Film reviews and more
★★★★★ Most Western audiences could probably name a handful of important kung fu films – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers, perhaps a smattering of Bruce Lee flicks – but it is King Hu’s A Touch of Zen […]
★★★★☆ The latest film by director Ramin Bahrani is a modern day parable about money and the breadline, a tale of those who do their best to survive within a system which often works to lengthen the odds of their […]
★★☆☆☆ Coming to you from a newly autonomous republic somewhere in the vast plains of the Caucasus is a real oddity. Lost in Karastan – the latest offering from British filmmaker Ben Hopkins – is difficult to pin down. Modelling […]
★☆☆☆☆ After the dark satire of David Fincher’s excellent Gone Girl, the possibility of fast-tracking another of Gillian Flynn’s intricately plotted thrillers from page to screen must have seemed like a fantastic idea. Dark Places revolves around another complicated woman, […]
★★★★☆ “What kind of adolescence will a ten year old boy look forward to when he has no arms, no legs and is only two feet tall? How can an eleven year old girl look forward to laughing and loving […]
★★★☆☆ Aside from a couple of exceptions, Cannon Films’ Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus may not be remembered in the annals of film history as purveyors of quality cinema, but they certainly showed a skill for spotting and quickly capitalising […]
★★★★★ The opening shot of Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour observes the entwined limbs of two lovers as ash settles on their skin before the image dissolves into those same bodies beaded with sweat. The ash, of course, suggests the […]
★★★☆☆ Camp X-Ray is one of many names by which Guantanamo Bay is known and aptly contextualises writer-director Peter Sattler’s debut feature, which is at its best when focussed on the bare bones of its storyline. A quasi-buddy film, it […]
Following hot on the heels of last week’s Bafta nominations in London as well as the weekend’s telling Golden Globe results, at 1.30pm GMT today the list of nominees for this year’s 88th Academy Awards were broadcast across the globe. […]
★★☆☆☆ All those fans of cinema out there who have long wished for an action adventure epic set in 50 BC starring Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody need wait no longer. Dragon Blade – from Hong Kong writer-director […]
★★☆☆☆ How many Fairbrasses does it take to knock together another hard-hitting, foul-mouthed, blood- splattered British crime movie? In the case of Jonnie Malachi’s Breakdown the answer is three. Man mountain and former Eastender Craig stars as Alfie Jennings, a vicious […]
★☆☆☆☆ Cole (Zac Efron) keeps a poster of Al Pacino in Scarface on a wall in his San Fernando Valley bungalow, a pad he shares with his bros. Ever since Brian De Palma’s 1983 gangster flick emerged with renewed vigour […]