★☆☆☆☆ In March 2011, Japan was struck by a catastrophic earthquake, with the devastating tsunami that followed causing a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power station that sent ripples of discontent throughout the country. Director Iwai Shunji’s Friends after 3.11 (2011) is a deeply personal documentary which uses the statements Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Directed by and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Jayne Mansfield’s Car (2012) is a fractured comedy drama set in the 1960s that’s built around a conflict of cultures. Boasting an ensemble cast which includes Robert Duvall, John Hurt and Kevin Bacon, Thornton’s latest offerings is one of the hottest tickets Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ The Flowers of War (Jin Ling Shi San Chai, 2011) is a dramatic portrayal of the horrendous Nanking massacre which occurred in 1937. Directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Christian Bale (soon to be seen reprising his role in the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Continue Reading
★☆☆☆☆ Directed by John Singleton and featuring an all-star cast which includes The Twilight Saga star Taylor Lautner and young actress Lily Collins (soon to star in Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror) alongside Sigourney Weaver, Maria Bello, Jason Isaacs and Alfred Molina, Abduction (2011) is a glossy action-thriller about lost identities and the Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Let’s be clear about this – there are no dragons in Roland Joffé’s There Be Dragons (2011). Or, rather, the dragons are metaphorical. If that knowledge makes you fear a long and turgid film from Joffé, you’d be right – but not for those reasons. There Be Dragons doesn’t Continue Reading
★★★★★ Following the success of her 2008 debut Home, director Ursula Meier returns with Sister (L’enfant d’en haut, 2011), a moving adolescent drama set against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps, and starring Kacey Mottet Klein, Léa Seydoux, Martin Compston and Gillian Anderson. Everyday, twelve-year-old Simon (Klein) takes the cable car Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Take an independent music store in a neglected area of the North East, a couple of diehard metal fans, a Status Quo rocker who wants to be buried in a coffin made of his own vinyl collection, and ‘charming’ is hardly the first word that springs to mind. But Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Whilst Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist (2011) is sweeping up awards across the globe for its masterful use of cinematic nostalgia, it seems odd that the German expressionist-inspired works of Guy Maddin remains resigned to the appreciation of arthouse cinephiles. However, his most recent production Keyhole (2011) doesn’t look like Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ James Marsh returns to fiction after a successful foray into documentary filmmaking with Shadow Dancer (2012), a harrowing thriller focusing on the troubles in Northern Ireland. Set in Belfast during the height of the IRA bombings, Marsh’s psychological tale of the domestic implications of this much published conflict stars Continue Reading