A one-line spoiler-free review of all three things I watched in the cinema in February 2025
by Martin Belam, March 5, 2025 I’ve ditched the usual blurb about “not being a movies person, but anyway…” because since I started going to the cinema regularly in 2022 I’ve turned into the kind of guy who downloads the London Film Festival brochure and meticulously plans what to see. You can find all my one-line spoiler-free reviews here.
Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025), Bernard MacMahon – I went to see this at the BFI Imax as why wouldn’t you go and see one of the biggest and loudest rock bands of all time on the biggest and loudest screen of all time? I really enjoyed it and found it quite moving at times. It was lovely to see the three surviving members all being interviewed about their childhood and early careers and the origins of the band at a point in time when they all seem at peace with the legacy and – at least on camera – with only nice things to say about the musicianship and their relationships with each other. It includes not just lots of great archive footage of Led Zep (and the people watching them), but also lots of fantastic restored footage of their influences including Little Richard, James Brown, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates etc.
Night of the Demon (1957), Jacques Tourneur – I had watched this at the cinema towards the end of 2023, and it is beautifully shot and full of menace. I went to see it again because this screening was a Token Homo production which meant it would come with an intro talk, an intermission, a quiz, and lots and lots and lots of wine. Too much wine, actually. I think I may have exuded too much main character energy. Perfect end to a Sunday though. “It’s in the trees! It’s coming!”
[Dana Andrews in Night of the Demon]
Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975), Peter Weir – I first saw this on the television at an impressionable age, and the imagery and the dreamlike state of it has stuck with me over the years. For years I thought it had been based on a true story. Perfectly formed, delightfully shot, erotically charged, and incredibly frustrating, it remains one of my favourite films of all time.
Read more of my one-line spoiler-free reviews of everything I’ve watched in the cinema.
by Martin Belam, March 5, 2025 I do live blogging, news stories and quizzes at the Guardian, and help cover Eurovision and Doctor Who for them too. As a journalist and designer I’ve spent over twenty years building digital products for the likes of Sony, the Guardian, the BBC, the Natural History Museum, Arts Council England and Reach (formerly Trinity Mirror). You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com. Sign up to get my blog posts sent to you via email.