★★★★☆ Whilst still in its relative infancy (with Season 2 released on DVD and Blu-ray this week), HBO’s Prohibition era crime saga Boardwalk Empire has already established itself as one of the finest TV dramas currently in production. The brainchild […]
★★★☆☆ ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano returns to the Venice Lido this year with Outrage Beyond (Autoreiji: Biyondo, 2012), a sequel to his 2010 gangster drama Outrage. Writing, directing and editing, Kitano also stars as Otomo, a jailed Yakuza whose imminent release […]
★★☆☆☆ For those seeking a brighter, more light-hearted alternative to the pervading gloom and near-suicidal despair of recent Nordic crime drama, the sun, sea and stunning Sicilian scenery of Inspector Montalbano must seem like a welcome change. Adapted from the […]
★★★☆☆ In an opening monologue, renowned performance artist Marina Abramović tells us that for decades she has been thought of as insane, and only now does she feel sufficiently recognised. It’s a statement that not only capitulates the film’s central […]
★★☆☆☆ Not averse to strapping syrupy bows around tales of incidental contrivance, director Lasse Hallström turns his sunny disposition to yet another literary adaptation in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011), extracting the political satire and blackly comic weight from […]
★★★★☆ Gary Ross’ unexpectedly nuanced adaptation of the first novel in Suzanne Collins’ popular teen fiction series The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, now looks set to become the foundation of a hugely successful movie franchise. Set […]
Native Kiwi Karl Urban has been lucky enough to be a part of many popular movie franchises during his 20-year career, including The Lord of the Rings and, more recently, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot. Next year, Urban will return […]
★★★☆☆ Roberto Minervini’s accomplished feature, Low Tide (2012), is set in the badlands of Texas and focuses upon a boy and his mother one long, hot summer. The Boy (brilliant newcomer Daniel Blanchard) is a Huckleberry Finn of the contemporary […]
★★☆☆☆ Acclaimed director Terrence Malick’s latest film, To the Wonder (2012), screened at the 69th Venice Film Festival and was subsequently greeted with a mixed chorus of both boos and applause. In contrast to the reception of the newly-prolific US […]
★★★★☆ Taking place over the course of one single lively summer evening, David Robert Mitchell’s The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010) may appear to be shamelessly regurgitating the same hackneyed youthful nostalgia of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993). […]
★★★☆☆ Spike Lee’s new documentary Bad 25 (2012) explores the making of late, great musical artist Michael Jackson’s bestselling album of the same name. A longtime friend of the singer and a filmmaker with notable OSTs under his belt, it […]
★★★☆☆ Receiving a remarkable (and potentially lucrative) nationwide UK release courtesy of the Cineworld cinema chain – and obviously aspiring to draw in the ‘Polish pound’ – Piotr Mularuk’s entertaining neo-western Yuma (2012) rightly demands your admiration. Whilst its rags-to-riches-to-rags […]
