★★☆☆☆ 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, yet somehow also disregarding the lewd Continue Reading
★★★★☆ 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 Irish comedy styling of The Guard Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ 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 you’re expecting the usual tabloid fodder Continue Reading
★★★★★ 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 the world of 1970s Euro horror. Continue Reading
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 (we’re looking at you Prometheus), arthouse, Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ 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 the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the catalyst Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ 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 the leap from page to screen. Continue Reading
★★★★☆ 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 expectations to fulfil. Thankfully, Wright’s low Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ 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 grandparents (played by Billy Crystal and Continue Reading
★★★★☆ 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 on Tolstoy’s Master and Man, as Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ 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 as potent, but interest has undoubtedly Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ 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 a decade to prove the innocence Continue Reading
★★★★★ 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 production history. With a healthy claim Continue Reading
★★★★☆ 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), Thomas Vinterberg’s excellent Dogme 95 piece, Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ 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. However, after strong box office returns Continue Reading
