★★☆☆☆ 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 Verhoeven’s much cherished original, […]
★★★★☆ 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 December. Combining the quintessentially […]
★★★☆☆ 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 anticipated 2010 reunion. If […]
★★★★★ 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 unsettling look back at […]
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 to deliver the goods […]
★★☆☆☆ 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 flick, Zaytoun (2012) uses […]
★★☆☆☆ 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 as successful in making […]
★★★★☆ 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 week with some high […]
★★☆☆☆ 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), a film about two […]
★★★★☆ 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 Boxing Day (2012), based […]
★★☆☆☆ 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 have not been quite […]
★★★☆☆ 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 have fought for over […]
★★★★★ Over four years in the making and painstakingly crafted by a team of three thousand creatives, the grandeur and scale of Oscar-winning director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012) – his adaptation of Yann Martel’s bestselling novel – isn’t simply limited to its […]
★★★★☆ While the Nordic Noir wave has seen a recent explosion in popularity, it is worth remembering that the genre has been successful for several decades now. From Insomnia (1997), starring Stellan Skarsgård as a Swedish cop with a sleeping disorder, to Festen (1998), […]
★★★☆☆ The Expendables are back, and this time their ultra-macho efforts may be at least partially worthwhile. Countless fans of eighties action cinema were left with a bitter dissatisfaction at the flabby, dull and far too serious nature of Sylvester Stallone’s self-directed first film. […]
Intel and the world-renowned W Hotel chain joined forces with VICE this month for short film competition Four Stories, that aimed to seek out the world’s next bright young things in film. From over 1000 submissions from aspiring filmmakers around the globe, developed into […]
★★★☆☆ Another quality release courtesy of Arrow Films’ Nordic Noir stable, Kjell Sundvall’s 2011 film False Trail (a direct sequel to his 1996 outing Jägarna, aka The Hunters), is a suitably dark, snaking tale of familial secrets and lies set against the expansive Swedish […]
★★☆☆☆ An ever so cynical, pre-award season release riffing on potential Academy Award nominee Zero Dark Thirty (2012), John Stockwell’s Codename: Operation Geronimo (aka SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden, 2012) – from the producer of 2010’s The Hurt Locker, Kathryn […]
