Reviews by Felicity van Steenbergen
Oxford Festival Fringe Preview Comedy Festival 2022
Felicity van Steenbergen
Angela Barnes Those of us who braved the extreme heat for TAP Social’s double-bill were in for a treat - although, as Barnes joked, when you’re a menopausal woman, hot flushes come as standard. ...
2 years ago
Oxford Festival Fringe Preview Comedy Festival 2022
Crick Crack Club: Little Red Riding Hood
Felicity van Steenbergen
The Story Museum have embraced C. S. Lewis’s maxim that “One day [we] will be old enough for fairy tales again” through this series of tales aimed squarely at an adult audience. Over the ...
3 years ago
Crick Crack Club: Little Red Riding Hood
Tenet [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
As an ardent fan of Christopher Nolan’s filmic output, I had high expectations for Tenet. Sadly, I was disappointed. The plot is thus: The Protagonist (yes, really) must stop a Russian oligarch ...
4 years ago
Tenet [12A]
Bridge of Spies [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
As is clear from the trailer, Bridge of Spies tells the story of suspected Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, and insurance lawyer Jim Donovan, who is asked to defend Abel and, later, negotiate the exchange of ...
9 years ago
Bridge of Spies [12A]
Steve Jobs [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
From the title, you'd think this was a straightforward biopic, but the film smartly eschews the birth-to-death arc associated with the genre, in favour of something more personal. Aaron Sorkin's ...
9 years ago
Steve Jobs [15]
Jeremy Hardy
Felicity van Steenbergen
If you’re familiar with Jeremy Hardy from the likes of The News Quiz, then it will come as no surprise that this is a satirical show. And Hardy’s engagement with politics is genuine, not ...
9 years ago
Jeremy Hardy
The Shires
Felicity van Steenbergen
Even if I hadn’t known anything about The Shires, the amount of checked shirts in the O2 Academy on Saturday night was a bit of a giveaway. And, thanks to the likes of Lady Antebellum and shows ...
10 years ago
The Shires
The Top Films of 2014
Felicity van Steenbergen
Top Films of 2014
Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater)
Often overlooked as an auteur, Linklater really created a masterpiece with this film, which took twelve years to film, allowing audiences to ...
10 years ago
The Top Films of 2014
The Hunt [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Mads Mikkelsen (whom many will recognise as Le Chiffre from Casino Royale) plays Lucas, a divorcé who works at a nursery. When Klara, the daughter of his best friend, claims he has exposed ...
12 years ago
The Hunt [15]
Skyfall [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
I think it’s fair to say there were some high expectations for this film, particularly as Casino Royale had shown us how good the new-era Bond could be, whilst Quantum of Solace cruelly ...
12 years ago
Skyfall [12A]
The Dark Knight Rises [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Like all good summer blockbusters, this film was hyped up for months – if not years – before its release. So the question is: did it rise to the occasion? In many ways, it did. Like the ...
12 years ago
The Dark Knight Rises [12A]
The Last Projectionist [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
This documentary takes a chronological approach to the history of The Electric Cinema in Birmingham, which professes to be the UK’s oldest working cinema. The film recounts its days during the ...
12 years ago
The Last Projectionist [12A]
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film centres around the search for a body, in Turkey’s Anatolian steppes. The film starts off with headlights snaking through the darkness; atmosphere built by the ...
13 years ago
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia [15]
The Artist [PG]
Felicity van Steenbergen
There is something quite nostalgic about watching a silent, black and white film that takes you back to an era when Nickelodeon wasn’t a cartoon cable channel. Inevitable comparisons are likely to ...
13 years ago
The Artist [PG]
We Need To Talk About Kevin [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Essentially, this film is about a mother’s relationship with her son and what happens when the natural, maternal bond fails. The source material is Lionel Shriver’s seemingly impossible-to-adapt ...
13 years ago
We Need To Talk About Kevin [15]
Leaving [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
From the trailer, it was obvious that this was a film that delved into human experience with the kind of intensity that leaves you feeling, if not miserable, then certainly not uplifted. In fact, few ...
14 years ago
Leaving [15]
Inception [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
I rarely get excited about a film’s release, but this was an exception. Anyone who has seen Memento knows that Christopher Nolan is a talented screenwriter, quite apart from his directing ...
14 years ago
Inception [12A]
The Brothers Bloom [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
The difficulty with con films is how to make them different to everything that’s gone before and how to keep the audience guessing. The Brothers Bloom isn’t all about the con though - it’s also ...
15 years ago
The Brothers Bloom [12A]
Lebanon [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Samuel Maoz’s first feature revolves around four soldiers, trapped inside a tank during the early stages of the Lebanese conflict in 1982. Their seemingly simple mission to search a deserted town ...
15 years ago
Lebanon [15]
Morse And Me
Felicity van Steenbergen
A tiny old man shuffles onto the stage, aided by a young woman. He carries a leather attaché case, out of which he gets a large magnifying glass. This is Colin Dexter, creator of the famous ...
15 years ago
Morse And Me
Precious [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
The film tells the story of Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones, a 16 year-old girl who is expecting her second child by her own father. She is also overweight, illiterate and mentally abused by her ...
15 years ago
Precious [15]
Jo Caulfield... Won't Shut Up!
Felicity van Steenbergen
The first thing comedians at the North Wall Arts Centre comment on is the venue itself: for Jo Caulfield, it reminded her of doing a “prison gig”. Summertown, and the parade on which the theatre ...
15 years ago
Jo Caulfield... Won't Shut Up!
John Bishop - Elvis Has Left The Building
Felicity van Steenbergen
John Bishop is what you might call a rising star in comedy, having really only appeared on the circuit in the last three years, during which time he’s risen to the heady heights of Michael ...
15 years ago
John Bishop - Elvis Has Left The Building
The Men Who Stare At Goats [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Based on a true story originally related by Jon Ronson, The Men Who Stare at Goats tells of a psychic unit in the American Army, discovered by journalist Bob Wilton (played by Ewan McGregor). The ...
15 years ago
The Men Who Stare At Goats [15]
Fantastic Mr Fox [PG]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Let me start my saying that I am a Roald Dahl fan through-and-through: I grew up in the magical worlds he created for children. And I’ve been dismayed by so-called adaptations in the past (Matilda ...
15 years ago
Fantastic Mr Fox [PG]
The Army of Crime [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
The Army of Crime is based on the true story of a network of twenty-three resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France and their efforts to liberate the country they called home. Set in Paris, the ...
15 years ago
The Army of Crime [15]
Julie & Julia [12A]
Felicity van Steenbergen
Based on not one, but two true stories, Julie and Julia tells the tale of modern-day receptionist Julie, who decides to write a blog about her mission to cook 524 recipes in 365 days. Cue Julia ...
15 years ago
Julie & Julia [12A]
Away We Go [15]
Felicity van Steenbergen
When you think of Sam Mendes’ films (Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road), you might be forgiven for thinking that he only makes gloomy ones. Yet his latest offering, Away We Go is a real ...
15 years ago
Away We Go [15]
