three-star establishment while shooting a horror movie. (“It takes them an hour to bring you a coffee!”) Following Rose into the lift is a stammering, nervy man, who can’t meet her eyes when she asks which floor. The doors shut with a judder, and for the rest of British director Steve Johnson’s low-anxiety, low-budget horror we’re trapped in the broken lift…

A kindred spirit to Jumanji, this film is centred on a supernatural board game its four protagonists must win before sunrise to avoid being trapped for all eternity playing it. It’s to director Alberto Belli’s credit that his comedy drums up a sizeable proportion of the 1995 film’s fun on a fraction of the budget. Decidedly only for players aged 16 and above, like all great board games Gatlopp gives a vague impression of imparting significant life wisdom, but actually is mostly concerned with making sure everyone has as…

Attempting to do a second world war aviation picture on a microbudget certainly meets the definition of underdog British pluck. But unlike the RAF in the Battle of Britain, Spitfire Over Berlin can’t surmount overwhelming odds. It’s somewhat frustrating because it’s not the visuals that let Callum Burn’s film down (though some of the CGI used for the external scenes is much too clean-looking); it’s the cliche-ballasted script, without enough fuel to fill an hour-and-a-quarter runtime, that sends the film blazing…