Author

Stephen Porzio 336 posts 0 comments

Stephen is a film writer, journalist and podcaster. Formerly co-editor of the film section of HeadStuff, he is now a writer at JOE.ie. He has also had work published in Hot Press, The Times (Ireland Edition), The Irish Sun and Film Ireland and co-hosts the HeadStuff film podcast I Know That Face. He graduated with a BA in English and Film from UCD and an MA in journalism at DCU.

Film

Film Review | The Olive Tree Brings Social Realism to the Dreamy Spanish Countryside

Stephen Porzio Mar 13, 2017 0

The latest in a string of recession cinema – Hell or High Water, Money Monster, I, Daniel Blake – The Olive Tree focuses on young woman Alma (Anna Castillo), a person who shares a deep bond with her grandfather, Roman (Manuel Cucala). When…

Film

Film Review | Berlin Syndrome: A Tense, Character-Focused Thriller

Stephen Porzio Mar 11, 2017 0

You’ve seen a version of Berlin Syndrome before. It’s the type of thriller where the heroine becomes romantically involved with someone who at first seems utterly perfect – handsome, caring, funny – but is later revealed to be a full-blown…

Film

Is There Enough in Adam Smith’s Trespass against Usfor It to Enter the Canon of Gangster…

Stephen Porzio Mar 10, 2017 0

There are some actors and actresses who are the cinematic equivalent of a safe bet. Michael Fassbender is one of these performers. Whether it be his collaborations with big-name directors like Ridley Scott or Danny Boyle, his appearances in…

Film

Film Review | Paul Verhoeven’s Elle is a Jet-Black Exercise in Blindsiding the Audience

Stephen Porzio Mar 6, 2017 0

Paul Verhoeven is a rare filmmaker whose managed to successfully navigate the thin line between controversy and wide distribution, between art-house and ticket sales, and between absurdity and mainstream success. Finding fame first in his…

Film

Director Profile | The Human Cinema of Asghar Farhadi

Stephen Porzio Mar 4, 2017 0

Asghar Farhadi makes great, great movies. Perhaps most obviously, they are eye-opening glimpses into a different culture. A front-runner in the Iranian New-Wave – a cinematic movement which has given us works like Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten,…

Film

TV Review | The Case for Channel 4’s New Icelandic Drama

Stephen Porzio Feb 15, 2017 0

One of my favourite tropes of the golden age of television is that of the murder mystery in a small town. Although so many shows of recent memory rely upon such a plot-line – Twin Peaks, The Killing, The Fall, True Detective, Fortitude –…

Film

Manchester by the Sea is a Gut-Wrenching Drama Peppered With Dark Humour

Stephen Porzio Jan 20, 2017 0

There is a moment in the recent film Nocturnal Animals which is very relevant in regards to Manchester by the Sea. In the former, Jake Gyllenhaal’s character writes a novel where a man’s wife and children are killed. We see the aftermath of…

Film Review

Film Review | Is Live By Night Simultaneously Too Long, and Too Short?

Stephen Porzio Jan 16, 2017 0

In recent years, Ben Affleck has proven himself as a very solid director. His first three films Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo are terrifically tense and tightly wound thrillers with a very strong atmosphere and sense of place. Thus,…

Film

Director Profile | The Underrated Movies of Martin Scorsese

Stephen Porzio Jan 7, 2017 0

To the public, Martin Scorsese is probably most famous for his gangster pictures. With his first crime entry Mean Streets, the director channelled a unique and ferocious energy which went on to mark some of his best-known work e.g.…

Film

Film Review | How Does Scorsese’s Historical Silence Match His Stylistic Oeuvre?

Stephen Porzio Jan 5, 2017 0

Although Silence lacks many of the showy stylistics of Martin Scorsese’s most popular works – Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street – thematically it feels right at home in the auteur’s filmography.…

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