Joseph Walsh

★★★☆☆ There’s no denying that Shane Meadows’ latest film, The Stone Roses: Made of Stone (2013) – which details the impact of the Manchester-based band – is going to divide opinion. Fans of the group, which broke through in the late eighties with tremendous success, will relish in the multitude of archive interviews and gig…

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★★☆☆☆ Based on Shotaro Ishinomori’s 1960s Manga comics, Kenji Kamiyama’s 009 Re: Cyborg (2012) transforms its source into a visually lavish, if thematically and structurally problematic tale for a post-9/11 world. Set in the future, we find a very recognisable scenario where terrorists (purportedly hearing the ‘Voice of God’) are blowing up buildings across the…

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★★☆☆☆ James Ponsoldt’s sophomore feature Smashed (2012) stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul, and ambitiously attempts to portray the tragedy of alcohol addiction at its most rawest. Kate (Winstead) and Charlie (Paul) are a young married couple in love, bonding over their mutual passion for music, laughter and above all else, booze. Each night…

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★★★☆☆ Based on a true story, Ben Lewin’s emotive new US drama The Sessions (2012) follows the heart-felt journey of Mark (John Hawkes), a man trapped in an iron lung after being stricken with polo as a child, and his quest to ultimately lose his virginity. Played with incredible conviction by journeyman Hawkes, Mark is…

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★★☆☆☆ Sumptuous looks and an enticing central subject may be enough to attract audiences to Matthew Mishory’s A Portrait Of James Dean: Joshua Tree, 1951, but what it possesses in visual beauty, it sadly lacks in substance. Opening oddly to a prologue involving poet Arthur Rimbaud, we are quickly transported to 1950s LA where we…

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★★★★☆ Opening to a heart-racing chase sequence upon a rather volatile, volcanic planet, the tone for J.J. Abrams’ summer sci-fi sequel Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) is ruthlessly and efficiently set from the off. This time around, the crew of the USS Enterprise are able to forgo the rudimentary establishing of back stories, allowing for…

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★★★☆☆ Based on the Booker Prize-winning novel from controversial author Salman Rushdie, Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children (2012) makes a bold but ultimately unfulfilled attempt to bring the author’s magical realist style to the screen. Born at the stroke of midnight on 15 August, 1947 (Indian independence), protagonist Saleem Sinai’s (Satya Bhabha) story is one that…

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★★★☆☆ American acting icon Dustin Hoffman’s long-awaited directorial debut, Quartet (2012), has met with optimistic anticipation, bolstered by the impressive cast which boasts national treasure Maggie Smith, a delightfully camp Michael Gambon and a gleefully sex-crazed Billy Connolly. Set in a retirement home for the cream of the operatic and classical music world, the plot…

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★★★☆☆ In the ever-watchable Chimpanzee (2012), Blue Planet producers Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield transport us to the Ivorian rainforests of Taï National Park, where we are introduced to three-month-old Oscar – a cheeky ape who gains an unexpected ally when he’s faced with more than his fair share of troubles from a rival group…

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★★☆☆☆ Whilst Danish director Niels Arden Oplev’s original (and best) adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) possessed many notable merits, less can be said of his first foray into the American market, Dead Man Down (2013). This clumsily contrived thriller stars Colin Farrell as the strong and silent Victor, the…

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