★★★☆☆ Winner of the Un Certain Regard award at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, Aida Begic’s Children of Sarajevo (Djeca, 2012) is a tightly-focused drama, portraying life in contemporary Bosnia from the point of view of the war orphans now reaching maturity. Marija Pikic plays Rahima, a 23-year-old woman who, Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Given the relatively easy task of besting last year’s abysmal London Film Festival opener, Fernando Meirelles’ 360 (2011), Tim Burton unveils his latest effort to expectant fans and critics alike this week with the European Premiere of Frankenweenie 3D (2012). A feature length re-imagining of one of the director’s Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Following last year’s underwhelming Mammuth (2010), directors Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern present their latest oddball comedy Le Grand Soir (2012) in the ‘Laugh’ section of the 56th London Film Festival. Our protagonist is Not (Benoît Poelvoorde), “the oldest punk in Europe with a dog” as he describes Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Directed by former photographer Mika Ninagawa, Helter Skelter (2012) is based on the 2003 manga of the same name and tells the story of a model whose faultless beauty and doll like form ultimately becomes her downfall. Nurtured by vanity but driven by greed and success Ninagawa constantly keeps Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ LFF veteran Celina Murga returns to the festival this year (after previous appearances in 2003 and 2008) with non-fiction outing Normal School (Escuela Normal, 2012), a calm and non-intrusive documentary set in an Argentine state school. Whilst there’s nothing particularly new or innovative about Murga’s latest, the opportunity to Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ With a growing Hollywood resume that now includes Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla (1998), Scorsese’s The Departed (2006) and R-Patz flick Remember Me (2010) (to name but three), audiences may well wonder just why it is that they hadn’t heard of the not-so-elusive Radioman in advance of Mary Kerr’s well-intentioned doc. Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Pat O’Connor’s Private Peaceful (2012) is a finely-told story of two young brothers, battling the ups n downs of childhood, the confusion and difficulties in adolescence and two of the more troubling things that could happen during the life of a young man: fighting a war for your country Continue Reading
★☆☆☆☆ Hit and Run (2012) is one of the many films spawned under the influence of broad, masculine-driven US comedies like 2009’s The Hangover, where stereotypes are in abundance and bad taste is essential. Unfortunately for writer, co-director and lead actor Dax Shepard, his attempt of writing a comedic script Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Drugs and gangster films are becoming more and more commonplace in British cinema. The latest is Pusher (2012) – Luis Prieto’s British remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s 1996 cult hit of the same name – and thankfully it is one of the better drug-fuelled thrillers to be released in Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Hotel Transylvania (2012), the latest animated feature from Sony Pictures Animation starring the voice talents of Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Andy Samberg and Selena Gomez, is pleasingly pure and simple – even for the biggest of kids. The eminent Count Dracula (Sandler) runs a hotel where monsters go to Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Jack Kerouac’s semi autobiographical novel On the Road captured the spirit of a generation, so telling it in film was never going to be an easy task, yet Walter Salles (perhaps foolishly) has stepped up to the challenge in his adaptation starring Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart. Post-war depression Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Rarely do films about writers/writing successfully capture the creative process. However, married directorial duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris manage to hit the nail on the head with Ruby Sparks (2012), a magical romance with a perfectly-pitched level of quirky humour. Paul Dano stars as the socially awkward Calvin, Continue Reading
