Tag Archives: Frances Barber

May I Kill U? Film Review

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kevin bishop may i kill uI had no idea what to expect from May I Kill U? I thought it was a horror but googled it to learn that it was also a comedy and had noted British comedian Kevin Bishop in it. In fact this black comedy is sharp, dark and incredibly funny.

The film is also a modern take on society. It has a young police officer (Kevin Bishop) who becomes a social media literate vigilante serial killer. Quite a mouthful. He announces his kills on Twitter and asks his ‘fans’ advice on killing methods and who he should kill. It is a witty and smart take on modern society and crime.

The killer is very polite. Asking his victims if he can kill them and only doing so if they give him their permission. He announces certain areas crime free zones and warns there is a death penalty if this is broken. He bumps off drug dealers, people traffickers, wife abusers and thieves.

Director Stuart Urban previously directed a brilliant feature-length documentary, I Am Not Dead, about his father, a Polish Jewish doctor, who escaped the Nazis and the Soviet Union.

Frances Barber is excellent as the bitter mother who Bishop still lives with and Hayley-Marie Axe puts in a great performance as Bishop’s partner in the police force. The script is very well written, making the film a funny and modern comedy. Go see.

Runtime: 90 mins
Directors: Stuart Urban
Cast: Ali Craig, Frances Barber, Hayley-Marie Axe, Jack Doolan, Kasia Koleczek, Kevin Bishop, Rosemary Leach

A Passionate Woman DVD Review

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A Passionate Women comes from Kay Mellor, so I expected it to be good. I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed. It is a well written piece of drama and wonderful to see stories about women’s lives on TV. Something we don’t necessarily see enough off. It’s a sprawling, engaging piece of drama.

The series boasts a strong cast, with Billie Piper putting in another brilliant performance, Theo James also gives a great performance as ‘Craze’, the Polish womaniser who Pipers character has an affair with. James did this show before his star turn in Downton Abbey. He is a star in the making. A Passionate Women is a great piece of drama that gets you thinking. Set in the 50s and 80s, it has beautiful cultural reference points and a wonderful ending that pays off. Your mother will love it and I reckon you will too. I particularly liked the moral tail of the story, it opens up the debate on infidelity and it’s long-reaching consequences.
 
The mini-series charts two stories in two feature-length episodes – the first focusing on a mother’s affair in the 1950s while the second is set in the 1980s and looks at the consequences of that affair 30 years on.  Set in Leeds in the 1950s Cold War period, Billie Piper stars as Betty, a young wife and mother who reluctantly falls passionately and hopelessly in love with her charismatic Polish neighbour.  But little does Betty know that some 30 years later, in 1980s Britain, her affair will implode on her beloved son Mark’s wedding day…
Sue Johnston plays the older Betty in the 1980s, while Andrew Lee Potts, Frances Barber, Theo James, Rachel Lesokovac, Alun Armstrong and his real-life son, Joe Armstrong, also star.

Kay Mellor OBE, one of Britain’s leading TV writers, has penned numerous hit dramas including The Chase, Fat Friends, Playing The Field and the seminal Band Of Gold. A Passionate Woman is based on the real-life affair of the writer’s own mother, and is a very personal look at the changing role of women over the last 50 years, making it an ideal Mother’s Day gift.    
The DVD of A Passionate Woman will be released on 27 February 2012 by High Point Home Entertainment through HMV and other retailers and is soon to be available on Amazon and Play for Pre-ordering A Passionate Women