Film reviews and more
★★☆☆☆ Remaking a film is always a tricky proposition, yet this was the task undertaken by Len Wiseman with Total Recall (2012), reinventing the narrative shell of Philip K. Dick’s novel We Can Remember It for You Wholesale and Paul […]
★★★★☆ After successful screenings at last year’s Sundance, the 2012 Edinburgh International Film Festival and Film4 FrightFest, British director Jon Wright’s low budget sci-fi creature feature Grabbers (2012) finally arrives on DVD and Blu-ray after a limited theatrical run in late […]
★★★☆☆ The renowned Roger Sargent – music photographer at the NME and cult indie band The Libertines’ official photographer and friend – directs The Libertines: There Are No Innocent Bystanders (2011), an engaging yet hum-drum documentation of the group’s eagerly […]
★★★★★ In what is undoubtedly one of the most inspiring cinematic works of the past twelve months, British director Peter Strickland’s sophomore feature Berberian Sound Studio (2012) – starring the ever-superb, chameleon-like Toby Jones – takes a rather unusual and […]
Yes, it’s that time of year again when critics and regular cinemagoers alike frantically put together their lists of the best cinematic produce of the previous twelve months. Whilst a number of high profile US blockbusters and comedies have failed […]
★★☆☆☆ Stephen Dorff stars – somewhat bizarrely – as an Israeli fighter pilot who through an unfortunate mechanical malfunction finds himself stranded in Beirut in the latest film from Lemon Tree (2008) director Eran Riklis. A Middle Eastern road movie-cum-buddy […]
★★☆☆☆ Much like Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012), Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (2012) is another Booker prize-winning novel that has been dubbed unfilmable. Whilst Lee’s cinematic adaptation rose to the challenge admirably however, Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children is not […]
★★★★☆ Following its world premiere at this year’s Sundance and substantial positive feedback after its Film4 FrightFest outing, Jon Wright’s slick and entertaining Irish monster movie Grabbers (2012) finally makes its way into a small number of UK cinemas this […]
★★☆☆☆ Andy Fickman is one of those filmmakers who seems to have built a career for himself churning out mediocre movies every year or so, and this time around his latest gaffe comes in the form of Parental Guidance (2012), […]
★★★★☆ Danny Huston taking the lead role in a Bernard Rose adaptation of a Leo Tolstoy novel has become something of a familiarity, following on previous projects Ivansxtc (2000) and The Kreutzer Sonata (2008). The pair reunite once more for […]
★★☆☆☆ Steven Spielberg’s sprawling historical biopic Lincoln (2012), starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, gained near universal praise State-side for its depiction of the final four months of Abraham Lincoln’s life. This side of the pond, the rally cries […]
★★★☆☆ In 1994, three teenage boys were jailed for the murder of three children in West Memphis, Arkansas. After the hysteria of the initial trial, with the murders being alleged to have been a part of a satanic ritual, campaigners […]