★★☆☆☆ You’re in trouble when a film champions Mr. Highlander himself, Christopher Lambert, as its ‘star’. Metamorphosis (2007), by Hungarian director Jeno Hodi (responsible for such gems as Guns and Lipstick [1995]) and co-starring virtual unknowns Corey Sevier, Irena A. […]
★★★☆☆ Apparently a huge hit with audiences back in its homeland of New Zealand, The Insatiable Moon (2010), was directed by Rosemary Riddell from a screenplay by her husband Mike Riddell, based on his own novel. It follows a set […]
★★★☆☆ The title of Kidulthood (2006) director Menhaj Huda’s latest film, Everywhere and Nowhere (2011), is directly quoted by its protagonist when asked where he’s from. Born and raised in London but of Pakistani descent, Ash (James Floyd) is at […]
★★★☆☆ In Yûya Ishii’s Sawako Decides (2010), all the ingredients for a rites of passage rom-com are evident. In a world very similar to the quirky and misunderstood setting of Ishii’s own Girl Sparks (2007), an aspiring middle-class girl will […]
★★★★☆ Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-on: The Grudge is rereleased on DVD in two-disc special edition incarnation today, and its ability to chill you to your very core has not even slightly diminished, eight years after release. It’s a relatively straightforward J-horror, but […]
★★☆☆☆ The original manga version of Gantz shocked even hard-nosed fans when it introduced a whole new level of over-the-top violence, gore, and nudity. The obvious next step was a live action movie that would provide a definitive powerhouse title […]
★★★★☆ Justin Mitchell’s documentary Rio Breaks (2009) follows the bitter-sweet story of Naama and Fabio, two residents of Rio de Janeiro’s notorious Favela de Pavao. Both dream of escaping the traumas and deadly temptations of their environment through surfing the […]
★☆☆☆☆ Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season 8 Motion Comic (2011) is a nineteen episode series that picks up a few years from where the televised series left off, in an attempt to extend the ‘Buffyverse’. After destroying her hometown […]
★★★★☆ Coming to the home market for the umpteenth time, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) are both rereleased on 3D Blu-ray this week. First up, Beauty and the Beast has aged […]
★★☆☆☆ Directed by Phil Traill and starring Felicity Jones, Bill Nighy, Ed Westwick and Tamsin Egerton, Chalet Girl (2011) is a take on the ‘coming-of-age’ genre with a definite chick-flick flavour. Jones plays Kim, a 19-year-old tomboy who works in […]
Under the sweltering heat of London’s unexpected Autumn sunshine, the red carpet unrolled in Leicester Square for the premiere of Johnny English Reborn (2011), the second installment of the action comedy that parodies the legendary James Bond and the secret […]
★★☆☆☆ Was ever a film more aptly named than Hollow (2011), the new indie Brit horror from first time director Michael Axelgaard and writer Matthew Holt? Like the tree at the centre of the story its suitably gnarled exterior hides […]
