Minnie Driver

Uproar

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Brothers Jamie and Josh in rugby gear

There are a lot of reasons why Uproar works so well, but its star, Julian Dennison, is a major one. This is a warm and likeable underdog drama slash coming of ager, and Dennison is a warm and likeable lead. Another is that every time writer/directors Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett sail close to mawkishness, they are rescued by a strong New Zealand sense that, no matter what happens, it is absolutely essential that they stay this side of the ick. It’s 1981 and in New Zealand the country is about to welcome the South African rugby team, the Springboks, for a tour that is highly contested. Apartheid means that wherever they go … Read more

Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose

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Simon Pegg as Nandor Fodor

The who? The what? Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose is a title asking two questions and, without further ado, here come the answers. Nandor Fodor was a real man, a Hungarian-born parapsychologist (1895-1964) and former associate of Sigmund Freud who became a leading paranormal investigator. His preferred MO was to explain poltergeists and other spiritual apparitions as having a rational (psychological) explanation. People, he generally thought, believe this stuff into existence, they’re not being deceptive. As to the Talking Mongoose, that was a famous case lofted into the public consciousness by the British tabloid newspapers, of an animal on the Isle of Man (which sits in the Irish Sea between the UK … Read more