Film reviews and more
If there was any ounce of nagging doubt concerning the health of modern British cinema, it was completely irradiated today with the announcement of the Moët British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) nominees for 2011. Amongst the names were some of the UK’s finest directorial talent including Lynne Ramsay and Steve McQueen, mixing it […]
★★★★☆ The Princess of Montpensier (2010) is a captivating historical drama with modern sensibilities from auteur director Bertrand Tavernier, starring Mélanie Thierry and Lambert Wilson. Tavernier is well known for historical narrative driven films, and The Princess of Montpensier is no disappointment.Set during the ‘War of Religions’, Marie (Thierry) becomes engaged to the […]
★★★★☆ An unconventional, surreal comedy set in the suburbs of Glasgow, Orphans (1998) is Peter Mullan’s first film behind the camera. Best known for his role as a recovering alcoholic in Ken Loach’s My Name Is Joe (1998) and currently seen in Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur (2011), Mullan’s acting career has seen him working […]
★★★☆☆ Reeling from the commercial failure of 1982’s One from the Heart and perhaps wary of his growing reputation as an obsessive monomaniac, in 1983 Francis Ford Coppola decided on The Outsiders – starring Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze – as a self-consciously small project. The idea was suggested […]
★★★★☆ Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) – which stars Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Robert Duvall, Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, and Frederic Forrest – has taken on something of a cult status since its release almost 38 years ago. Having been shot between two Godfathers, and with Apocalypse Now (1979) making its appearance […]
★☆☆☆☆ If you manage to make it to the end of Ruggero Deodato’s controversial thriller The House on the Edge of the Park (1980), the overriding question you’ll probably be left asking is “Why would someone want to make such a film”, and “Why would anyone want to watch it?” David Hess, of […]
The films of cult Dutch director Dick Maas are as notorious for their difficulty to see as for their often graphic depictions of murder and mayhem. Released today on DVD, his latest effort Saint (2010) – starring Huub Stapel, Bert Luppes and Egbert Jan Weeber – gives a new and murderous twist to […]
★★★★☆ If you have any experience of Dutch director Dick Maas’ previous work, you will most likely have been eagerly anticipating his latest schlocker Saint (2010). If, however, this is the first time you have heard his name, his homage to 1980s slasher films – starring Huub Stapel, Bert Luppes and Egbert Jan […]
★★★☆☆ Loosely based on a short story by Raymond Carver, Dan Rush’s Everything Must Go (2010) follows the fortunes of an alcoholic salesman, Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell), who loses both his job and his wife on the same day. Nick is a high-powered salesman but his frequent lapses, drunken antics, and the weeks […]
★☆☆☆☆ After the generally well-received original Paranormal Activity (2009) and its quick successor, the coma-inducing Paranormal Activity 2 (2010), it’s no surprise to see Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) topping the UK box office. Yet directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman have managed to create a cataclysmic abomination of a film, forever tarnishing the […]
★★☆☆☆ Ulrich Köhler’s latest drama Sleeping Sickness (2011) is a difficult and tiresome film that leaves a sour taste of lethargy and disappointment in the mouth. Set in Cameroon, it focuses on Dr. Velten (Pierre Bokma), who for the past five years has been managing a sleeping sickness programme. His wife and child […]
★★★★☆ Werner Herzog returns for the second time this year with another extremely powerful and moving documentary, Into the Abyss (2011). After the success of Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) earlier this year it was hard to imagine where Herzog would go next, and the German director could not have picked a more […]
★★★☆☆ After an 11-year hiatus, British director Terence Davies returns to screens with his passionately faithful adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea (2011) – which closed the 55th BFI London Film Festival – starring the ever-wonderful Rachel Weisz (star of the upcoming The Bourne Legacy [2012]) and Tom Hiddleston (Archipelago [2010]).Rattigan’s […]
★★★☆☆ Tate Taylor’s Oscar-baiting The Help (2011) – starring Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer – is an incredibly well-crafted film with an impressive cast, that not only tells a story of racial injustice, but also of the gender inequality of the 1950s. The film has its moments of […]
After two-and-a-half weeks of cinema heaven, he 55th BFI London Film Festival came to a close this past Thursday with the UK premiere of Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea. It also marked the final LFF for Sandra Hebron, who steps down as the festival’s Artistic Director after nine successful years at the […]
★☆☆☆☆ Russian cinema has a long and rich history of producing exceptional sci-fi movies. From the pioneering silent films of Protazanov and Zhuravlyov, to the deeply philosophical films of Tarkovsky and Lopishansky, Russia has always used this speculative science based genre to comment on social issues rather than merely forms of escapism. Screening […]
★★★☆☆ The Ides of March (2011) – directed by and starring George Clooney – takes a swipe at the ruthless back-room deals and media hype that lie at the heart of American politics. Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) is running against Senator Pullman in a presidential primary race for the Democratic Party ticket. The […]
★★★★☆ When the announcement came that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson would be bringing Hergé’s famous boy detective Tintin to the big screen in The Adventures of Tintin (2011), most of us thought that if any pair could do the books justice, it would be those two master craftsmen. Rumours swirled that it […]