★★★★☆ The first of a two-parter, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is bigger, bolder and grander than its predecessor, and with little serious competition from Marvel or DC’s live-action factories, looks set to be the best superhero film of the year.
★★★☆☆ A man sits alone in a room with a notepad and begins to scribble down his own voiceover. He only writes on one page and seems to always be starting at the top. His thoughts will be meticulous and he will show a certain expertise. When he’s finished writing he will place the pen on the table, neatly aligned with the pad.
★★☆☆☆ Bereavement, mental health, the threadbare US social welfare system and homelessness are the heavy topics that British-born director Deborah Richards tackles in her debut feature. Unfortunately, their worthy but superficial and somewhat incoherent presentation means that Move Me No Mountain is an emotionally and thematically inert experience.
★★★☆☆ In 2008, Eliot Spitzer stepped down as governor of New York when he was found to be ‘Client 9’ at the Emperor’s Club, a high-priced escort service catering to Wall Street’s wealthiest. Spitzer, tipped to become America’s first Jewish...
★★★★★ Budrus (2009) is a truly remarkable documentary of great power. The film documents Budrus, a small village in Palestine on the borders of Israel, and the story of the village leader who unites Fatah, Hamas and members of the...
★★★★☆ Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the opening gala of this year’s London Australian Film Festival. The festival opened with the UK premiere of Red Dog (2011) with an introduction from the film’s producer Nelson Woss. Red...
★☆☆☆☆ Apparently Steven Seagal turned down a role in The Expendables (2010) over a falling out with the film’s producer regarding the ageing actor’s poor run of straight to DVD releases, leaving him unable to join Sylvester Stallone in what could have been...
The head of CUEAFS Spencer Murphy interviews Korean director Lee Jeong-beom at the 2011 Udine Far East Fim Festival. Jeong-beom’s latest film The Man from Nowhere (2010) left no empty seats at the Italian premiere screening.Spencer Murphy: Your film The...
★★★☆☆ It can be argued that mature romance is a rarely found theme in contemporary cinema, so much so that when it comes to describing Lovely, Still (2008) the first thing you should know is that it is a film...
★★★★★ Having been available in the States and Australia for some time now, the Blu-Ray release of the first season of The Twilight Zone finally reaches UK shores. However, this isn’t just for Zone fans; this Blu-ray release also means that...
★★★★☆ Like so many films of its ilk, the opening scene in director Kim Jee-Woon’s stylishly brutal I Saw the Devil (2010) sees a vulnerable young woman viciously murdered in her car by a sadistic serial killer whilst awaiting rescue....
★★★★☆ Paying ill-concealed deference to narrative conventions, the unpredictable and often excruciating twists of love and relationships must be codified into the language of cinema, often more for their ostensive value as entertainment than as study or discussion. Derek Cianfrance’s...
★★★★☆ The King’s Speech (2010) delves deep into the relationship between two men – one a common man and the other a royal – by exploring the romance of true friendship and asks us to invest ourselves emotionally in such...
Last night the best and brightest of British comic talent stepped out to take in the premiere of Joe Cornish’s debut film, Attack The Block (2011). A very contemporary and very British take on the popular alien invasion genre, it’s...
★☆☆☆☆ From the producers of Sharktopus (2011) comes its long lost cousin, Dinoshark (2011) – a prehistoric beast frozen in ice for around 150 million years. When global warming strikes the polar ice caps, its frozen tomb is shattered, leaving...